MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT-ELECT 



Dr. RUSSELL J. REYNOLDS, c.b.e., m.b., b.s. (london), f.r.c.p. 



(LONDON), F.F.R., D.M.R.E., F.A.C.R. (hON.), M.I.E.E. 



Mr. Frank Edwards, General Secretary and Treasurer of the South- 

 Eastern Union, has written to me that Sir Harold Spencer Jones, owing 

 to public duties, is unable to preside at the Sixtieth Annual Congress of 

 the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies in Folkestone this year 

 and has invited me to serve in his place. 



It gives me great pleasure to accept the office of President, especially 

 as I had the honour of following Sir Harold as President of the Brighton 

 and Hove Natural History Society and holding that office during the 

 Centenary Celebrations last year. 



I would like to add my note of greeting for the success of the coming 

 Congress which I feel confident is already assured. May we have the 

 best of weather and everything to favour its success. 



RUSSELL J. REYNOLDS. 



MESSAGE FROM THE ASTRONOMER ROYAL 



(Sir HAROLD SPENCER JONES, m.a., sc.d., f.r.s.) 



Having accepted the invitation to preside over the Congress of the 

 South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies in Folkestone, I regret that 

 it will not be possible for me to be present as I have to leave for America 

 on April 9th. As a public servant my plans, so long as I hold the office of 

 Astronomer Royal, are subject to the over-riding claims of official duties. 



Astronomy owes much to the observations of many keen and skilled 

 amateur observers. In the observation of the changes in brightness of 

 variable stars, in the study of lunar and planetary detail, in searching 

 for comets, in watching for meteors, in looking out for new stars, they have 

 done, and still continue to do, most useful work. The era of very large 

 telescopes has not done away with the need for the contributions which 

 the devoted band of amateurs are making. Astronomy still requires 

 them. 



The Scientific and Natural History Societies which are represented 

 in the Congress are in very large measure societies which band together 

 amateur naturalists. In natural history, just as in astronomy, there is 

 the need for the various types of observations that the amateur can make. 

 As a former President of the Brighton and Hove Natural History Society 

 I have learnt at first hand of the keenness of the amateurs in this field 

 and of the value of their observations. 



I hope that the Congress will be fruitful in its results and that the 

 various societies will be encouraged to continue their useful and valuable 

 work. H. SPENCER JONES. 



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