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TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 



Section A.— MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 



President of the Section — Professor G. F. Fitzgerald, M.A., F.R.S. 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6. 



The President delivered the following Address : — 



The British Association in Bath, and especially we here in Section A, have to 

 deplore a very great loss. We confidently anticipated profit and pleasure from the 

 presence in this chair of one of the leading spirits of English science, Dr. Schuster. 

 We deplore the loss and we deplore the cause of it. It is always sad when want 

 of strength makes the independent dependent, and it is doubly sad when a life's 

 work is"^thereby delayed ; and to selfish humanity it is trebly sad when, as in this 

 case, we ourselves are involved m the loss. And our loss is great. Dr. Schuster 

 has been investigating some very important questions. He has been studying elec- 

 tric discharsres in gases, and he has been investigating the probably allied question 

 of the variations of terrestrial magnetism. We anticipated his matured pronoumce- 

 ments upon these subjects, and also the advantage of his very wide general infor- 

 mation upon physical questions, and the benefit of his judicial mind while presiding 



here. 



As to myself, his substitute, I cannot express how much gi'atified I feel at the 

 distinguished honoiu- done me in asking me to preside. It has been one of the 

 ambitions of my life to be worthy of it, and 1 will do my best to deserve your 

 confidence ; man can do no more, and upon such a subject ' the less said the soonest 

 mended.' 



I suppose most former occupants of this chair have looked over the addresses of 

 their predecessors to see what sort of a thing was expected from them. I find that 

 very few had the courage to dehver no address. Most have devoted themselves to 

 broad general questions, such as the relations of mathematics to physics, or more 

 generally deductive to inductive science. On the other hand, several have dealt 

 each with his own speciality. On looking back over these addresses my attention 

 was specially arrested by the first two past presidents of this section, whose bodily 

 presence wecanuot have here. They were presidents of Section A in consecutive 

 years. In 1874 Trovost Jellett occupied this chair, and in 1875 Professor Balfour 

 Stewart occupied it. Both have gone from us since the last meeting of this Associa- 

 tion. Each gave a characteristic address. The Provost, with the clearness and 

 brilliancy that distinguished his great intellect, plunged through the deep and 

 broad questions surrounding the mechanism of the universe, and with impassioned 

 earnestness claimed on behalf of science the right to prosecute^ its investigations 

 until it attains, if it ever does attain, to a mechanical explanation of all things. 

 This intrepid honesty to carry to their utmost the principles of whose truth he was 

 convinced, the utter abhorrence of the shadow of double dealing with truth, was 

 eminently characteristic of one whom ill, but especially we of Trinity College^ 



