•297 



We liad an admirable illustration of this a few evenings ago, when, 

 in this room, we listened to tlie able and eminently practical address of 

 one of our own members — Mr. W. P. Anderson — in his cai)acity of 

 President of the Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society. Following 

 him so closely, 1 feel quite overshadowed, and I sincerely fear that there 

 are some here to-night who will be as much disappointed in my few re- 

 marks, as they were interested by his masterly treatment of a pro- 

 foundly interesting to[»ic. 



The papers presented to the Club at these Soirees are, by its Con- 

 stitution, restricted (and very wisely so) in their range; they must 

 treat of the natural histoi y of the locality, or be descriptive of original 

 work done by the. author. A certain license has, however, always been 

 accorded to the President, so that, loosed from the chain that restricts 

 his fellow- workers, he may have an opportunity of reviewing the work 

 accomplished in other places, or of treating some inviting subject in a 

 more coraj)rehensive and liberal manner than he could otherwise do. 



I am, however, unable to avail myself in any degree of the oppor^ 

 (unity which h IS occurred to ni3. My time since the close of the 

 collecting season has been fully occupied, and such portion of it as I could 

 devote to the Club has been utilized in perhaps as useful a manner as 

 the prepiration ot an Inagural. 



I should like to be able this evening to read you a paper on our 

 Hymeiioptera, and to accompany it with a list of our species, pre- 

 pared jointly by my esteemed co-laborer, Mr. Guignaid, and myself. 

 The mass of material collected by us during the summer renders it im- 

 possible to do so at present, as it will require a great deal of time to 

 determine and arrange the specimens, and involve much correspondence 

 and exchange with entomologists having special knowledge of this 

 order. Many species new to science have also been di- covered, and 

 these must he described before they can be entered on our lists. 



Unable then to treat of the subject to which ray attention has 

 been devoted almost entirely since my election to office, it has seen)ed 

 quite impossible for me to select any topic which the time at my dis- 

 Dosal, limited by work in other directions, wouLl allow me to make of 

 any value or interest to you. I have thought it better not to waste 

 my own time in endeavoring to make a hurried com;)ilation of a sub- 



