188 Canadian Record of Science. 
and the young life of our city to avail themselves of the 
privileges open to them. A museum that for teacher, stu- 
dent and enquirer alike would prove its worth as years roll 
on. Courses of free class lectures on Natural History, 
General Science and Literature by competent lecturers and 
Certificates of honorable proficiency for those who attending 
them earn by examination the just reward of their labors. 
Free popular lectures that might act as incentives to lure 
the young to higher and closer studies, and last though by 
no means least—a governing body, large, comprehensive 
and broad minded in its views; full of zeal and energy in 
grasping new ideas and fresh born thoughts, and realizing 
to the full that they have a great public educational work 
to do, and that the leading recipe for obtaining their aims 
is that of ceaselessly and with dogged persistency keeping 
the Natural History Society of Montreal before the 
public. 
I know that such ascheme may fairly be regarded as 
visionary—but the world owes not a little to visionaries, 
and in this case the original visionaries were the honored 
founders of the Natural History Society itself. They 
founded a Society for the cultivation of Natural History, 
General Science, and Literature, and we to-day are the re- 
presentatives of these high original aims. We can hold 
them in safe keeping and pass them on like the “ whispered 
traditions of the hoary tast”’ to those that will come after 
us, or we can grasp them with that touch of daring enter- 
prise, which is largely characteristic of the age in which 
we live, and facing the public with claims as loudly let- 
tered as those of less useful institutions, seek to gain our 
share of that munificent liberality for which our city is 
fast becoming renowned. 
T am sure that you will pardon one for thus speaking on 
the aims and possibilities of a Society for which he has been 
enabled to do so little, and in whose work he has taken so 
small a part. But the fault has been yours, gentlemen, for 
it was you who placed me in the position to quote these 
words with which as the ‘‘ Shadow of a Shade” of a Ghost 
