ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, 
JOHN S. BILLINGs. 
Delivered December 4, 1886. 
SCIENTIFIC MEN AND THEIR DUTIES. 
Mr. Chairman and Fellow-Members of the Philosophical Society : 
The honor of the presidency of such a society as this—carrying 
with it, as it does, the duty of giving at the close of the term of 
office an address on some subject of general interest, has been aptly 
compared to the little book mentioned in the Revelations of St. 
John—the little book which was “sweet in the mouth but bitter in 
the belly.” I can only thank you for the honor, and ask your in- 
dulgence as to the somewhat discursive remarks which - am about 
to inflict upon you. ‘ 
There is a Spanish proverb to the effect that no man can at the 
same time ring the bell and walk in the procession. For a few mo- 
ments to-night I am to ring the bell, and being thus out of the pro- 
cession I can glance for a moment at that part of it which is nearest, 
At first sight it does not appear to be a very homogeneous or well- 
ordered parade, for the individual members seem to be scattering in 
every direction, and even sometimes to be pulling in opposite ways; 
yet there is, after all, a definite movement of the whole mass in the 
direction of what we call progress. It is not this general movement 
that I shall speak of, but rather of the tendencies of individuals or 
of certain classes; some of the molecular movements, so to speak, 
which are not only curious and interesting of themselves, but which 
have an important bearing upon the mass, and some comprehension 
of which is necessary to a right understanding of the present con- 
dition and future prospects of science in this country. 
The part of the procession of which I speak is made up of that body 
or class of men who are known to the public generally as “scientists,” 
“scientific men,” or “men of science.” As commonly used, all these 
terms have much the same significance ; but there are, nevertheless, 
shades of distinction between them, and in fact we need several other 
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