( cix ) 



THE PEESIDENTS ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen, 



You have just heard the Report of the Council, and I 

 think you will agree that the state of affairs which it discloses in 

 reference to the general progress of the Society and its present 

 financial position is one with which we have no reason to be 

 dissatisfied. Our meetings have been attended even better 

 than one could have expected considering the eventful nature 

 of the times through which we have been passing. The 

 subjects discussed and the exhibits shown have continued to 

 be as interesting as ever. We have had no lack of valuable 

 papers, although you may probably find the volume of Trans- 

 actions for the past year not quite so bulky as some of those 

 for preceding years ; but in their decision to limit its size the 

 Council have been influenced not so much by financial con- 

 siderations as by a desire to return to the old and well-approved 

 practice of issuing the first four Parts wdthin the year whose 

 date they bear. That practice seems to be in every way 

 desirable ; it helps to make the financial situation more easily 

 understood ; and it has decided advantages for the systematist 

 by saving him the trouble of giving double dates in his refer- 

 ences. It was insisted on in the days when for a short period 

 I was one of the Secretaries, and I remember well the anxious 

 moments we used to have towards the end of the year for 

 fear that Part IV would not be ready for issue before the 31st 

 of December. Knowing some of the difficulties with which 

 the Secretaries have to contend, I should like to remind 

 Fellows of the Society that when they contribute to the 

 Transactions, exhibit specimens, or speak at the meetings 

 they can, if they will only take the trouble, make the work 

 easier for them. 



