OXxil Proceedings. 
were reserved for makers of optical instruments, of whom a large 
number greatly contributed to the success of the Soirée by the 
exhibition of about seventy-five microscopes. Mr. Lee, in re- 
ferring to this event at the first Annual General Meeting, 
said :—‘‘Our Soirée on the 28rd November last was, as the 
Committee has reported to you, a great success, as showing what 
our Club could do for itself, and the sympathy it enjoyed of 
older societies and scientific friends in London. It met with 
universal commendation, and raised the Club greatly in public 
estimation ’’; and, as you know, this function has ever since 
been regarded as one of the most important and interesting 
fixtures of the Club. As will be seen from the following, it 
steadily grew in public esteem :—In 1874, 172 microscopes were 
exhibited, and 625 persons were present. In 1876, there were 
168 microscopes shown, and 788 persons present, 281 tickets 
being sold. In 1878, the ninth Soirée, the members still in- 
creased, 173 microscopes were exhibited, and 795 visitors being 
present. During the next eight years (1877 to 1886) the number 
of visitors was still maintained, the largest on record being 893 
in 1885, when 187 microscopes were displayed. 
Since 1886, the numbers, both of microscopes and visitors, 
have shown a decrease, although for the succeeding seven years 
the number of visitors varied between 567 and 690. 
There can be but one opinion, that much of the early success 
of the Club was due to the very efficient manner in which Mr. 
Lee filled the presidential chair, the unflagging zeal he mani- 
fested in its welfare and the tact he displayed, coupled with the 
fact of his intimate acquaintance with eminent men of science, 
whom he made use of to further the interests of the Club. 
At the same time, we must not forget that fashion has great 
weight in the public mind, and at the time our Society was 
formed the microscope was popular, and was to numbers a sort 
of scientific play-toy, in the same way that the camera and the 
phonogram are holding the field of to-day. Drawbacks it had, 
and these, after a few years, exerted themselves to such an 
extent that, as a popular toy, the decline soon set in. Firstly, 
it was an expensive toy, and, secondly, it was one that could 
afford pleasure to only a limited number at one time, then only 
under certain conditions. At the present time the microscope is 
used only where microscopic research and delicate examinations 
have to be made. 
It was chiefly owing to the popularity of the microscope at 
that time that our Society was founded. In those early days, 
at our monthly meetings, eight or ten microscopes were con- 
stantly to be seen, and at our popular November Soirées 150 to 
175 were to be found. Where are they now? 
It cannot be said that Nature’s work has become so coarse and 
