26 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[February, 



The Buffalo Meeting of the Am- 

 erican Society of Microscopists.* 



The Second Annual Meeting of 

 the "American Society of Micro- 

 scopists took place at Butfalo, 

 IST.Y,, during the month of August, 

 1879. 



Opening Session. — The proceed- 

 ings opened at the Central School 

 Building (High School of Buifalo), 

 on Tuesday, August 19th. Dr. 

 R. H. Ward, the President of the 

 Society, called the meeting to order 

 and introduced Dr. H. R. Hopkins, 

 the President of the local com- 

 mittee, who delivered the following 

 address of welcome : 



" Mr. President and Gentle- 

 men : Let us exchange congratula- 

 tions upon this occasion of the 

 meeting of the American Society 

 of Microscopists. 



" I most heartily congratulate 

 each and all of you who have the 

 pleasure of remembering that you 

 assisted in the work of founding 

 this Society, and I also congratulate 

 all of you who have the opportunity 

 of attending this meeting and of 

 enrolling your names on the list of its 

 members. I also ask you to congra- 

 tulate the citizens of Buffalo upon 

 the fact that this meeting is held in 

 our city. 



" I congratulate you upon the 

 hearty cordiality with which you 

 are made welcome by every mem- 

 ber of your local committee, and 

 the various societies and associa- 

 tions which that committee repre- 

 sents, and I ask you to congratulate 

 us upon the cheering prospect that 

 our expectations of the pleasure of 

 listening to your deliberations are 

 so near fruition. 



"Again I congratulate you upon 



* This Report was written for this Jour- 

 nal by Mr. George E. Fell, to whom our 

 thanks are due. — Ed. 



the fact that there is an American 

 Society of Microscopists, and I be- 

 lieve that the work of recording 

 what Americans have done and are 

 doing for the advancement of this 

 dejDartment of science, can safely 

 be trusted to the future of this So- 

 ciety. With this thought in my 

 mind I must congratulate you upon 

 the j)i'ospect of having with you 

 one who has had the rare good for- 

 tune to teach the world how to 

 make objectives, whose angles strad- 

 dle far outside the limits which au- 

 thorities had fixed as the boundaries 

 of the possible. Let us give all 

 honor to the modest yet noble Am- 

 erican, Mr. Charles A. Spencer, at 

 once the father and the genius of 

 modern microscopy. 



" Bright and pleasing to me as 

 are these thoughts with which I 

 would welcome you on this occa- 

 sion, there are others which call for 

 still more hearty congratulations. I 

 sincerely congratulate you upon the 

 nature of the study which this So- 

 ciety is intended to facilitate and 

 encourage. The labor of the micro- 

 scopist is a hopeful labor, and al- 

 though discouragement and des- 

 pondency will come to all, although 

 many must fail and but few suc- 

 ceed, yet in the light of the glo- 

 rious triumphs of the various 

 makers and workers of the micro- 

 scope — triumphs which within the 

 period spanned by the memory of 

 many now present, have produced 

 the high degree of perfection of our 

 optical and mechanical appliances ; 

 triumphs which have given birth to 

 whole departments of scientific 

 knowledge — neither discourage- 

 ment nor despondency can long 

 prevail. But beyond and above the 

 glorious inspiration which history 

 gives us, are we not made hopeful 

 by the feeling that the indomitable 

 perseverance and faith which im- 

 pel the student to strive and seek 



