PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



BY MR. E. J). MARQUAND, RETIRING PRESIDENT 



In a Society like ours, whose chief aim is the investigation 

 and study of local phenomena, it is of great advantage to 

 review from time to time the work which has been accom- 

 plished, and to mark the progress which is being made towards 

 attaining the objects for which such a Society was originally 

 established. By so doing a general outlook is obtained from 

 a higher standpoint, and as a consequence a fresh stimulus is 

 imparted, and a new start made. 



The time has now arrived when Ave may conveniently 

 consider our position in this respect ; and a fitting opportunity 

 presents itself this evening, as it is the last occasion on which 

 I shall have the honour of addressing you in my capacity as 

 President. I should have felt somewhat reluctant, however, 

 to undertake the subject if the Society were not to-day in a 

 more healthy and vigorous condition than ever before in its 

 history. 



As the result of a public meeting held in October, 1882, 

 to consider the question of forming a Local Natural History 

 Society, the want of which had been long felt, the Guernsey 

 Society of Natural Science was founded, with the warm sup- 

 port of the leading scientists resident in the island. During 

 the first two years a great deal of excellent work was done ; 

 meetings were held regularly every month, sometimes every 

 fortnight, at which papers were read and discussed, and objects 

 of local interest exhibited ; summer excursions were made to 

 places easy of access presenting attractive features, and the 

 roll of members, which had started at thirty, was increased to 

 forty-four. In a short time a museum was established for the 

 permanent exhibition of the various natural products of the 

 island, and several influential gentlemen came forward and gene- 

 rously aided this effort by the donation of their own private col- 

 lections to serve as a nucleus. On several occasions small money 

 prizes were offered for collections of plants and insects, so as 

 to stimulate a taste for Natural History among the youthful 

 members of the community. All efforts in this direction, 



