522 Meeting of the British Association. | Oct., 
apartments for a family at about five times that ordinarily charged at 
a good hotel, their hosptable invitation would have been courteously 
declined. This is a subject which ought to be definitely mentioned 
in all future invitations, so that members may not again be 
asked 18/. for the same accommodation which cost about 55s. at 
Newcastle, Bath, and Birmingham. As a set-off against the 
rapacity of the lodging-house keepers, it deserves prominent mention 
that the private hospitality at Nottimgham has been of a character 
unprecedented in the annals of the Association. Upwards of 500 
houses in the town were opened for the reception, as guests, of 
visitors who before the meeting were totally unknown to their 
hosts, but who now retain a grateful recollection of their boundless 
hospitality and courteous generosity. 
The General Committee met for the first time on Wednesday, 
the 22nd of August, when the several Reports of the Council, the 
Treasurer, the Kew Committee, and the Parliamentary Committee 
were read. 
In the evening a crowded audience assembled in the theatre to 
listen to the Address of William Robert Grove, Esq., Q.C., M.A., 
F.R.S., President of the British Association. 
Tur Presipent’s ADDRESS. 
After a graceful allusion to the progress which had been made 
by Nottingham in the application of machinery, almost resembling 
organic beings in delicacy of structure, by which products of 
world-wide reputation were fabricated, the President proceeded to 
draw comparison between the British Association and other learned 
bodies. Apart from the novelty and freshness of an Annual 
Meeting, the great advantage resulting from the visits of this 
great Parliament to new localities was, that while it imparted 
fresh local knowledge to the visitors, it left behind stimulating 
memories. The tardy recognition of Science by the Government, 
and the ignorance of elementary scientific truths among so-called 
well-educated men, were eloquently alluded to, and the hope was 
expressed that the slight infiltration of scientific studies, now 
happily commenced in our Universities, our public and private 
schools, would extend till it occupied its fair space in the education of 
the young, and that those who might be able learnedly to discourse 
on the Eolicdigamma would not be ashamed of knowing the principles 
of an air-pump, an electrical machine, or a telescope. Referring 
to the recognition of Science by the Government, the Report of the 
Kew Committee for this year afforded a subject of congratulation. 
The Kew Observatory might possibly become an important national 
establishment, and if so, while it would not lose its character of a 
home of untrammelled physical research, it would have superadded 
