1886 .] 
Chairmans Address. 
7 
should be continued in Edinburgh, and I Avas on the point of re- 
commending the Government to transfer the office to London, 
chiefly on account of the difficulty connected with the access to a 
fully equipped scientific library. Had the recommendation been 
made it would, without much doubt, have been adopted. It was 
not made, because I Avas assured by the Council of this Society that 
every facility Avould be given to me, my assistants, and strangers 
who might be engaged on “ Challenger ” work, for consultation of 
books in the Royal Society library, and at the same time the Univer- 
sity conferred certain privileges of a somewhat similar kind. 
I suppose it is not altogether a matter of indifference to Scots- 
men to know that the work connected with the largest scientific 
publication ever issued by any country or age, has been chiefly 
carried out in Edinburgh, or that Edinburgh would have liked it to 
be said that, having once been commenced here, it Avas impossible 
to carry it on in this city. But over and above the mere sentimental 
aspect of the matter, the retention of the “Challenger” Office in Edin- 
burgh has been a distinct material advantage to the country, for 
the work which has been given to printers, binders, lithographers, 
artists, wood engravers, and others, represents the expenditure of 
many thousands of pounds annually. Then, there is the indirect 
advantage of having many scientific men from abroad coming and 
carrying on work here for short periods of time, and I am bound to 
say some of them Avould have remained much longer had the library 
facilities been better. Again, some special industries, such as litho- 
graphy, have in consequence been greatly developed in our midst. 
When the “ Challenger ” Avork was first commenced, it was believed 
to be impossible to have the finest kind of lithographic and engrav- 
ing work done in the United Kingdom; some authors even stipulated 
that their illustrations should be done abroad. But noAv this litho- 
graphic work can be done as well here as anywhere in the world, if 
not better ; and I frequently receive from abroad requests to have 
this kind of Avork undertaken by Edinburgh firms. It seems to me, 
then, that anything that can be done to increase the completeness 
or accessibility of the Royal Society library is to be regarded, not as 
a favour conferred upon a small body of savants, but as a direct 
boon to the city and the country of which it is the metropolis. 
A Society like ours has a very special interest in seeing a truly 
