ii Address of Mr J. W. Clark, President, 



science in others, have few claims to be called a man of science 

 myself; and had I not been ably supported by the officers of the 

 Society, the high reputation which we have so long maintained 

 might have been somewhat tarnished by the appearance of a name 

 so humble as mine in the list of Presidents. The Secretaries, 

 however, have taken good care to provide our meetings with 

 papers excellent in matter and varied in character ; and the 

 Treasurer has been most energetic and successful in improving 

 our financial position. 



The Society has now been in existence for rather more than 

 seventy years ; and I may say, without fear of contradiction, that 

 though our position is different from what it was in days which 

 many persons can remember, we still hold our own in public 

 estimation — still exercise a powerful influence in the University. 

 The time has not yet come for the history of the Society to be 

 written ; but it has occurred to me that it might be interesting to 

 place on record a few notes respecting its origin, and the early 

 years of its corporate life. 



In the Easter Vacation of 1819 Professor Sedgwick — who had 

 been elected to the Woodwardian Chair in the May of the previous 

 year — was taking a tour in the Isle of Wight, and collecting 

 materials for his first course of lectures, which he delivered in the 

 ensuing Easter Term. He was accompanied by Mr Henslow of 

 St John's College, and as the two friends walked and talked they 

 deplored the want of some place in Cambridge to which those in- 

 terested in science might resort, with the certainty of meeting per- 

 sons of similar or kindred tastes, and where they might learn what 

 was being done abroad. Their " first idea," we are told, " was to 

 establish a Corresponding Society, for the purpose of introducing 

 subjects of natural history to the Cambridge students " ; and on 

 their return to the University they wrote " to their respective 

 friends for their encouragement and support 1 ." Easter had fallen 

 late that year (11 April), and therefore the Easter Term would be 

 short. Sedgwick, moreover, was fully occupied with his lectures. 

 The idea too, was novel, and in those days novelty, especially 

 when it took the form of a combination for the prosecution of 

 something foreign to the normal course of study in the place, was 

 sure to encounter disapprobation, if not active opposition. Delay, 

 therefore, was unavoidable ; and it need excite no surprise that 

 the Michaelmas Term was far advanced before the following notice 

 was circulated, at the suggestion, it is said, of Dr E. D. Clarke, 

 Professor of Mineralogy, who entered into the scheme with 

 characteristic enthusiasm, and was always spoken of by Sedgwick 

 as the founder of the Society. 



1 Memoirs of the Bev. John Stevens Henslow, by the Eev. L. Jenyns. 8vo. Camb. 

 1862, p. 17. 



