PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS 1891. 



Gentlemen, 



Following the custom of our Society, it is now my 

 privilege to give a short valedictory address. With the 

 time at my disposal, it of necessity must be very brief, and 

 that possibly will be its only merit. 



After the clear financial statement given by our painstaking 

 and able Treasurer, Mr. E. Step, and the Council's report, at 

 the hands of our invaluable Secretary, Mr. H. W. Barker, we 

 have virtually an epitome of the year's transactions. That 

 being so, I feel you will hardly desire me to weary you by 

 enlarging on these topics ; suffice to say that although we 

 have not increased our numbers so much as in some previous 

 years, still we have much cause to congratulate ourselves on 

 our sound financial condition and generally healthy progress, 

 whilst our field of usefulness enlarges year by year. 



Our Scientific Library supplies a want which general 

 libraries do not meet, you may find in them plenty of works 

 on Travels, History, Philosophy, Fiction, etc. ; but good 

 editions on Biological Science are rarely, or never, to be 

 obtained there. This being so, we should study and strive 

 to improve and enrich our shelves with the best editions of 

 the leading standard works on all branches of Natural History, 

 and these well up to date. It is not so much the number of 

 volumes you may possess, it is rather that those you may 

 have should be the very best of their kind. Books of this 

 class are necessarily expensive, so much so, that very few 

 of us can afford to place them on our own book-shelves. 

 Works of smaller value we may purchase, so it is just these 

 standard and somewhat costly works that make a scientific 

 library invaluable, and also are a strong incentive for members 

 to join our ranks. Of course, to be able to purchase expensive 

 books, requires a goodly fund ; unfortunately for us, with our 

 small subscriptions and fairly heavy expenses, we have not 



