8 Anniversary Address by Lord Rayleigli. [Nov. 30, 



throughout of the difficulties of the task which they supervise ; and it must be 

 gratifying to the Director of the Catalogue and his staff to have the support 

 of high authorities, not confined to this country, in their decision that in so 

 extensive an undertaking practical feasibility must be the aim rather than an 

 elusive theoretical perfection. One advantage, at any rate, will accrue from 

 bringing out a single volume well in advance, in that the Committee will be 

 able to profit in the future work from the experience they have acquired. 



Through the kindness of Dr. Schuster I had the opportunity of submitting 

 to the Council, before the expiry of my term of office, a generous proposal 

 which he makes for instituting a fund of £1500, the interest of which is to 

 be applied to pay the travelling expenses of delegates of the Society to the 

 International Association of Academies. Dr. Schuster felt that the absence 

 of such a provision laid a burden upon delegates, and might operate to 

 limit the choice of the Society. I was empowered by the Council to convey 

 their cordial thanks to Dr. Schuster, and I have now the pleasure of making 

 his benefaction known to the Society at large. 



In taking leave of the honourable office which I have occupied for three 

 years, I desire to thank the Society and especially my colleagues, the officers, 

 for the consideration which they have uniformly shown me. All the omens 

 indicate that the Society will be represented by one well versed in its 

 affairs, and whose scientific distinction and wide experience justify the 

 highest hopes for his tenure of the chair. 



MEDALLISTS, 1908. 

 Copley Medal. 



The Copley Medal is awarded to Dr. Alfred Kussel Wallace, I'.E.S. 



It is now sixty years since this distinguished naturalist began his scientific 

 career. During this long period he has been unceasingly active in the 

 prosecution of natural history studies. As far back as 1848 he accompanied 

 the late Henry Walter Bates to the region of the Amazon, and remained 

 four years there, greatly enriching zoology and botany, and laying at the 

 same time the basis of that wide range of biological acquirement by which 

 all his writings have been characterised. From South America he passed 

 to the Malay Archipelago and spent there some eight fruitful years. It was 

 during his stay in that region that he matured those broad views regarding 

 the geographical distribution of plants and animals which on his return to 

 this country he was able to elaborate in his well-known classic volumes on 



