175 
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS 
By Miss Ida M. Roper, F.L.S. 
" MISTLETOE." 
I THANK you most heartily for the cordial vote of thanks 
you have passed at the close of my term of office. The 
Society has never had a Lady President in its history, and from 
your applause I think I may conclude that the experiment in 
your opinion has met with some success. I am glad to have 
shown that the study of Natural History, in one branch at least, 
can be successfully mastered by women folk in the same way 
that they have proved their ability to serve the community in 
other spheres of usefulness during the present war. 
My inexperience in some matters might have led to mistakes, 
but I have received such constant assistance from all the members 
to make my path smooth that the three years Presidency has 
been a source of much pleasure to me, and I shall always 
remember the kindly words that have been expressed to-night 
about my efforts. 
During the past year there has been no inclination to give 
close attention to scientific pursuits, as the claims on the energies 
of the members have been needed in many other directions. As 
a result the Society has confined itself to the usual monthly 
meetings and a walk through the Blaise Castle woods in the 
summer. It was better under the circumstances for individual 
members to carry out field work on their own in any spare time 
at their disposal, and I hope that they will give the Society the 
benefit of their researches at future meetings. 
It is fitting that mention should be made of the loss sustained 
by Natural History during the year by the death of the great 
French field naturalist, Henri Fabre, who devoted his long life 
to making observations on the habits of all kinds of insects and 
describing their marvels in language that was clear to his readers 
and yet full of poetic ideas. 
In our own Society we have also to record the regretted death 
of William Booth Waterfall, Fellow of the Linnean Society, and 
one of our earliest members, who had gained a wide reputation 
for his knowledge of mosses, and for his ever-ready willingness 
to give help to those who applied to him on that difficult subject. 
Within the last month also Arthur Vaughan, Doctor of Science 
and Fellow of the Geological Society, has passed away at an 
early age. The geological section of our Society received great 
encouragement from his researches and work on the Avon 
Gorge, and although he ceased his connection with Bristol and 
removed to Oxford, the Society felt it was honouring him as 
well as itself by electing him a year ago to join the ranks of its 
honorary members. 
