INAUGURAL ADDEESS 



BY 



SIR JAMES HECTOR, M.D., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 



PEESIDENT. 

 CHEISTCHUECH, THURSDAY, 15th JANUARY, 1891. 



When I rashly replied in the affirmative to the telegram 

 which I received from our Secretary in Melbourne^ asking 

 me to undertake the honourable and responsible duties 

 which I have to commence this evening, I fear I did not 

 fully realise the difficulties of the position ; but since then 

 the sense of my unfitness for the task has become very 

 oppressive. To address an assembly of this kind on general 

 science must involve unusual difficulties, owing to the 

 audience being largely composed of those who, only taking 

 a casual interest in scientific discussions, look chiefly to the 

 results ; while, at tlie same time, there are present pro- 

 fessional specialists in almost every branch of knowledge. 

 How is it, then, possible for any one who, like myself, has 

 .never enjoyed opportunities for gaining experience as a 

 teacher and public speaker, so to balance his words as to 

 avoid offending the specialists with crude and imperfect 

 statements, and, at the same time, escape wearying the 

 general audience with the discussion of matters that will 

 find a more fitting battle-ground in the sectional work of 

 our Association ? 



I feel that on this occasion I must be ruled by the 

 interest of the majority, and claim the forbearance of my 

 fellow-workers in science if I have to refer in a sketchy 

 way to subjects in which tliey are deeply interested, and 

 far more learned than I profess to be. 



