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Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. [sess. 
The Hon. Lord M‘LAREN, LL.D., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
Chairman’s Opening Address. 
(Read November 4, 1901.) 
I find that during the past Session forty-one papers have been 
read. Of these, ten belong to the department of Physics, five to 
Mathematics, one to Chemistry, two to Geology, seven to Biology, 
one to Botany, four to Anatomy, three to Physiology, four to 
Meteorology, four to Astronomy. 
Since the commencement of the past Session, eighteen Fellows 
have been added to our numbers. Of these, one is a Professor of 
Philosophy, two are University Lecturers, and six are Doctors of 
Medicine. 
The Professor above mentioned is Sanjiban Ganguli, of the 
Maharaja’s College, Jaipur. He has written treatises on the 
Philosophy of Locke and Descartes. In his letter of application 
for admission to the Society he says, “ May I be excused for the 
trouble I am going to give you? It has long been my desire to 
become a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. ... To be 
in touch with the great scholars and learned men of the time is itself 
a matter of great educational importance.” 
During the same period sixteen Fellows have been taken from 
us by death. These include our late Secretary, Professor Tait, in 
reference to whom the Council adopted the following minute — 
“ The Council desire to put on record their sense of the great 
loss which the Society has sustained by the death of Professor 
Tait. Professor Tait became a Fellow of the Society in 1861, 
when he came to Edinburgh as Professor of Natural Philosophy. 
At the beginning of the next Session he was elected a member of 
Council, and in 1863 one of the Secretaries to the ordinary 
meetings. In 1879 he was elected General Secretary, in succession 
to Professor Balfour. 
“ During his forty years of Fellowship he contributed a very 
