ANNUAL ADDEESS TO THE MEMBEES 



OF THE SOUTH-AFEICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 



On Wednesday, July 29, 1885, 



By the President, Poland Trimen, F.E.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S. 



It is the fitting custom, in all learned and scientific societies, for 

 the President, at the annual or anniversary meeting, to take stock of 

 what has heen effected or attempted during the past twelve months by 

 the body of which he has been for the time the elected head ; and it is 

 not unusual for him on the same occasion to dwell specially on such 

 matters as lie more within his own line of study or research. A 

 modification of this course was adopted by our first President, and has 

 been followed — I think with advantage — by his successors in the chair 

 — vid. : to give such a summary of the Society's doings (which are not 

 as yet overwhelming in extent) every second year, and to deliver at 

 the annual meeting of the intervening year an address dealing with 

 some subject connected with the President's personal investigations. 

 In this way the Society gains an additional memoir of a more or less 

 interesting character and the more formal summary of its proceedings 

 is rendered less restricted in its scope. The excellent rule of our 

 Society, that the same person is not eligible as President for more 

 than two years consecutively, lends itself very well to this arrange- 

 ment ; for it has so happened that, during the eight years of the 

 Society's existence, each of our Presidents has been re-elected for a 

 second year of office, and thus has been able to give both an addi-ess 

 on his special department of research at the close of the first year, 

 and one of the more formal and general description at the end of the 

 second year. It will be remembered that our lamented first President, 

 Sir Bartle Frere, chose for the subject of his special address, in 1878, 

 " The Native Eaces of South Africa ; " that his successor, Mr. David 

 Gill, gave us an admirable account of his three years' researches in 

 connection with " A Determination of the Distance of the Earth from 

 the Sun;" that Mr. Glamble traced for us '' The Connection between 

 the Direction and Force of the Wind and the Height of the Baro- 

 meter ;" and that I had the honour last year of addressing you on a 

 very curious and significant class of facts in the domain of Zoology, 

 vid. : the "Protective Eesemblances and Mimicry in Animals." 



2. The following memoirs, or papers, have been read before the 

 Society since the Annual Meeting ia July, 1883, v/d. : — 



I. Astronomy (2). — Mr. W. H. Finlay : " EUiptic Elements of 

 Comet, 1884 ^;" Dr. D. Grill : " Description of Investigations of 

 Stellar Parallax." 



II. Geology (1). — Mr. G. McKay: "On the Geology of the coast 

 between the Fish and Juja Eivers, South Africa." 



III. Meteorology (4). — Mr. G.Alston : " Some phenomena observed 

 in connection with tlie Evening Glow." Mr. A. G. Howard, " Isobaric 

 Influences and Cyclonic Paths in South Africa." Dr, W. Muskett ; 



