ADDRESS. livii 



other practical subjects are found to have more than one aspect, and to re- 

 quire more than one mode of treatment. With us, facts well ascertained, 

 conclusions rightly drawn, will ever be welcome, from whatever quarter of 

 the horizon of science they make their appearance. Whatever societies cul- 

 tivate these objects, they are our allies, and we will help them, if we may. 

 With pleasure we receive proofs of the good work done in limited districts by 

 the many admirable Field Clubs formed by our countrymen ; whether, like 

 those of Tyneside and the Cotswolds, and in this immediate vicinity those of 

 Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Dudley, they explore the minutest re- 

 cesses of our hills and glens ; or, bike the rangers of the Alps, bring us new 

 facts regarding glaciers, ancient climate, and altered levels of land and sea. 



By these agreeable gatherings natural history is most favourably com- 

 mended ; and in the activity and enlarged views of the officers who conduct 

 them, the British Association recognizes the qualities by which the vitality 

 of scientific research is maintained, and its benefits diffused among the pro- 

 vincial Institutions of the Empire. 



Such, Gentlemen, are some of the thoughts which fill the minds of those, 

 who, like our Brewster, and Harcourt, and Forbes, and Murchison, and Dau- 

 beny, stood, anxious but hopeful, by the cradle of this British Association ; 

 and who now meet to judge of its strength, and measure its progress. When, 

 more than thirty years ago, this Parliament of science came into being, its 

 first child -language was employed to ask questions of Nature ; now, in riper 

 years, it founds on the answers received further and more definite inquiries 

 directed to the same prolific source of useful knowledge. Of researches in 

 science completed, in progress, or in beginning, each of our annual volumes 

 contains some three hundred or more passing notices, or full and permanent 

 records. This digest and monument of our labours is indeed in some respects 

 incomplete, since it does not always contain the narrative or the result of 

 undertakings which we started, or fostered, or sustained ; and I own to 

 having experienced on this account once or twice a feeling of regret. But 

 the regret was soon lost in the gratification of knowing that other and equally 

 beneficial channels of pubbcation had been found ; and that by these ex- 

 amples it was proved how truly the Association kept to the real purpose of 

 its foundation, " the Advancement of Science," and how heartily it rejoiced 

 in this advancement without looking too closely to its own share in the 

 triumph. Here, indeed, is tbe stronghold of the British Association. Where- 

 ever and by whatever means sound learning and useful knowledge are ad- 

 vanced, there to us are friends. Whoever is privileged to step beyond his 

 fellows on the road of scientific discovery, will receive our applause, and, if 

 need be, our help. Welcoming and joining in the labour of all, we shall 

 keep our place among those who clear the ways and remove the obstacles 

 from the paths of science ; and whatever be our own success in the rich 

 fields which lie before us, however little we may now know, we shall 

 prove that in this our day we knew at least the value of knowledge, and 

 joined hearts and hands in the endeavour to promote it. 



