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has not yet arrived, and in the meantime it is pleasant to Ihid 

 that so many bodies are independently, hut in perfect harmony, 

 assisting in the advancement of that branch of Science to which 

 we are devoted, and the furtherance of which is the sole object 

 of our corporate existence. 



I beg again to congratulate you upon the smooth working 

 of our new electoral law. The redistribution of the seats in our 

 Council has been accomplished without a jar, and I have again 

 to announce an unopposed return. No other candidate having 

 been nominated, I have to declare that Mr. McLachlan is the 

 President for 1885 ; that the Treasurer, Secretaries and Librarian 

 have been re-elected ; and that Messrs. Billups, Druce, Dunning, 

 Goss, Meldola, Slater, Stevens and Weir are the other Members 

 of the Council for the coming year. 



And now. Gentlemen, it only remains for me to say Farewell. 

 To the Officers and other Members of the Council my warmest 

 thanks are due for their co-operation and support. The attend- 

 ance at the Council Meetings has been unprecedented. It may 

 seem invidious to make any selection, but from the necessity of 

 the case the successful conduct of the Society's affairs mainly 

 depends upon the activity and tact of the gentlemen who occupy 

 the posts of Treasurer, Secretary and Librarian, Those offices 

 well filled, the Society can survive a roi faineant ; but pardon me 

 if I warn you against a repetition of the experiment of electing 

 a mere dabbler in Science to be your President. Believe me, I 

 am deeply grateful to each and all of you for your kindness to 

 myself personally ; but I heartily rejoice that my term of office 

 has expired, and that I am to be succeeded by one who is an 

 Entomologist in fact as well as in name. Fifteen years ago I 

 resigned the acting Secretaryship into the hands of Piobert 

 McLachlan : it is with far greater pleasure that I now vacate 

 for him the Presidential Chair. 



