tigers, and serpents and draj^ons, writhing their 

 scaly bulk of coils in illimitable space ; these 

 daintly pencilled single figures, or bevies of high 

 born damsels or groups of philosophers and im- 

 mortals, even tliese tilted rocks and wayward 

 rivers, exotic trees and wide sweeps of cloud and 

 shore, and far off glimpses of the Islands of the 

 Blest, bathed in " the light that never was on sea 

 or land" — everything, in fact, that goes to make 

 up the sum of objects represented in the decora- 

 tion of Chinese porcelain, has a meaning and a 

 message to those who, in Blake's phrase, " Can see 

 not only with, but through the eye." And what 

 is the burden of the message ? From first to last 

 it is the expression in a thousand varied forms of 

 a desire that those to whom it may come shall 

 enjoy a lifetime of happiness. It wishes them 

 youth, health, strength, pleasure, wisdom, intel- 

 lectual delight, and love ; and, above all, length of 

 days that their happiness may be fulfilled to the 

 uttermost. The wishes, doubtless, are conven- 

 tional, but the convention _itself is noble 

 (applause). 



The t'hairmau, in proposing a vote of thanks to 

 the Mayor for his lecture, said he was sure that 



everyone of them had been deeply int«rested ia 

 what iUr. Bennett-Goldney had told them— in 

 fact, for him, the Chairman, it was the opening of 

 a new book. One could realise from what the 

 Mayor had said that that subject was not a mere 

 question of the manufacture of porcelain, but that 

 it was indeed a history of a people— of their 

 thoughts, of their religion. He was perfectly 

 sure it would be a matter of interest to them tor 

 many years to come ; and when they had any 

 china they would doubtless find pleasure in 

 investigating and in translating those symbols 

 (hear, hear). 



The Mayor, in acknowledgment, said that some 

 extraordinarily valuable Oriental pieces bad been 

 picked up in Canterbury during the last few- 

 years. He could only say that he believed it to 

 be a fact that the old curiosity shops at Canter- 

 bury were always worth going to, because they 

 could always find some bargain— the prices were 

 not exhorbitant. There were certain centres 

 which were good, and others which were bad. 

 Among the good centres were Bath — and Tun- 

 bridge AVells usel to be— and Canterbury was 

 still a nii.ire or less unexploited centre. 



•THE ENTOMOLOGICAL CONGRESS AT BRUSSELS. 

 By Db. MALCOLM BURR, B.A., F.C.S. 



At the meeting of the Society on November 80, 

 Dr. Malcolm Burr spoke briefly of the Entomologi- 

 cal Congress at Brussels, at which, though there 

 were representatives from all over the n'orld, the 

 British preponderated. He spoke of the great 

 need for entoUiOlogical study in view of the great 

 devastation caused by inpect pests, citing as an ex- 

 ample the havoc wrought by the gipsy moth in the 

 forests of Massachusets, U.S.A. Dr. Burr then pro- 

 ceeded to give a most interesting account of his 

 visit to the Canary Islands and Madeira last 

 autumn, describing the physical conditions and 

 the tlora of the islands, and speaking at some 



length of the special object of his visit — to hunt 

 for grasshoppers, of which there are many peculiar 

 kinds in the Canaries, and for earwigs in Madeira. - 

 Dr. Burr showed specimens of both. On the 

 voyage home, the ship put in at Lisbon the 

 morning after the outbreak of the revolution, and 

 Dr. Burr described what he saw of the fighting 

 from the deck. When the ship reached Oporto 

 the following day they found everyone m complete 

 ignorance of the state of affairs in the country, 

 owing to the destruction of all means of com- 

 munication. 



«*THE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES AND DISADYANTAGKS OF IMPORT 



DUTIES." 



As a result of the President's suggestion that 

 the Society should sometimes take up the con- 

 sideration of matters which come prominently 

 before the public, the members of the Society hal 

 a debate at their meeting on Wednesday, Decem- 

 ber 14, at the Beaney Institute, Canterbury, on 

 " The Economic Advantages and Disadvantages of 

 Import Duties." The heavy rain which fell all 

 the evening had the effect of reducing the attend- 

 ance to a small one, but those present entered into 

 the interest of the debate thoroughly. 



Dr. Graham AVills, the President, said that that 

 was going to be a test ease of what they could do 



in the way of debating some of the subjects very 

 much before the public. He thought their Society 

 had many members who because of their practical 

 experience could deal with such subjects, so that 

 the other members might get a great deal of 

 advantage and real information upon those 

 matters. He wished it to be understood that 

 what they were doing that night was quite in an 

 experimental way. 



Mr. W. F. K. Mist, of Canterbury, opening the 

 debate in favour of import duties, said he would 

 discuss it from, the economic view rather than the 

 political. He claimed four things for it, that it 



