THE PRESIDENTS ADDRESS 
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, 
It is for the first time that we hold the Annual Meeting 
in our house, and we may look back upon the session which 
ends to-night as the first year of a new era in the annals of 
our Society. When the matter of a new house owned by the 
Society itself was first mooted, there were many who looked 
upon the proposition as a hazardous experiment and who 
would have preferred to continue in the old quarters and not 
take any risks. There is certainly a risk attached to every- 
thing new and untried, but if after due consideration this risk 
is found small in comparison with the advantages of a new 
move, the demand for progress must be obeyed. The year we 
have behind us has fully borne out the prediction of those who 
advocated the scheme and so successfully carried it out. You 
have heard the Council’s Report, and I think you will agree 
with me that we may congratulate ourselves on the status of 
the Entomological Society of London, not only as regards its 
finances and the increased number of its Fellows, but also in 
respect to its position among scientific societies. However, 
before a new home is in perfect order a great deal of important 
work is required of those who are responsible for it, and our 
most grateful thanks are due to the Hon. Secretaries, the 
Treasurer and the Hon. Librarian for the untiring devotion 
they gave to their tasks. The removing and rearrangement 
of the Library in particular was a difficult undertaking, which, 
however, has been very well accomplished, and the books 
for the first time can be conveniently consulted by the Fellows 
of the Society. The secretarial and editorial work, unfortun- 
ately, has been much hampered by two deplorable events. 
Karly in the year the Rev. George Wheeler was compelled by 
