1 82 CONTINUITY. 



cation felt by the discovery of new truths, the expansion of 

 faculties, and extension of the boundaries of knowledge, have 

 been doubtless a sufficient inducement to the study of nature ; 

 while, on more practical minds, the reality, the certainty, the 

 progressive character of the acquisitions of natural science, 

 and the enormously increased means which its applications 

 give, have impressed its importance as a minister to daily 

 wants and a contributor to ever-increasing material comforts, 

 luxury, and power. 



Though by no means the only one, yet an important cause 

 of the rapid advance of science is the growth of associations 

 for promoting the progress either of physical knowledge 

 generally, or of special branches of it. Since the foundation 

 of the Royal Society, now more than two centuries ago, a 

 vast number of kindred societies have sprung up in this 

 country and in Europe. The advantages conferred by these 

 societies are manifold : they enable those who are devoted to 

 scientific research to combine, compare, and check their obser- 

 vations ; to assist, by the thoughts of several minds, the pro- 

 motion of the enquiry undertaken ; they contribute from a 

 joint purse to such efforts as their members deem most worthy ; 

 they afford a means of submitting to a competent tribunal 

 notices and memoirs, and of obtaining for their authors and 

 others, by means of the discussions which ensue, information 

 given by those best informed on the particular subject ; they 

 enable the author to judge whether it is worth his while to 

 pursue the subjects he has brought forward ; and they defray 

 the expense of printing and publishing such researches as are 

 thought meritorious. 



These advantages, and others might be named, pertain to 

 the Association the thirty-sixth meeting of which we are this 

 evening assembled to inaugurate; but it has, from its inter- 

 mittent and peripatetic character, advantages which belong 

 to none of the societies which are fixed as to their locality. 



Among these are the novelty and freshness of an annual 

 meeting, which, while it brings together old members of the 

 Association, many of whom only meet on this occasion, 

 always adds a quota of new members, infusing fresh blood, 

 and varying the social character of our meetings. 



