314 Notes and Comments. 
year of war would have been treated as a wild dream by, the 
most confirmed optimist two years ago. The debt which the 
nation owes to our sailor-men is already immeasurable. That 
before the enemy is crushed the debt will be increased we may 
be assured. The crisis of our fate has not yet passed, and we 
may be called upon to meet worse trials that have yet befallen 
us. But in the Navy is our sure and certain hope. ‘ That 
which they have done is but earnest of the things that they 
shall do.’ Under the protection of that silent shield the land 
may yield its increase untrodden by the invading foot, the 
trader may pursue his business undismayed by the threats of 
a thwarted foe, and the nation may rely that, while common 
prudence enjoins strict economy in husbanding our resources, 
sufficient supplies of food will be forthcoming for all the reason- 
able needs of the people. 
MAJOR H. G. LYONS’S ADDRESS. 
The importance of Geographical Research, a particularly 
important topic at the present time, was the subject of Major 
Lyons’s address to the Geographical Section. He opined 
that societies can do far more good in the promotion of geo- 
graphy as a science by assisting competent investigators, by 
the loan of books and instruments, and by giving facilities for 
the discussion and publication of technical papers, than by 
undertaking the investigation of problems themselves. Among 
the earlier Presidential Addresses of this Section some have 
laid stress on the importance of the recognition by the State 
of geography in education ; others have represented the great 
part which the Geographical Societies have played in support- 
ing and advancing the subject ; others again have urged the 
fuller recognition of geography by Educational Institutions. 
I would on this occasion attach especial importance to the 
prosecution of serious research by individuals in any branch 
of the subject that is accessible to them, to the discussion of 
the results of such work by others of like interests, and to the 
publication of such studies as having a real value in promoting 
the advancement of scientific geography. 
PROF. W. H. LANG’S ADDRESS. 
In his address to the Botanical Section, Prof. Lang dealt 
with Phyletic and Causal Morphology, Individual Development, 
The Constitution of the Shoot, Alternation of Generations, and 
The Seed and its Embryo. Prof. Lang concluded that though 
results may seem far off, we must not slacken, but redouble 
our efforts towards the solution of the fundamental problems 
of the organism. This can be done without any antagonism 
between pure and applied botany; indeed, there is every 
advantage in conducting investigations on plants of economic 
importance. It would be well if every botanist made himself 
Naturalist, 
