ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE MEMBERS 



OF THE 



WEST KENT NATURAL HISTORY, 

 MICROSCOPICAL, & PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, 



BY 



The President, F. T. TAYLER, Esq., M.B., B.A., 



On the 2Stli FEBRUARY, 1884. 



Gentlemen, 



We have met to-night to celebrate again the Anniversary 

 of our Society. If these now oft-repeated commemorations 

 tell us that our Institution is growing rather old we are not 

 ashamed to confess the fact, we are on the other hand 

 rather proud of it. Our Annual Report, which will shortly 

 be in your hands, is in its present form so complete that 

 little is left for me to add. Our progress, if not rapid, has 

 been steady, as is shown by the increase in the number of 

 our members. There is one matter, however, about which I 

 should like to say a word, and that is the Balance-sheet, 

 which you have just heard read. Our financial position is 

 not altogether such as we should wish it to be. This has 

 arisen, no doubt in some degree, from increased expenditure, 

 which has been unavoidable, but principally from the fact 

 that a very considerable number of members have allowed 

 their subscriptions to fall in arrear. I trust that the men- 

 tion of this matter will remove a source of trouble and 

 anxiety to the Executive Officers of the Society. 



Gentlemen, when I last had the privilege of addressing 

 you, I dealt, as fully as time permitted, with the various facts 

 and questions concerning Bacteria in their relation to dead 

 organic matter. To-night I propose to complete my subject 



