1886.] 



President's Address. 



379 



The ordinary meetings of the Society are well known, and are 

 frequently attended by strangers by permission of the Fellows 

 present ; and the papers brought before us are known to the world 

 through our publications. But a great deal of scientific work is done 

 of which the outside public know nothing. There have been thirteen 

 meetings of the Council during the year, and the attendance at our 

 Council meetings is remarkably good. There have been more than 

 seventy meetings of Committees and Sub- Committees. There is 

 further another task on which a great deal of gratuitous and consci- 

 entious labour of the highest kind is bestowed, I allude to the 

 examination of papers with a view to advising the Committee of 

 Papers as to their publication. The past year has shown no nagging 

 in scientific activity, in relation to papers brought before us. 



Since the last Anniversary three parts of the ' Philosophical 

 Transactions,' comprising upwards of 1160 pages of letterpress and 

 95 plates, and eight numbers of the ' Proceedings,' containing 1299 

 pages, have been published. 



The preparation of the manuscript for another decade, 1874 to^ 1883, 

 of the Royal Society's catalogue of scientific papers, is now almost 

 complete. This great work has been extremely useful to men of 

 science in enabling them at once to find where a memoir on a par- 

 ticular subject, written by an author whose name they know, as is 

 usually the case, is to be found. To some extent it enables them also 

 to find what has been written on a particular subject, for there are 

 usually one or two authors, whose names they know, who have made 

 it a special study, and on consulting their papers references are 

 frequently found to the writings of others who have written on the 

 same subject. Nevertheless it must be confessed that the value of the 

 catalogue would be greatly increased if it could be accompanied by a 

 key, of the nature of an index rerum. It was originally contemplated 

 that this should be added, but the magnitude of the undertaking has 

 hitherto prevented the Committee from attempting it. To be well 

 done it would require the long- continued labour of a scientific staff 

 representing different branches of science, and they could not be ex- 

 pected to engage in so heavy a work without adequate remuneration. 



A great deal of work has been done during the past year in relation 

 to the Library. More than 5,000 volumes have been removed to 

 other rooms to make space for the more important works constantly 

 accruing. A list of duplicates and deficiencies has been printed, and 

 circulated among corresponding Societies. A shelf-catalogue is in 

 progress, and is about a third of the way towards completion. Some 

 work has also been done upon a catalogue of miscellaneous literature. 



The electric lighting of the Society's apartments, which is now 

 complete, seems to have given general satisfaction. 



On the 31st of August this year, our distinguished Foreign Member, 



