14 Annual Meeting. 



upon to perforin have been made a great deal easier by the 

 hearty co-operation which I have always received from those 

 two gentlemen. 



In olden days, on occasions such as this, Sir William 

 Jardine (the first President of our Society) used to give a 

 brief review of the scientific and other events of the preceding 

 year. I am certain, had Sir William been in office to-day, 

 that he would not have failed to refer to the terrible state of 

 aifairs now existing in Europe. Germany has of late years 

 been ostentatiously loud in the praise of culture and scientific 

 advancement, but her recent acts of ruthless and barbaric 

 destruction in the waging of a war, entirely of her own 

 seeking, make us wonder if her past expressions were 

 genuine and sincere. It is not for us to discuss the merits 

 of the war, and though we are unanimous in wishing an all 

 time victory to the Allies we, as a Society, must deplore the 

 regrettable set-back to scientific research which the war will 

 inevitably cause. Other societies, similar to our own, have 

 decided not to hold meetings during this momentous crisis. 

 We, however, have decided to carry on as far as possible as 

 in the past; in other words, we adopt the thoroughly British 

 maxim : — " Business as usual.' ^ 



During the past session we have lost several of our 

 members : amongst others whose loss we mourn I would 

 remind you of Provost Thomson, one of our oldest members 

 and contributors; Mr William M'llwraith, a still older mem- 

 ber; Mr Thomas Watson, editor of the Dumfries Standard; 

 Mr J. Symons, who for many years was one of our auditors ; 

 Miss Murphie, a member of Council ; Dr. Christopher John- 

 ston, the famous Assyriologist ; and Lieutenant-Colonel 

 Aymer Maxwell, who has just met a soldier's death at 

 Antwerp. 



As regards the present condition of our Society — the 

 Honorary Secretary and the Honorary Treasurer have already 

 furnished their reports. You are aware that the Council 

 were instructed to draw up fresh rules for our Society, and 

 the results of their labours have been distributed throughout 

 the room in printed form. It will be for you to approve, or 

 disapprove, of these new rules, but I may say that there has 



