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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1394 



ter of its reports on the state and progress 

 of science, by the interest and value of its sec- 

 tional proceedings, and by the mode in which 

 its funds were employed. In felicitous terms 

 the president of the preceding year, the Eev. 

 Professor Sedgwick, congratulated the gather- 

 ing " on the increased strength in which they 

 had assembled, in a place endeared to the feel- 

 ings of every lover of science by so many 

 delightful and elevating recollections, espec- 

 cially by the recollection of the great men 

 whom it had fostered, or to whom it had given 

 birth." In a few brief sentences Professor 

 Sedgwick indicated the great power which 

 this association is able to apply towards the 

 advancement of science by corabination and 

 united action, and he supported his argument 

 by pointing to the results which it had already 

 achieved during the three short years of its 

 existence. Professor Sedgwick's words are no 

 less true to-day. His contention that one of 

 the most important functions of this philo- 

 sophical union is to further what he termed 

 the " commerce of ideas " by joint discussions 

 on subjects of kindred interest, has been en- 

 dorsed by the recent action of the council in 

 bringing the various sections into still closer 

 touch with each other with a view to the dis- 

 cussion of common problems of general in- 

 terest. This slight reorganization of the work 

 of the sections, which is in entire accord with 

 the spirit and aims of the association, as de- 

 fined by its progenitors and formulated in its 

 constitution, will take effect during the pres- 

 ent meeting. Strictly speaking, such joint 

 sectional discussions are not unknown in our 

 history, and their utility and influence have 

 been freely recognized. But hitherto the oc- 

 casions have been more or less informal. They 

 are now, it is hoped, to be part of the regular 

 official procedure of the meetings, to which it 

 is anticipated they will afford additional in- 

 terest and value. 



Another noteworthy change in our procedure 

 is the introduction of discussions on the ad- 

 dresses of the presidents of sections. Hitherto 

 these addresses have been formally read and 

 never discussed. To the extent that they have 

 been brief chronicles of the progress of the 



special departments of science with which 

 the section is concerned they have given but 

 little opportunity for discussion. With the 

 greatly increased facilities which now exist 

 for every worker to keep himself informed of 

 the development of the branch of knowledge 

 in which he is more particularly interested, 

 such resumes have in great measure lost their 

 true purpose, and there has, consequently, been 

 a growing tendency of late years for such presi- 

 dential addresses to deal with contemporary 

 topics of general interest and of fundamental 

 importance, affording ample opportunity for 

 a free exchange of opinion. The experiment 

 will certainly conduce to the interest of the 

 proceedings of the sections, and will contribute 

 to the permanent value of their work. We see 

 in these several changes the development of 

 ideas connected with the working of the asso- 

 ciation which may be said to have had their 

 birth at its first meeting in Edinburgh, eighty- 

 seven years ago. 



Sixteen years later, that is on July 21, 1850, 

 Edinburgh again extended her hospitality to 

 the British Association, which then honored it- 

 self by electing the learned principal of the 

 IJnited Colleges of St. Salvator and St. Leon- 

 ard, St. Andrews, to the presidential chair — 

 at once a tribute to Sir David Brewster's emi- 

 nence as a natural philosopher, and a grateful 

 recognition of his services to this body in sug- 

 gesting and promoting its formation. 



On the occasion of his inaugural address, 

 after a brief account of recent progress in sci- 

 ence, made with the lucidity of expression 

 which characterized all the literary efforts of 

 the learned biographer of Newton and versa- 

 tile editor of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, the 

 Edinburgh Magazine, and the Edinburgh Jour- 

 nal of Science, the president dwelt upon the 

 beneficent influence of the association in se- 

 curing a more general attention to the objects 

 of science, and in effecting a removal of dis- 

 advantages of a public kind that impeded its 

 progress. It was largely to the action of the 

 association, assisted by the writings and per- 

 sonal exertions of its members, that the gov- 

 ernment was induced to extend a direct na- 



