THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



DARWIN'S THEORY OF MAN'S DESCENT 

 AS IT STANDS TO-DAY. 



BY 



Prof. Sir ARTHUR KEITH, M.D., D.Sc, LL.D., F.R.S., 

 President of the Association. 



My Lord Mayor, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, Ladies and Gentlemen, 



My first duty as your President, and it is a very pleasant one, is to 

 send the following message in your name to H.R.H. The Prince of 

 Wales :— 



Your Royal Highness, 



The British Association for the Advancement of Science, now 

 assembled in Leeds to begin another session, cannot allow your year 

 of office to terminate without offering to you sincere and humble 

 congratulations on the happy results which have attended your 

 Presidency. A year ago, in the historic city of Oxford, you did 

 British Science the signal honour of coming among us as our President ; 

 the meeting you then inaugurated set a standard which future 

 gatherings will strive to emulate. The inspiring message you then 

 addressed to us, and through us to men of science in every part of 

 the Empire, has already borne fruit. We are within sight of a closer 

 union, for which the Association itself has always striven, between 

 men of science overseas and their colleagues at home, in their 

 endeavour to solve problems of Imperial concern. It is too soon as 

 yet to assess the value of the harvest of science planted under your 

 aegis, for the best vintages of science mature slowly, but of this we 

 are certain : the interest Your Royal Highness has taken in the 

 work of this Association will prove a permanent source of encourage- 

 ment for all who work for the betterment of life through increase of 

 knowledge. To-night we proudly add your Presidential banner to 

 those of the great men of science who have presided over this 

 Association since its inception at York ninety-six years ago. 



1927 B 



