THE GROWTH OF SCIP^NCE IN THE NINETEENTH 

 CENTURY.' 



By Sib Michael Foster, K. C B. 



He who until a few minutes ago was your president said somewhere at 

 the meeting- at Bristol, and said with truth, that among the qualitications 

 needed for the high honor of presidency of the British Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, that of being old was becoming more and more 

 dominant. He who is now attempting to speak to you feels that he is 

 rapidl}" earning that distinction. But the association itself is older 

 than its president; it has seen pass away the men who, wise in their 

 generation, met at York on September 2T, 1S31, to found it; it has 

 seen other great men who in bj^gone years served it as presidents, or 

 otherwise helped it on, sink one after another into the grave. Each 

 year, indeed, when it plants its flag as a signal of its yearly meeting, 

 that Hag floats half-mast high in token of the great losses which the 

 passing 3'ear has brought. This ye&v is no exception; the losses, 

 indeed, are perhaps unwontedly heavy. I will not attempt to call 

 over the sad roll call; but I must say a word about one who was above 

 most others a faithful and zealous friend of the association. Sir 

 Douglas Galton joined the association in 1860. From 1871 to 181)5, as 

 one of the general secretaries, he bore, and bore to the great good of 

 the association, a large share of the burden of the association's work. 

 How great that share was is perhaps especial!}' known to the many 

 men. among whom I am proud to count mj^self, who during his long 

 term of office served in succession with him as brother general secre- 

 tary. In 189.5, at Ipswich, he left the post of general secretary, but 

 only to become president. So long and so constantly did he labor for 

 the good of the association that he seemed to be an integral part of it, 

 and meeting as we do to-da}^ and as we henceforward must do, without 

 Douglas- Galton, we feel something greatly missing. This year, per- 

 haps even more than in other 3'ears, we could have wished him to be 

 among us; for to-day the association ma}' look with joy, not unmixed 

 with pride, on the realization of a project in forwarding which it has had 



'Address' 1>y the i>resideiit of the British Ass(X'iation for the Advancement of Science 

 at the Dover meetmg, 1899. From Report of the Association for 1899, pp. 3-2.3. 



163 



