I. n ] 



While speaking of the Secretaries, there was one point to which he 

 should like to allude — the statement which was sometimes made 

 (though it had never been made to him) as to the important and 

 continuous part played by Mr. Wonfor in the affairs of the Society. 

 It was said there was too much of Mr. Wonfor; and so, pei'haps, 

 there was in one sense. But this was the fault of the Members 

 themselves ; if they came forward and did their duty better than 

 they bad yet done, there would be no occasion for him to act as a 

 stop-gap so often as he had to. 



Knowing Mr. Wonfor, he was in a position to say that no man 

 had less desire to monopolise the time of the meetings than he ; he 

 would only be too glad if the other Members came forward and took 

 their share in the discussions, without falling back so much upon 

 him. His position, however, was one which must always be 

 recognised, for the greater portion of the burden of the Society 

 fell upon his shoulders. 



Those Members who, during his period of office, had con- 

 tributed papers, he now took the opportunity of thanking ; and he 

 was pleased to notice that their efforts had not been confined to the 

 comparatively small sphere embraced by the Society, but that, 

 through the medium of the Press, they had been made known to 

 the public, and had, he believed, in many cases, been extensively 

 read. 



With the Microscopical Members he was, perhaps, moi-e at 

 home than the others, and he would here hint to them the advisa- 

 bility of coming out with their instruments more than they did at 

 the ordinary meetings. To some, perhaps, it might appear that 

 the results obtained from the Society were not so great as they 

 might be. But it should always be remembered that the majority 

 of the Members, being engaged in professions or business, had not 

 the necessary time at their command to devote to original 

 research; all they were able to do was to make themselves in some 

 measure acquainted with the labours of those who devoted the 

 whole of their time to the advancement of particular studies. And 

 in doing this they felt all the better, the habits which they thus 

 acquired proving to be most useful in other walks of life ; they 

 were led to be studious, careful, and exact, and the possession of 

 these qualities could not but be productive of good results. 



