Annual Report of the Council. xlvii. 



" In one respect a change has taken place in the consti- 

 " tution of the Society which is still in progress. I mean 

 " the gradual effacement of what, without giving offence, 

 " may be called the dilettante element, of men who carried 

 " on science and literature not as a profession but as an 

 " intellectual diversion, and the substitution of men who 

 " cultivate science in a strictly professional spirit. This 

 " may be regretted — I regret it — but considering the great 

 " and ever increasing specialisation of science, and the 

 " difficulties attending its cultivation, this tendency must 

 " be ever on the increase. 



" Parting is always sad, especially when it may be pre- 

 " sumed it is for ever ; but when it is accompanied, as I 

 " hope it is in this case, by sentiments of mutual esteem, 

 " some compensation for sorrow may be found. 



" You will please to convey to the Society my wish that 

 " this my decision may be considered final and irrevocable, 

 " and also that, in severing my official ties, I bid them an 

 " affectionate farewell. 



" I am, dear Mr. Gwyther, 



" Yours very truly, 



" Edw. Schunck." 



The Council has passed the following resolution : — 



" The Council has received with great regret the letter 

 " of Dr. Schunck, stating his inability to hold office any 

 " longer; and desires to place on record this expression of 

 " its most grateful appreciation of Dr. Schunck's eminent 

 " services to the Society — services rendered for more than 

 " 50 years — and not least during the present session. 



" Not only has Dr. Schunck undertaken arduous duties 

 " as Secretary and President of the Society, in which 

 " offices he has won the esteem and affection of all our 

 " members by his uniform patience and courtesy, but he 

 " has, by his original investigations in the domain of 



