CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 38] 
of Gonville and Caius College in having placed some extremely convenient 
rooms at the disposal of the Delegates. 
The Secretary then read the Report of the Corresponding Societies 
Committee, which was adopted. 
The Chairman, before proceeding to deliver his Address, remarked that 
his object on that occasion was more to promote discussion and arouse 
attention on certain matters than to obtain any very definite expression 
of opinion. He proposed, after having read his Address, that there should 
be a discussion on the points raised therein, but perhaps any definite con- 
clusion had better be reserved until the second meeting. 
Principal Grittiths then read the following Address :— 
Tassume that the chief object of these Conferences is the quickening of 
general interest in the study of Natural Science and in the work of the 
British Association. Our duties are not those of a Section, but rather those 
of the husbandman who prepares the ground in the hope and belief that 
the Sections may hereafter reap the harvest ; or, to vary the image, we 
are here to study the machinery rather than its products. 
A study of the Reports of the Conferences of the Delegates of Corre- 
sponding Societies from the time that such Conferences were officially 
instituted in 1884 leaves the impression, at all events upon my mind, that 
the results have scarcely been commensurate with the expectations of 
those who instituted this body, or with the possibilities presented by the 
situation. 
It is stated—I believe on good authority—that there are in this king- 
dom something like 500 Scientific Societies with a total membership 
approaching 100,000, and that at the present time both the number of 
Societies and of the members thereof is steadily increasing. I think we 
may say without hesitation that the general interest of the British public 
in science is greater now than at any previous time in our history. 
Nevertheless the number of Societies affiliated to the British Association 
is but a small proportion of the total, and I am afraid that of many of those 
it may be said that the connection is nominal rather than real. 
Sir Norman Lockyer, in his Address at Southport, spoke as follows :— 
‘We not only, then, have a scientific Parliament competent to deal 
with all matters, including those of national importance, relating to 
science, but machinery for influencing all new councils and committees 
dealing with local matters, the functions of which are daily becoming 
more important. 
‘The machinery might consist of our Corresponding Societies. We 
already have afliliated to us seventy Societies with a membership of 25,000. 
Were this number increased so as to include every Scientific Society in the 
Empire, metropolitan and provincial, we might eventually hope for a 
membership of half a million.’ 
This of course is an impressive statement, but the weight thereof 
depends very greatly on the real meaning of the expression ‘atftiliated 
to us.’ 
Is this affiliation a real thing? Let us see what it means in practice. 
A Society consisting, perhaps, like the one I represent, of between 400 
and 500 members, nominates one Delegate. Of the Delegates thus 
appointed it would appear from our past records that not more than some 
fifty or sixty per cent. present themselves at our meetings; and, although 
there is evidence that the action of some few Societies has been directly 
influenced by our proceedings, I confess that the results can hardly be 
