Proceedings. xlili 
made some enquiries, and have been informed that it is very 
small, and Mr. Moore has informed me that it would be 
about £30. 
2. That the members of the Society should lay themselves 
out to give lectures elsewhere if called upon, of course on terms. 
It is an open secret that the Council have been asked to designate 
gentlemen willing to give lectures on certain subjects. The 
Council have willingly done what they were asked; but what I 
particularly wish to say is, would it not be desirable for the 
Council to announce this fact to all the world? We have, as 
you all know, some of the most eminent persons in the United 
Kingdom amongst our members, and I feel sure that these ladies 
and gentlemen would only be too pleased to place their great 
knowledge at the service of others if they were approached in 
the proper way. 
8. That the members should endeavour to attend the sectional 
meetings in greater numbers, for it is very disheartening to our 
eminent members that, when they have taken a great deal of 
trouble over some subject, there are so few present to listen to 
them and ask them questions. 
4. That at the ordinary meetings the Council should see that 
the papers read are the best of their kind. I wish to emphasize 
this more particularly, for it is these papers which alone appear 
in the ‘ Transactions,’ and it is by the ‘ Transactions’ alone that 
the Society is judged by the public at large. For the last two 
or three years this has been the aim of the Council. The cost 
has certainly been heavy, but what has been the result? I do 
not like to prophesy, but I cannot help thinking that the decline 
in the membership will shortly be arrested, and that the Society 
will again increase. You-perhaps will ask why this should be. 
I think that the answer is, that a Society such as ours caters for 
two kinds of members, the one kind whom I will denominate as 
the workers, and the others who, though they take an interest 
in the Society and support it by their contributions, and would 
probably do more if asked, are unable to work owing to age and 
other occupations. These members carefully look through and 
read the ‘ Transactions.’ If they are good, these members show 
them with pride to their friends, and we are indebted to them 
for several new members. I need hardly specify what they do 
if the ‘ Transactions’ are poor. They lose heart, and cease to 
take any interest, and finally resign. Ladies and gentlemen, we 
cannot afford to lose them. They are one of our great main- 
stays. The workers are comparatively few, probably not above 
one-fourth of our members are workers; but our other members 
are proud of the workers, and the better the work the greater 
becomes the reward of the work in the increasing number of 
those who join for the purpose of helping the workers, dare I 
