( Iviii ) 



tain whether these notes were made by Stevenson before he 

 left England or during the period that he lived in Samoa. 

 The notes apparently gave no clue, but the note-book was sent 

 to me because on page 13 there was a smashed fly which had 

 evidently been between the leaves when the book was suddenly 

 closed. The note-book was sent with a request that I should 

 try to identify the fly, and possibly determine the locality in 

 which it was known to occur ; the result was that I could 

 state positively that the fly was not European, but I could 

 not absolutely identify it, because it belonged to a group of most 

 insufliciently distinguished species which even includes several 

 British species, but I could safely say that it was outside any 

 of the European species of the group. Of course my evidence 

 does not prove that Stevenson's notes were not made in England 

 and the fly subsequently smashed in Samoa, but the incident is 

 indicative of the assistance which special Entomological know- 

 ledge might be in important matters, and is a complete 

 answer to any cui bono argument. 



In conclusion. Gentlemen, let me thank you for the honour 

 you did me in appointing me your President for the past 

 two years, and for the constant and steady support which 

 you have given me during that period. I hope that I have 

 done nothing to derogate from the honour of a position 

 which has been held by so many eminent men in the 

 past, and which I hope will be held by many such men 

 in the future. I am glad to find that I am succeeded by 

 Canon W. W. Fowler, who has long been known as one of "the 

 leading Coleopterists in England, and who published his well- 

 known work on the British Coleoptera in five volumes from 

 1887 to 1891, whilst I personally have never succeeded in 

 issuing anything in the form of a book until the present 

 month. I was obliged to get my book out at last because I 

 had already printed on the title-page that it was written 

 by the President of the Entomological Society of London, 

 and had I not got it published before this evening that would 

 have been an incorrect statement. While not saying one 

 word against the valuable work done by British Lepidopterists, 

 I cannot help suggesting to many of the younger Fellows of 

 this Society that if they are at all ambitious they can far 



