"ai! M^hnT'^^o.] I^oyal Microscopical Society. 117 



in his 'History of the Microscope,' copious extracts from these 

 volumes, wliich Hterally teem with improvements in the construc- 

 tion of this instrument, from the very first puUished paper — viz. 

 ' An Account of the Improvement of Optic Glasses by Campani ' — 

 to the recorded discovery of Mr. Lister, who raised the compound 

 microscope from its primitive and almost useless condition to that 

 of being the most important instrument ever yet bestowed by art 

 upon the investigator of Nature. I would rather commend for 

 your frequent and profitable perusal the whole ' Transactions of the 

 Eoyal Society,' extending over more than 200 years. They are a 

 mine of intellectual wealth ; and the zeal and determined labour of 

 those who drill and bore the solid earth for that gold for the body 

 which perisheth, may be held up for the imitation of those who 

 desire more anxiously gold for the mind. With these few observa- 

 tions I offer you this great commentary on universal nature, while, 

 as a Fellow of your Society, I still retain the virtual possession of a 

 gift now absolutely your own. 



I connect at once the present with the past in addressing you 

 now as " Fellows of the Eoyal Microscopical Society." The change 

 in our designation and the charter which led to it were alluded to 

 as simple facts by my predecessor in the chau*, and that with a 

 modesty which I am not bound to imitate, inasmuch as it concealed 

 his own claim to the honour of procuring these privileges. Five 

 years ago, at the official meeting of the Council, my predecessor 

 strongly urged that my name should be placed first in the selected 

 list of officers for the following year ; but I knew myself, and I 

 knew my friend ; and it will be admitted by all that I exercised a 

 wise discretion in then refusing the profiered honour, and in joining 

 heartily with the Council in securing for our Society the untiring 

 energy and practical knowledge of business which have enabled our 

 late Chief Officer to leave behind him in uneffaceable characters 

 the marks of Eoyal favour in the title " Eoyal " which Her Most 

 Gracious Majesty conferred, and in the distinguished honour of 

 receiving H.E.H. the Prince of Wales as our Patron. It is 

 therefore but a just debt of gratitude, after his doubly biennial 

 occupation of the chair — viz. during the last two years under our 

 ffi'st condition and the first two years under the higher standing of 

 our Society — that I should now ofier to Mr. Glaisher, in the name 

 and on behalf of the Society, our cordial acknowledgment of his 

 faithful services, and our hearty good wishes for his future wel- 

 fare. 



The three oldest members of your Society, who were mainly 

 instrumental in its formation, and who therefore had the honour of 

 applying for a Eoyal Charter of Incorporation, were Dr. Bowerbank, 

 Mr. Ward, and myself. The last address from the chair announced 

 the death of our dear and valued fellow- worker and first treasurer, 



