1 48 POPULAR LECTURES AND ADDRESSES. 



" of impressing on the Government the conviction 

 " that the love of scientific pursuits, and the means 

 " of pursuing them, are not confined to the metro- 

 " polis ; and I hope that when the Government is 

 " fully impressed with the knowledge of the great 

 " desire entertained to promote science in every 

 " part of the empire, they will see the necessity of 

 " affording it due encouragement, and of giving 

 " every proper stimulus to its advancement." 



Besides abstracts of papers read, and discussions 

 held, before the Sections, the annual Reports of the 

 British Association contain a large mass of valuable 

 matter of another class. It was an early practice 

 of the Association, a practice that might well be 

 further developed, to call occasionally for a special 

 report on some particular branch of science from a 

 man eminently qualified for the task. The reports 

 received in compliance with these invitations have 

 all clone good service in their time, and they remain 

 permanently useful as landmarks in the history of 

 science. Some of them have led to vast practical 

 results ; others of a more abstract character arc 

 to this day as powerful and instructive 



