president's address. 207 



Great Master ? Do our young men imagine that, to use a 

 homely phrase, they have everything ready to their hands ? 



There never was a time when greater inducement was offered 

 for scientific study, yet for a long period we have neither had 

 evening meetings nor the reading of papers, which, when forth- 

 coming, seldom fail to elicit interesting and healthful discussion. 

 To the man of business the pursuits of the naturalist, in the 

 field, at any rate, possess quite as many features of enjoyment 

 as the sports of hunting, shooting, and fishing. They are equally 

 healthy, while they do not entail a tithe of the expense necessary 

 in following those recreations I have named, sports that appeal 

 more to our animal than our intellectual natures. Surely it 

 cannot be that with the march of civilization and science we are 

 becoming grosser ? I am unwilling to believe it. 



There is one source from which I anticipate a considerable 

 accession of younger men to our ranks, and that is the new Col- 

 lege of Physical Science, which, owing to the untiring energy 

 of the worthy Principal Garnett, is now so rapidly approaching 

 completion. It is mainly to the exertions of that eminent man, 

 whose whole being seems absorbed in his work, that we have 

 been presented with those models and specimens which were a 

 feature of our Jubilee Exhibition. At the Exhibition the merest 

 tyro could learn much of the wonders of geology from the maps 

 of Professor Lebour and of Mr. T. Embleton, mining engineer, 

 a brother of our much esteemed past President, Dr. Embleton, 

 and from the models of strata by the late Thos. Sopwith ; while 

 by the specimens of ore, etc., he could judge what other sciences 

 had done for the development of our local industries, and for 

 the growth of such manufacturing centres as Middlesbrough and 

 Jarrow. By his outdoor lessons in geology Professor Lebour is 

 engaged in a commendable undertaking, and the seed sown by 

 him will, it is hoped, bear fruit in the near future. 



In alluding to a want of vigour and progressiveness in our 

 Club, I do not by any means wish it to be inferred that we are 

 actually receding ; but with the changes wrought by time, and 

 when so many counter-attractions for the young exist, we must 

 adapt ourselves to circumstances, and endeavour to popularize 



