ADDRESS 



BT 



WILLIAM HOPKINS, Esq., M.A., V.P.R.S., F.G.S., 



Pkesioent of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 



Gentlemen of the British Association, 

 Before I proceed to those remarks which I may have to address to you on 

 matters of science, let me avail myself of this opportunity of expressing to 

 you the sense I entertain of the honour which you have conferred upon me 

 in electing me to the Presidency of the Association. When this high office 

 was first proposed to me, I could not but feel the importance of the duties 

 attached to it. I felt, also, that there must be others who had higher claims 

 to the honour than myself. But I was aware how frequently difficulties will 

 occur in the immediate appointment to such offices of the persons most com- 

 petent to fill them ; and, after having been invited to the office by those best 

 qualified to decide such points, I conceived it right not to shrink from its 

 responsibilities, but at once to accept it, with the determination of performing 

 the duties it might impose upon me to the best of my ability. I have had 

 the less hesitation in adopting this course from a knowledge of the effective 

 and ready assistance which I should always receive, not only from our excel- 

 lent Secretary, Mr. Phillips, but also from my predecessor in this Chair, who 

 is so intimately acquainted with the whole working of the Association, to 

 which he has rendered so long and so cheerfully such invaluable services. 

 After thanking you, Gentlemen, as I do most sincerely, for the high compli- 

 ment you have paid me, and assuring you of my best efforts in the cause of 

 the Association, I proceed to lay before you such statements and remarks on 

 scientific subjects as have presented themselves most prominently to my own 

 mind for this occasion. In doing this, I cannot but regret my inability to 

 do justice to many subjects which might be interesting to you ; and, indeed, 

 the limited time for which I should be justified in demanding your attention 

 to an oral communication, will oblige me to omit, this evening, several even 

 of those points which I was prepared to bring under your notice. 



Astronomical research still continues to prove to us how much more 

 populous is that portion of space occupied by the solar system than was 

 suspected only a few years ago. Between the 23rd of June, 1852, and the 

 6th of May, 1853, nine new planets were discovered, of which seven have been 



