1886-87.] opening Address. 5 



keep it. Now I say this for the encouragement of every one 

 who has the feeling tliat lie can make no new discovery, and 

 cannot even help us, as a Society, in our investigations. The 

 sooner that all who have these feelings disabuse their minds 

 of their supposed inability the better. In fact, until you try 

 you cannot tell how great an amount of success you will 

 attain, and I promise each of you that if you strive properly, 

 you will surprise yourselves as well as others. My own 

 experience is, that a man who studies any particular subject 

 for a short time, soon knows much more about it than most 

 of his fellow-men, and he will probably get credit from them 

 of being a great deal wiser than he really is. Even that is 

 something to aspire to, and should give us encouragement. 

 Besides this, you will find that you cannot strive to improve 

 yourself in one branch of study without imperceptibly gaining 

 a large amount of general knowledge. Ask those who con- 

 tribute papers to our own and other Societies, and they will 

 tell you how much they have felt benefited by even reading 

 up for the preparation of a short note. 



"Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well;" but it 

 not unfrequently happens that in endeavouring to do well, 

 the student of science strives to do too much, and when this 

 occurs, it generally follows that the work done is unsatisfac^ 

 tory. It is well to be careful to avoid this mistake, as it is 

 one into which I am convinced most of us fall, and we have 

 not far to seek for examples of how earnest workers of previous 

 generations have committed the same error. Let me give you 

 a simple illustration of what may probably happen with some 

 of you when collecting plants for your herbarium, unless you 

 are careful. We will suppose you are having your holidays, 

 and start for a botanical excursion that will occupy some days. 

 As you wish to travel with as little impedimenta as possible, 

 you take only absolute necessaries, and none of the appliances 

 for drying your plants, in the hope that when you get home 

 they will still be in a fit state for preservation. The first day 

 is warm, but wet : however, you get on very well ; your 

 vasculum is half filled, and you think you can remember 

 where you got each plant. By the end of the second day 

 your vasculum is very full, and you rejoice over the speci- 

 mens of rare plants you have met with. The third day you 



