188 



claims upon the Society, must in the end be productive of a consi- 

 derable return. 



Of the merits of the several memoirs in our last publication I 

 am not called upon to speak ; but I may direct the attention of the 

 Gentlemen present to the number and beauty of its embellish- 

 ments : and I am happy to record the expression of my thanks to 

 Mr. Broderip, for the care with which he has superintended every 

 part of it during its passage through the press. That Gentleman 

 now x'etires from the laborious duties of the office of Secretary, 

 which, for four years, he has filled so greatly to our advantage : 

 but I am well assured, that we may still look with confidence for a 

 not less efficient, though perhaps less laborious, application of his 

 talents and experience in the promotion of our best interests. 



During the past year about fifty additional Fellows have been en- 

 rolled on the lists of the Society ; and among them I rejoice to ob- 

 serve the names of some persons eminently distinguished in this 

 country by their knowledge in the exact sciences ; and of others to 

 whom we shall hereafter look, not merely for general support, but 

 for active cooperation in the field. We have also added seven to 

 the number of our Foreign Members : and I need not tell the Gen- 

 tlemen present, that our body is honoured by the addition of these 

 persons to its list * : for they stand without exception in the fore- 

 most rank of those who, by a combination of great labour and 

 great talents, have pushed beyond their former limits those 

 branches of natural knowledge, for the advancement of which we 

 are incorporated. At the head of this number I rejoice to see the 

 name of an illustrious Personage who, amid the distracting duties 

 attached to his exalted rank and commanding station, has found 

 time for the successful cultivation of science, which he adorns by 

 his high intellectual attainments, and urges on by the force of his 

 example. 



After placing before you these subjects of congratulation, it is 

 my painful duty to record the loss of an old Member of this So- 

 ciety, who took a deep interest in its wellbeing and progress. By 

 the death of Mr. Holme we have lost a man of rare simplicity of 

 manners, who in a life of retirement pursued science for its own 

 sake, without any alloy of selfish feeling, or any view to his emolu- 

 ment or fame. He was an admirable botanist ; and after many 

 years of application had acquired no ordinary skill in some difficult 

 parts of mineral analysis. In one of the Papers in our last publi- 

 cation I have had repeated occasions of acknowledging my obliga- 

 tions to him. 



France has lately been deprived, by the death of M. Vauquelin, 

 of a man who for more than half a century devoted the efforts of 



* His Imperial Highness John Archduke of Austria; Dr. Ami Boue ; 

 Prof. Hausmann of Gottingen; Prof. Hoffmann of Berlin; Prof. Voltz of 

 Strasbourg ; M. Dufrenoy, Professor at the Ecole des Mines, Paris ; and 

 M. D'Omalius D'Halloy, Governor of the Province of Namur in the 

 Kingdom of the Netherlands. 



