﻿PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, 1889. 



Gentlemen, 



Sincere and hopeful is my salutation to you on 

 addressing you from the chair this evening, to which I was 

 by your kindness a second time elected last season. It has 

 been a rule for some years past that at the Annual General 

 Meeting the retiring President should as briefly as possible 

 review the work and progress of the Society for the past year. 

 In observing this custom I take the opportunity of returning 

 you my heartiest thanks for the general goodwill and kind 

 forbearance shown me while I have held this office. 



We are frequently asked, Is the Society prospering and 

 doing all it was intended to do by its founders .'' I think, 

 gentlemen, it is matter for congratulation that the Society 

 still continues to increase in numbers, and that it is now far 

 and away above anything that could have been anticipated 

 by the original founders. We have heard from our Hon. 

 Secretary a very favourable report, especially as regards the 

 membership. Although we have lost one member by death 

 and have had several resignations, and I regret to add, several 

 struck off the list, still, with all these drawbacks, your mem- 

 bership is now very much larger than at any previous time 

 in the Society's history, the roll of members numbering 223. 

 I was sanguine enough in my last address to hope that we 

 should add another fifty to our number during the year we 

 were then entering upon : that desirable result was not quite 

 achieved, the number of members elected being forty-two. 

 This, I think, is a very welcome and encouraging sign that 

 the popularity of the South London Entomological Society 

 is not on the wane, but is still as great as ever. 



I am sorry to say that the financial condition of the Society 

 still causes our Chancellor of the Exchequer some very anxious 



