bury. Canons Mason, Stiuirt, and Moore, *f Rev. 

 Minor Canon G. C. E. Eyley, the Key Canon F. H 

 Slchens, Lady Mitchell, the Ven. .irchdeacon of 

 Maidstone, Lient.-Colonel Dickenson J.P., Mr J. 

 McM^isters, J.P., Mr. H. Mapleton Cliapman, the 

 K«v Dr. Murray, Mr. F. J. Goddcn, J.P., etc. 



THE PRESIDEXTI.iL ,\I>DRESS. 



Mr. Harvey next proceeded to deliver his presi- 

 dential addi-ess. He said : 



It" my privilege to congratulate the members 

 of the East Kent Scientific Society upon the occa- 

 sion of the 50th year of its existence, and we 

 celebrate its jubilee in the hope ot its continued 

 nrosperity. It was started at a meeting of lovers 

 rnatm-eheld in Canterbury in 18.37, and had 

 for its object the association ot persons, whether 

 naturaUsts or otherwise, forthepurpose of mutual 

 intercourse and the promotion ot science, by 

 means of periodical meetings, by occasional exclu- 

 sions in order to collect specimens, .and to investi- 

 gate objects of interest and natural phenomena; 

 to circuUvte among the members the various 

 scientific journals, and diffuse by publications 

 con-ect dat-i of every interesting fact «>lat,ng to 

 natiu-al history which might occur in East Kent. 

 The fli-st annual report was drawn up and pre- 

 sented in 1 8.58,and f oimd tlie Society with lt.3 meni- 

 beis of whom a2 were ladies, while the hrst 

 balance sheet for the same year showed an income 

 of iTB 10s., with an expenditure of M,M is., and 

 last but not least, a baUuice in hand of ^M 2s. / a. 

 .at tiie end of the year. Four general meetings 

 were held at the Guildhall concert room, now no 

 lon-er in existence ; at Margate, at Sand«yh and 

 at the Maison Dieu at Dover ; in addition to these 

 .'atherings, local meetings were held at Margate, 

 SittingbSurne, Canterbiu-y, Dover, Dea , fc^'n^Jj™! 

 and at Heme Bay, Folkestone, Ashtord Hythe 

 and Faversham. It will thus be seen that at this 

 early period the Society fully justiHed its title to 

 be caviled an East Kent Society. In reading over 

 the list of members who joined at the outset, and 

 were therefore founders, I can find but two sur- 

 vivors at oiu- jubilee, viz., Dr. Pittock .and Mr^ 

 James Eeid. As I joined the Society in Ibbi.and 

 have never missed more than two or three ot its 

 uK,-etin<rs, lam qualified to speak of the advail- 

 ";^es I have enjoyed from the very fneu.Uy 

 feUowship of the members, as well as ot vcr.N 

 pleasant memories connected with meetings and 

 ■xcursions, and, above all, f-"' «"• f f ^--'"""^ 

 for microscopical work at that time 

 prosecuted with gi'eat ai-doui-. At the 

 time 1 refer to, our room-a smaU one- 

 was situated in the Cathedral yard and here wa, 

 our library, then but small also ; "lu- general 

 meetin.rs were liel.l in the King s School, the 

 successive headmasters of which have .always 

 been ready to give us hospitaUty at »'«!' t"»>:^ 

 Sometime after, we moved our headquarters to 

 the Church House, High Stree , now lie 

 Foresters' Hall, then to number b High Street, 

 then to St. George's Street, at the OBice of the 

 ii-e>,(i.;MVa=e«., andthento I'J ^^atlllg Street 

 nsin- the spacious South Eastern Laboratory for 

 our "general meetings, and renting a .separate 

 ,.oom°itthes.-.me address for the l''"--''/ -'; f] 

 had now assumed considerable prop,..itu.u^ and 



v.alue, and this latter is mainly >!«• '•'^ ^ .""^ 

 energetic and devoted exertions ot the then 

 librarian, Mr. James Keid, who not only gavv 

 much time to its arrangement and management, 

 but himself was a most munificent donor t.. its 

 shelves. Up to this time tlie Society was able 

 to devote a considerable bahmce to the pni-chase 

 of new volumes and serials, so that these, 

 toeethcr with the Librarian's generosity .an<l 

 ..lints from the funds, it became, and is still, a 

 very valuable Natural History Library, rich in 

 complete sets of current scientihc htcrature. 

 While for years the Society figured as a county 

 association, and boasted many subscribers at a 

 distance, there was a tendency for certain towns to 

 set up for themselves, and thus it was that Dover 

 Folkestone, Margate, and other boroughs, all of 

 which possessed excellent naturalists found it 

 more convenient to locaUze their eftorts (as wcU 

 as their subscriptions) and to hold meetings upon 

 their owT» .round. While these secessions did not, 

 .and do not interfere with the mutual goodwiU 

 between these new associations, the effect upon 

 the Society's income was such as to make it im- 

 possible to continue to rent suitable l"-cn'i^es 

 and we ultimately found oiirs.dves at the 

 Eeference Library of the Beaney Insti- 

 tute, rent free, our own library traustcina 

 there and constituting a loan iu lieu ot rent^ 

 To "ive a resume, however condensed, ot the p.i»t 

 wo."k of the Society wo.dd be too lengthy tor tiiis 

 occasion, besides which I made the matter the 

 subiect of a presidential address a tew years .ago, 

 but I lookback, as doubtless others do, to the 

 many instructive excursions we used to have to 

 such places as Eastwell, and other parks Dunge- 

 ness and the general coast line from that point to 

 Pe.'well Bay. on which occasions we had the use 

 of fhe Dover Harboiu- Master's steamer, th-anks to 

 the late Captain Irons, whose crew aided us in 

 dredging openations. Well .attended visits were 

 also paid t '. Folkestone, Sandwich, St. Margaret's 

 Bay, Wliitstable, and other places. For mutual 

 support and co-operation we have lately joined 

 tlie local Photographic Society, with generaU) 

 satisfactory results. Vliotography has now 

 become such a prime factor in nat.u-e observations, 

 and we possess in our midst so many skilful and 

 art loviig operators, who, following m the stepsof 

 ?he Keartoi brothers, study bird lite in all its 

 branches without injury or terror to these 

 beautiful creatures, and are thus inaugurating a 

 rei-u of loving kindness towards tlie denizens of 

 L- fields and'woods. During the hfty yeai-s of 

 the Society's existence a vast improvement h.is 

 taken place in the development and construction 

 of the microscope, which, from a l'™^>'.'";;_'^^';'-;; 

 and costly instrument has now b,.come hght and 

 portable, while its optical powers and >"^'th«5» f. 

 illumination have not only been pertected ut 

 .also cheapened to a surprising extent, and these 

 results are mainly due to »he -'l.'S'-'f ''- ^» 

 experience of tlie large number of woiU s 

 fostered by our own and other kindred societies. 

 The enthusiasm, too. exhibit<.d orty-five years 

 a..o in order to clear up the vexed question as to 

 the natiu-e of the minute markings of the 

 diatomace.u a matter still unsettled- -made such 



