Presidential Address. 13 



example to live up to. An iniio\'ation which you will find in 

 Vol. XXI. of our Transactions is the index. This is surely an 

 improvement, which it will l>e the hope of all has come to stay, or 

 rather, to be continued. We have to thank our new honorary 

 Secretary for compiling this, and those of us who have had occa- 

 sion to wade through the old Transactions in search of informa- 

 tion will wish that Mr Shirley had not been the first to undertake 

 this onerous labour. 



Well, ladies and gentlemen, so much for the past. How 

 about the future ? As I have already said from this cliair, the 

 success of a Societ}- such as ours depends on the individual efforts 

 of each one of us. Xot only must there be a desire to acquire 

 knowledge, but there must be a desire to impart knowledge. Not 

 only to receive, but also to give. X^ot only to read, learn, mark, 

 and inwardly digest, but also to rea.son, elucidate, and discuss 

 problems, which still remain problems. It ma}' seem somewhat 

 puerile to quote the lines. " Little drops of water, Little grains of 

 sand. Make the mighty ocean And the pleasant land," but science 

 is built up in exactly similar fashion by molecules of wisdom. 

 One thing leads to another, and this is why I have already a.sked 

 those of you who are sh)- and retiring to cast aside your bashful 

 modesty and reveal your latent talents. 



Speaking of the importance of X'atural History CluVjs such as 

 ours. Sir William Jardine, the first president of our Society, wrote 

 in 1858: — "These [clubs] are of much importance. The pre- 

 servation of the condition of the present physical characters of 

 our country will be far m<.)re dependent on them than at first 

 appear. The last fifty years have made a great change in the 

 surface of the country, pojjulation has increased, so have agricul- 

 tural improvements, plantations, drainage, enclosures of waste 

 land, in short, artificial work of every kind. These ha\-e often 

 completely altered the nature and aspect of the country, and in 

 consequence the productions, both animal and vegetable. In 

 parts of the X^orth of Scotland another cause, that great rage and 

 fashion for ' sporting,' as it is termed, has influenced the distribu- 

 tion of the higher orders ; the wild animals and birds have been 

 reduced in numbers as '\ermin,' sometimes almost e.xtirpated, 

 and many will in a few )ears stand side by side in history with the 

 bear and the wolf. It will be to these clubs that we shall be 

 indebted for a record oi' what in their days did exist ; and in the 



