nlemunds upon accurac}" uf definition, as to pru- 

 paru the way for tlealiug with the far more 

 minute organisms of the bacteria, bacteriological 

 research having now become of vital importance 

 to the health and the very existence of 

 the community at hirge. It will be quite 

 impossible for me, on iny part, tliis 

 evening to go through the whole of the work 

 ■of the Society. I may say that the last 50 

 yeai*3 has been a record 50 years as reganls the 

 spread of science. At the time we commenced 

 our meetings 50 years ago Darwin on Spccif.s 

 had not been written, and his observations in re- 

 ;^vd to development had not been penned. The 

 last thing that has happened very recently of 

 remarkable interest are Madame Curie's dis- 

 coveries of radiimi and other substances emitting 

 similar rays. I wish I could say something to- 

 night in defence of our Society, in justification of 

 its existence, and also with a view of urging those 

 who find themselves outside it to join us. I 

 have been met with the remark by members and 

 others "T know nothing of natiu-al history and 

 therefore 1 have no use for such a Society." Well, 

 none of us know much, and we are all anxioaxs to 

 know a little more; but I can promise those who 

 join us tliat if they h'arn nothing with regard to 

 natui-al liistorj-, they will learn a great deal 

 how not to ilo things. Faihu-es are a very im- 

 portant way of teaching indeed. There have lately 

 aijpearediu thepubliePress andin one ortwo of the 

 magazines, discussions as to the propriety or other- 

 Avise of fairy tales for ehildi'en. I for one cherish 

 the memories of my childish past, as to the real 

 existence of gnomes, sprites and so on. I woidd 

 not to tliis day dispossess my mind or try to 

 unleai-n those lessons. I try to make them as real 

 now as they were then. But if you object to faiiy 

 tales, allow me to say that science is full of fairy 

 tales. Xo one can study science, with a reverent 

 view of her teaching at any rate, ^Wthout seeing 

 that all branches of study are a fairy tale tlu-oiigh- 

 out. For instance, we can all study geological 

 recoi'ds without much expense. There is a 

 succession of fairy tales, a history of the siirface 

 of this world from the time it was cooling down 

 into shape. Siu-ely no one with a real desire of 

 knowledge can study such without being edified. 

 Many tilings I might say in eneom-agement to 

 those who study natural history, or, indeed, any 

 bi-anch of science, who are unable to ascertain 

 that for which they seek. I believe you can hiy 

 down as an axiom that if in interrogating Natiu'e 

 you do not get a categorical reply to yoxu" question, 

 she is sure to reward you with some side issue 

 or phenomenon, which, if not exactly what you 

 want, is at any rate very useful, and may be more 

 profitable than if you obtained the information of 

 the particular subject you sought for. Dm-ing 

 the time I studied chemistry at the Royal College 

 of Chemistry, London, a junior who was working 

 near me — his name was William Hem-y Perkin, 

 and he joined the College a year or two before I 

 did — had passed the cour.se and was allowed to in- 

 vestigate. These were the days when synthetical 

 chemistry was practically a new thing. He was 

 very enthusiasticand very determined inthe matter 

 and he set himself to study the chemistrv of coal 



tar. He had an object in view, for ({uinine was 

 then a very costly tU-ug — ^about Itis. an ounce — 

 tlianks to the exclusiveness of thr; Pui-uvian 

 Govemmeut, and ho thought it could be syntheti- 

 cally produced from coal tar. He worked for 

 months and years \nthout success, but he never 

 found it, was never aide to produce quinine in 

 that manner. But he stumbled ui^ou wli;it he called 

 an unpromising precipitate one day. ;ind he dis- 

 covered a coloiunng principle which he desig- 

 nated in some fanciful way as mauve. This was 

 the first coal tar dye produced. This gave him a 

 general grasp of the composition of coal tar coloiu's 

 and the discovery of mauve w.-.s follow<'d 1 "V tlie dis- 

 covery of two other dj-es—Solferino and Magenta. 

 We shall be able to fix the date pretty nearly of 

 those discoveries because they were named after 

 two terrible battles between Austria on the ono 

 side and Italy and France on the other. To 

 cut a long story short these coloiu-s were rapidly 

 multiplied, and it became possible to produce 

 a range of coloiu's of the most extraordinarj' 

 character and of the utmost beauty. Here was a 

 case where the seeker did not find what he wanted 

 but he realised instead a vast industry — »n in- 

 dustrj' involving tens of millions of money after 

 a few years,an industry still giving emph)ymont to 

 the skilled labour of Imndi-eds of thousands^an in- 

 dustiy wliich brought Perkin great rewar-l. He 

 was knighted a few months before his death 

 (applause). Another is still more interciting. If 

 I am not wearj'ing you. I must take you l>ack to 

 the year 1867. About that time th.' spectroscope 

 l>egan to be used pretty extensively. We were 

 enabled to spot a great many c.irious lines to 

 wliich a name coidd not be given. Amongst them. 

 was a green line wliich nobody could claim to 

 know what it represented. It was unearthed so to 

 speak, and enough of Jt made to establish the fact 

 that it was a new metal found in zine ores more 

 particularly. This was named on ac.'ountof its 

 coloiu- Thalliiuu. WiUiam Crookes, one of my 

 fellow students, set to work to thoroughly investi- 

 gate its cliemical properties. Those researches 

 are remarkable for their classic cliaracter, and 

 are a model of research which the wurld probably 

 hadnever seen before. In orderto carry out thi^ 

 research right roj'aUy, instead of conducting his 

 weigliing in ordinary balances he did it in a 

 vacuum. One thing he noticed was that some 

 external influence affecced tbe vibrations of those 

 delicate balances. AVell, WiUiam (.'niokes did 

 what Captain Cuttle advised, he made a note of 

 it, in fact he imide sevenil notes of it, and these 

 notes were afterwards }>rought to fruition. In 

 regard to that weighing, I am thankful to say I 

 have never liad any persomil experiimce ot it. It 

 Ikvs been enough for me to liave t*.> watch the 

 vibrations of ordinary bahmces for hours together, 

 exercising the utmost care— refraining from speak- 

 ing and scarcely breatliing. Such -work gets a 

 good deal on the nerves of many of lu-;. William 

 Crookes' (.-xperiinent necessitated his working at a 

 distance of 14 or 15 feet from the balances. The 

 nearest comparison is to be asked to carve a turkey 

 and being required to stand 14- or 15 feet away 

 from the turkey, armed with a cai'ving knife and 

 fork with long handles. Well, about those notes. 



