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THE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS. 
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, 
I Finp it difficult either to speak, or not to speak, of 
the unprecedented and most inauspicious circumstances under 
which we entered upon the Session now expiring—circum- 
stances which were fraught with deep personal sorrow for 
many ; with awe, astonishment, perplexity, and disappoint- 
ment of anticipations for all—circumstances, which caused 
this Session to commence, as no Session has ever before 
commenced, with an Interregnum, and but for which, at this 
very moment, not I but another would be occupying this 
Chair and delivering this Address. 
These things cannot be forgotten, but it seems useless and 
only painful to dwell upon them. I turn, therefore, to con- 
sider facts as they now stand. What may we infer, from 
such evidence as is before us, as to the position and prospects 
of the Society now and in the immediate future ? 
You have heard the Report of the Council, and it cannot 
be necessary for me to say over again what is said there 
already. You will not have failed to notice the encouraging 
symptom of yet another rise in the total number of our 
Fellows. Most of you are far better judges than I of 
financial matters, and the Treasurer’s accounts are before you 
to speak for themselves. I shall only refer to an item which 
is surely hopeful—a considerable increase in the profits from 
sale of Transactions. 
These Transactions to my mind are—not necessarily the 
most valuable part of the work which such a Society as ours 
does or can do; but at least they are a very valuable part of 
it, and certainly they are that part which is most influential 
in placing the Society and its work on a pedestal of eminence 
in the eyes of the general scientific public. By them, more 
