Minutes of Proceedings. 219 



distinguisbed President, especially in his presence. I migtt, of course, 

 remark that everyone in this room would be better qualified than I 

 am, by long personal acquaintance with that distinguished man, to 

 enlarge on his great abilities, and on the services which he has con- 

 ferred on his country. But, although that may be so, it must be 

 remembered that Dr. Ingram's reputation is world-wide. It is not 

 necessary to have been a native or an inhabitant of Dublin or of 

 Ireland in order to thoroughly realise what his qualifications are to 

 enlist your admiration and your gratitude. 



I may, perhaps, be allowed to remark very briefly on the admirable 

 address which the President has delivered. He has, in his exhaustive 

 remarks, referred to three different works of very eminent gentlemen, 

 professors in Dublin, and there is very little left for me to add on 

 these subjects, even if I were qualified to say anything on them. 

 With regard to the first, that of Professor Cunningham, which deals 

 with the subject of the anatomy of the cerebrum, for obvious physical 

 reasons I am less interested in that subject than all of you distin- 

 guished gentlemen here present. With regard to the second subject — 

 viz. the memoir written by Dr. Mahaffy on the Plinders-Petrie 

 Papyri — a subject in which he has been such an energetic discoverer 

 — there is only one remark I should like to make, and that is with 

 reference to a sentence in the President's address, where he said : — 



" On a general survey of these materials one broad general con- 

 clusion forces itself upon us — ^namely this, the handwritings, whether 

 the literary or the less formal, show so much facility, boldness, and 

 variety that plainly the practice of writing was quite common and 

 habitual." 



Now, gentlemen, the President said something about the ingenuity 

 of Dr. Mahaffy's conjectures on various points which he discusses 

 in his paper, but if Dr. Mahaffy or anyone else is bold enough to 

 endeavour to arrive at any sound conclusion on the subject of hand- 

 writing by the fact that the ' ' practice of handwriting is common and 

 habitual," I can only say that, from my own experience, the merits 

 of the handwritings of our fellow-men of the present day are in the 

 exact inverse ratio to the amount of the practice in writing which 

 they have had. If I had thought the subject was going to be dis- 

 cussed I think I could have brought here various specimens of letters 

 which I have had the honour to receive within the last few weeks 



