304 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



The additions comprise the reports of most of the scientific socie- 

 ties of the world, reports of the many departments of the Government, 

 files of various scientific journals and periodicals, geological State sur- 

 veys, and reports from nearly every State in the Union, representing 

 almost every subject pertaining to the natural sciences. 



Slow progress has been made during the year upon the index cata- 

 logue previously commenced, the limited time of those in charge of 

 the Library permitting them to give but a small part of their labor 

 daily to this work. The great needs of the Library — and these are 

 assuming immense proportions — are the binding and preserving of the 

 many thousand unbound volumes and pamphlets, and the completion 

 of the inde.x;. I trust the day is not far distant when provision will 

 be made for these pressing needs, greatly enhancing the value of this 



department of the Academy. ^ t- tt t ■, ■ 



i, , „ C E. Harrison, Librarian. 



February 3, 1092. 



president's annual ADDRESS. 

 James Thompson, February 3, 1892. 



The following address, prepared by Mr. Thompson as a review of 

 the year's work was, in his absence, presented by his daughter: 



Fellow Members of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sci- 

 ences — Ladies and Gentlemen: 



I believe it is the rule as well as the custom for the President of the 

 Academy to give an annual address, a summing up of the year's prog- 

 ress. I am of the opinion that in my case this rule would be better 

 honored in the breach than in the observance, inasmuch as the mate- 

 rial is scant, the laborers few, and the skill to exhibit what little there 

 is, sadly lacking. It is like making bricks without straw, and conse- 

 quently the task is rather difficult. It may be true that in looking 

 at the years passed over and the labor spent we are ready to exclaim, 

 in the words of the poet — 



Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 



The saddest are these : It might have been. 



It might have been that we would have seen the Academy building 

 extended to its originally contemplated dimensions, if — if — ! It 

 might have been that some big-hearted, rich lover of science would 

 have endowed the society with a fund large enough to place it upon a 

 sure and lasting basis, if — if — ! It might have been that greater 

 numbers of young men, imbued with love of science, would have fol- 

 lowed the example of some of the earlier workers and trained them- 

 selves to continue the work begun, if — if — ! It might have been 

 that some of us might have done more and better than we have, if — 

 if — ! All these and more might have been, if — ; but each one can 

 fill out the sentence to please himself. 



But despite difficulties, hopes not realized, and regrets for what 



