VOL. XIX. (I) THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS 3 
to the Quekett Club, and it is one deserving special attention 
in these days of specialization, when no man can aspire to be 
an authority in more than a small part of one subject. Even 
now some are inclined to dismiss the held naturalist with the 
old jibing question “ Cui bono ? ” to which many eminently 
satisfactory answers can be given, especially as the question 
no longer disputes the place of pride now occupied by “ Natural 
Knowledge,” to quote old Gilbert White’s vivid phrase. 
The Field Naturalist, in the hrst place, is a magician of 
no mean order, who carries the neophyte into a “ high place,” 
and shows him “ all the kingdoms of the world and the glory 
thereof.” Such a magician, long years ago, gave me some 
glimpses of an inhnite horizon, and the “ trailing clouds of 
glory ” — supposed by Wordsworth to be the privilege of child- 
hood only — have not yet departed entirely from my sight, nor 
will they ever. To impart some knowledge of the world in 
which we live to impressionable youth, to awake imagination, 
and to create a lasting interest in the beautiful environment of 
mankind, is one of the high offices of the Field Naturalist. And 
were there no more this would amply justify his existence. 
But there is much more. Some of us no longer in our first 
youth, are perhaps apt to think our activities compare but ill 
to those of the professional naturalist, whose business it is to 
produce the learned memoirs and monographs that make their 
appearance in ever-increasing number. A comparison is un- 
just, for the role of the Field Naturalist is quite different, 
though hardly less important. He is usually a professional 
or business man whose material prospects are unaffected by 
his scientific hobby, which is his delight and relaxation. Above 
all things he is not in a hurry, not unduly desirous of academic 
distinctions, while the professional man of science not unseldom 
works with feverish haste at high pressure, knowing that 
recognition of his work spells promotion, often necessary to 
secure a position free from financial anxiety. 
One of the primary duties of the Field Naturalist is to 
verify and make additions to the facts relating to the Natural 
History — using the word in its widest sense — of his particular 
domain. The kind of professional naturalist whose province 
it is to construct far reaching generalizations must have these 
