president's address. 507 



and the light of the aurora, furnish materials which cannot but 

 be fruitful of yet vaster and more important revelations. 



I cannot pass away from this part of my address without ex- 

 pressing the gratijS.cation which I am sure we must all feel at 

 the completion, by Messrs. Cooke of York, of the great refract- 

 ing telescope, of twenty-five inches aperture, for one of our 

 members, Mr. Newall. Whatever may be the future history of 

 that magnificent instrument we cannot but feel gratified that one 

 in our own immediate neighbourhood should have undertaken 

 such a work, and been willing to devote it to the service of as- 

 tromers generally in the liberal way in which I understand Mr. 

 Newall intends to do. 



But I feel that I have allowed my pen already to wander far 

 beyond the proper limits of your President's Annual Address; 

 and though strongly tempted to touch on other subjects of at 

 least as great an interest to me as those I have already glanced 

 at, I must forbear. 



Year by year the work of our Club, and the position it has 

 already gained and is gaining for itself, is of growing importance. 

 Every day fresh recruits are being added to the ranks of science, 

 and surely it is our work, and it will always be our pleasui'e, to 

 do what we can to strengthen that goodly band. I hope I shall 

 not therefore be considered as out of place in putting before you 

 some suggestions which, if found practicable, will I hope tend 

 to increase the usefulness of the Club and strengthen its position. 

 I know that there are difficulties in the way, but I believe that 

 those difficulties are not insuperable. First: I think that it is 

 extremely desirable that some fresh rule or regulations as to the 

 reading of papers at our Field and Evening Meetings should be 

 at once adopted. It is obvious that there cannot vow be the 

 general understanding and consent of opinion amongst the mem- 

 bers which there was in earlier days when the number of mem- 

 bers was far fewer.''' Again : It has occurred to me very forcibly 

 several times during our excursions this year, that great prac- 

 tical good would result if, at each Field Meeting, one or two 

 gentlemen would undertake to act as guides, or rather referees 



* A rule to this effect w.ts subsequently passed at the Aiinnal Meeting-. 



