

MUSEUM OKGANISATION 1 



IT is twenty-six years since this Association met in Newcastle- 

 on-Tyne. It had then the advantage of being presided 

 over by one of the most distinguished and popular of your 

 fellow-townsmen. 



Considering the age usually attained by those upon whom 

 the honour of the presidency falls, and the length of time 

 which elapses before the Association repeats its visit, it must 

 have rarely happened that any one who has held the office 

 is spared, not only to be present at another meeting in the 

 town in which he has presided, but also to take such an active 

 part in securing its success, and to extend such a hospitable 

 welcome to his successor, as Lord Armstrong has done upon 

 the present occasion. 



The address which was delivered at that meeting must 

 have been full of interest to the great majority of those 

 present. It treated of many subjects more or less familiar 

 and important to the dwellers in this part of the world, and 

 it treated them with the hand of a master, a combination 

 which always secures the attention of an audience. 



When it came to my knowledge that in the selection of 

 the President for this meeting the choice had fallen upon me, 

 I was filled with apprehension. There was nothing in my 

 previous occupations or studies from which I felt that I could 

 evolve anything in special sympathy with what is universally 

 recognised as the prevailing genius of this district. I was, 



1 Presidential Address to the British Association for the Advancement of 

 Science. Newcastle-on-Tyne Meeting, llth September 1889. 



B 



