1 GENERAL MEETINGS. 



GENERAL MEETINGS AT MANCHESTER. 



On Tuesday, September 7, at 8.30 imni., in the Free Trade Hall, Pro- 

 fessor W. Bateson, F.R.S., resigned the office of President to Professor 

 Arthur Schuster, F.R.S. The following telegram from the Right Hon. 

 Sir Henry Roscoe, F.R.S., was read : — 



My best wislies for the success of tlie Meeting. I greatly regret that I cannot 

 be present to support my distinguished friend, the President. I send my love to 

 Manchester. 



The following letter from the Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P., F.E.S., 

 forwarded by Sir Henry Roscoe, was also read : — 



Admiralty, Whitehall: September 2, 1915. 

 My dear Sie Henky Roscoe, — I am sorry that pressure of public business 

 makes it imfjossible for me to attend tlie Meeting of the British Association at 

 Manchester. 



1 should have particularly \alued an opportunity of taking a share (as past 

 President) in its labours: 2jartl3' because the scene of these is a city with which I 

 was long and closely connected, partly because I should like to have borne testimony 

 (if that be required) to the patriotic zeal with which the Royal Society, of which 

 your distinguislied President is Secretary, have placed all their soientilic resources 

 at the disposal of the Government for the purposes of the War. Although the 

 Association meets this year in circumstances which deprive the gathering of much 

 of its social charm, I am sure that its scientific labours will be not less fruitful than 

 in years gone by. 



AVith every good wish for its success, 



Believe me, 



Yours sincerely, 

 (Signed) Akthub J.vmes Balfour 



On taking the Chair, Professor Arthur Schuster moved, and it was 

 unanimously resolved, that the following message be forwarded to His 

 Majesty the King : — 



We, the members of the British Association tor the Advancement of Science, this 

 day in our 85th Congress assembled, humblj' beg to express our devoted loyalty to 

 Your Majesty's perscn and to Your Majesty's Government in this crisis of our national 

 atfairs. Landing in Australia at the moment of the declaration of war, we witnessed 

 the extraordinary manifestations of loyalty which were displayed throughout that 

 great Commonwealth. During our earlier visits to Canada and South Africa a like 

 spirit of loyalty and imperial fellowship found expression in tlie cordiality of the 

 reception given to us. I3y these visits we have endeavoured to strengthen the bonds 

 which unite all parts of Your Majesty's Empire. 



We beg leave on the present occasion to assure Your Majesty that the Associa- 

 tion as a whole and every individual member thereof are whole-heartedly anxious 

 to devote all their energies to assisting Your Majesty's Government in the task of 

 bringing the War to a victorious conclusion. 



ScHUSTBE, President. 



Professor Schuster then delivered an Address, for which see page 3. 



On Wednesday, September 8, the following reply was received from 

 His Majesty the King, and was communicated to the members assembled 

 at the various sectional meetings : — 



The I'residoii of the British Association, Manchester. 

 I have received with much satisfaction the message you have forwarded on 

 behalf the members of the British Association testifying to their loyalty to the 

 Crown and to my Government in this time of national crisis. The outbursts of 

 loyalty which the members of the Association witnessed in their past visits throughout 

 Australia, Canada, and South Africa have been gloriously demonstrated by those 

 imperishable deeds achieved on the heights of Gallipoli, in the trenches of Flanders, 



