148 Presidential Address. [Sess. 



trating the early stages in the life-history of an ascidian, by 

 Mr W. J. Pierce ; lichens, by Mr James M' Andrew ; pieces of 

 fir branches damaged by squirrels, by Mr Stewart Archibald ; 

 live waxwing and crossbill, by Mr Eobt. H. Tait ; Bohemian 

 waxwing, by Mr Tom Speedy ; caterpillar destroyed by fungus 

 {Torruhia Robertsii), from New Zealand, by the Secretary ; 

 young form of common octopus {Octopus vulgaris), sea-mouse 

 (Aphrodite aculeata), sea-pen (Pennatula phosphorea), gaper- 

 shell (Lima hians), and a crab {Fupagurus Prideatixii) and a 

 sea-anemone (Adamsia palliata) living together as commensals, 

 by Mr John Lindsay. 



ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT 

 ARCHIBALD HEWAT, F.F.A., F.I.A. 



TO THE Annual Meeting of the Society on the 

 26th October 1904. 



In closing another Session, as we now do on the eve of opening 

 a new one, the thirty- seventh, I congratulate the Society upon 

 its continued success and its increasing usefulness. As we have 

 just heard from the Secretary's report, the membership has 

 now reached 241 — the highest number we have ever had on 

 record. Our finances, too, are in that healthy condition of 

 which a substantial balance on the right side is always a sure 

 sign ; and this we have accomplished, by care and economy, 

 on what is little better than a mere nominal annual contribu- 

 tion. As you are aware, we do not canvass for new members. 

 We prefer to attract them by a constant exhibition of good 

 work done, pleasantly and profitably, in the study of what 

 is undoubtedly the most interesting, most fascinating, and 

 most elevating of all mundane subjects — the study of Nature, 

 which leads us, if we walk aright, to the contemplation of the 

 highest of all, even to the God of Nature who is not far from 

 the humble and the reverent. We walk partly by faith and 



