77 



ANNUAL ADDRESS TO THE MEMBERS 



^outh London Ofntomoloiiical and IJatural Difitorii 



By W. J. Kaye, F.E.S. 



Read January 26 fh, 1 9 1 1 . 



AX THEN you did me the honour to elect me your president 

 * ^ last January, I had some misgivings as to whether I 

 should be able to accept the honour, as I had arranged to leave 

 England for a few months' tour in South Brazil. You were, 

 however, kind enough to grant me leave of absence, and to 

 keep the post open for me, and now, although only in fact 

 an eight months' president, I have no alternative but to 

 deliver an address. To Mr. Sich, who presided at the 

 meetings in my absence, I owe a special debt of gratitude, 

 which it gives me much pleasure to openly acknowledge. 



Opinions vary as to what should be included, and what 

 excluded, in the annual address. The work of our Society, 

 however, must always come in for our first consideration. 

 The reports of the Treasurer and Council are fairly satis- 

 factory, notwithstanding the apparent, but actually unreal, 

 shrinkage in the number of our members. The average 

 attendance is better than ever it has been, and stands at the 

 high figure of 34, which surely, if it does anything, points to 

 the interest taken in the meetings. A large membership is 

 not everything in a society, but a large attendance is a very 

 satisfactory feature, and if we had even a smaller member- 



