Vol. 51.] ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OE THE PRESIDENT. lxV 



For the admirable manner in which the Journal is edited our 

 thanks are due to our Assistant-Secretary, Mr. L. Belinfante, "who is 

 untiring in his efforts to keep the Society's quarterly publication 

 up to the highest standard of excellence. 



It follows then as a matter of course that, if our Journal is large 

 and the papers excellent, our evening meetings have been successful 

 and the communications read have been of general interest to our 

 Fellows. 



To render our Meetings attractive to Fellows and Visitors, to 

 make our Library as perfect as possible for the Geological student, 

 and our Journal the best of its kind among scientific periodicals, — 

 these are the objects which commend themselves as worthy to be 

 upheld in the best interests of our Society. 



Tour Council have had before them the question of the publi- 

 cation of a ' Geological Record,' and, after taking the best evidence 

 upon the subject that they could gather, they have come to the con- 

 clusion that such an undertaking could not be entered upon either 

 with the present limited Official Staff of the Society or the present 

 annual subscription contributed by its Fellows. 



An effort is being made, however, to render still more useful the 

 very valuable list, prepared by Mr. "W. R. Jones, of books and 

 papers added yearly to the Society's Library, and to make it the 

 nucleus of a ' Geological Record ' so far as its extent allows. 



We aim, if possible, at making our Library a complete one as to 

 Geology, Petrology, and Palaeontology in the immediate future, and 

 the more nearly we succeed the more nearly will our Eecord of its 

 contents approximate to a complete Record of our science. 



But what we are able to accomplish must largely depend on the 

 prosperity of the Society : in other words, upon the annual income 

 which we derive from our Fellows' contributions, and the proportion 

 which we may justly expend on our Journal and our Library. 

 In reference to the subject of Income, I may venture to express 

 the opinion that our ' Annual Subscribers ' are the greatest bene- 

 factors to our Society — if only their interest in our science be kept 

 alive, and that I take it to be the main object of the Governing Body 

 of this Society to foster and promote by all possible means. 



As an illustration, I will cite the case of one venerable Fellow 

 whose annual contributions have so far amounted to £160 — so that 

 he has paid what would have been his ' Composition-fee ' of £31 10*. 

 about five times over. May all our Annual Subscribers live to 

 imitate his good example ! 



