176 
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 
On looking back over the past three years it may have been 
noticed that the subject of Botany has been to the fore, in the 
exhibits at the meetings and at the annual Exhibition nights. 
This is not to be wondered at, because the members would 
expect that the subject best known to their President would be 
specially spoken about and explained. 
Another reason for it may be that for several years past a 
most active search has been going on locally for botanical 
treasures, in order to bring about a more complete knowledge 
of the plants of the country marked out by the natural limits 
of the Bristol coalfield. 
Those members whose interests are taken up with the hobby 
of field botany know that a good harvest has rewarded their work 
by the addition of many new plants to the previously long lists, 
and they have learnt that more information can be gained each 
year and a healthy life be fostered by this harmless pursuit. 
Many others could share in these pleasures, for they lie within 
a few miles of their homes, or at a greater but still moderate 
distance, and there is no need for a long and systematic study of 
Physiology in order to stimulate an interest in the floral treasures 
of our fields and hedgerows. It needs but a small effort to seek 
out the commoner flowers and to learn something of their 
habits and life history. From a little such knowledge more will 
follow, and a growing delight awaits him who plunges deeper 
into the mysteries of plant life. 
The present age has been described as one of locomotion, and 
amongst those who could couple Nature study with their motor 
or cycle travels, the desire for long distances has undoubtedly 
taken away their interest in the lowly beauties that they rush 
past without a care. 
It need not be thought that simple observations on flowers 
lead to no results. If local investigations are concentrated on 
ordinary details, and students of Nature try to gather up the 
visible habits that make up the living history of some well- 
known plant, constantly met with in their rambles, they might 
help, in proportion to their industry, the search after honest 
and straightforward facts. 
As a small illustration of what can be done in our own neigh- 
bourhood even during the hard winter months, when all Nature 
seems to hide herself from observation, I would instance what 
I have been able to learn recently concerning the well-known 
Mistletoe. This is a shrub so curious in form and with habits 
so at variance with the idea held by the ordinary person as to 
how plants should behave, that it compels attention. Added 
to this, it can be sought out and studied when trees are leafless 
and barren-looking, and is seen at its best at a time of year 
when other out-of-door studies in plant life are less pressing and 
less available. 
