214 



unmerited, as it certainly was unexpected ; indeed, had I known of your decision 

 in time, I should have entreated you to reconsider, and reverse it ; but I had no 

 choice. My professional occupations, though scientific in their nature, only 

 border on those branches of knowledge to which the attention of this Society is 

 devoted, and leave little time for such pursuits. Being fuUy aware that those 

 subjects demanded of your leader more than a general familiarity with them, I 

 entered on my duties with timidity ; yet, thanks to the efficient and ready help 

 of my fellow-members, my duties have been lightened, and my presidential cycle 

 has passed off very pleasantly as regards myself, and not fruitlessly as regards 

 the Club : if success has attended its labours, the merit of that success is essen- 

 tially its own. 



It is from combinations such as these, scattered throughout the kingdom, 

 that so much has been effected, and it is yet to be hoped for, m accumulating 

 material for purposes of generalization, and for testing theories on a large scale ; 

 each member is expected to do something in his own department. In our case, 

 I hope we may feel this Club has done its p.irt. Nature herself exhibits phenomena 

 illustrative of this idea ; the vegetable kingdom, with which I claim to be more 

 familiar, perhaps as prominently as any. The prodigious results attained by vital 

 actions coincident and long-sustained, manifested in trees that excite our wonder 

 by their bulk and solidity, and the products of the minutest contributions un- 

 ceasingly deposited and sent downwards from the leaves. Again, the enormous 

 amount and exceeding variety of nutriment for man and animals, stored up in 

 form of grains, fruits, or leaves : the supply, too, of silk and of cotton, that give 

 clothing to half the civilized world, illustrate the same fact. Let these serve to 

 remind us how essential is individual labour, and how much may be done by 

 combined energy in the natural sciences. 



I am indebted to so many of our friends for aid in preparing my report, that 

 I find it difficult to make acknowledgments — yet I must mention especially the 

 assistance I had from Mr. Lightbody, Mr. Salwey, Mr. Barker, Mr. Banks, and 

 Mr. Cocking, in the Geological department ; to Mr. Edmunds I owe much in the 

 Botanical section ; and to Mr. Smith for his accurate observations on Meteorology, 

 so ably drawn up. 



We now turn to our three meetings during the year. The first, fixed for 

 Tarrington, a convenient place whence to explore the " Woolhope Valley of Eleva- 

 tion," came off on the second of June, and as we were honoured by the company 

 of the Malvern Club, we mustered much stronger than usual — breakfasted at the 

 " Foley Arms " — after which we visited the mansion and gardens at Stoke 

 Edith ; Lady Emily Foley, who was from home, having lundly ordered them to 

 be thrown open for our inspection. 



We next proceeded to the " Landslip," a spot conspicuous from afar to 

 the tourist, and of great interest to the geologist. The obvious cause of this 

 enormous " slip," was percolation of surface water : it took place suddenly 

 some twenty years ago. The rock itself consists of upper beds of Aymestry 

 Limestone, composed for the most part of Madrepores, Corals, and Shells of the 



