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president’s address. 
under the presidency of our excellent friend, the late Rev. Joseph 
Crompton, than whom no more suitable guide and counsellor to a 
young Society could have been found. The words of wisdom 
which he their addressed to us have always been in my mind. He 
impressed upon us the interdependence, the one upon the other of 
all the various branches of Natural Science, and emphasized the 
important lesson that although we could not expect to tread with 
distinction more than one of its many paths, we must from the 
first dismiss from our minds the slightest indifference towards the 
studies of others, for each tended to throw light upon the other. 
The Geologist could not determine his fossils without a knowledge 
of say Conchology, and the Botanist could not have a proper 
understanding of the flora of a district without knowing something 
of its soil, for which he would have to seek the assistance of the 
Geologist ; he told us that we were about to engage in the “ glorious 
excitement of a glorious pursuit,” but that we were not to forget 
we were all students, and that we must gather many facts before 
“the fire of patient investigation applied to them” would yield 
in our crucible “ the little shining globule of truth.” I think 
we have been to a great extent mindful of this excellent advice, 
and the result has been a united Society, mutually interested and 
instructed by each other’s work. 
At the end of the first year we numbered 119 members, of whom 
I rejoice to say 31 are still with us, although the hand of death has 
removed some whom we valued most — amongst them our first 
President, who for two years, to use his own expression, “ rocked 
the cradle” of the Society — and I will, now that we are of full age, 
with your permission, consider very briefly what record we can show 
for the years that are past, and this I will do, not in any spirit of 
vainglory ! but I trust you will pardon me if my feelings of honest 
pride in a Society in which I take so much interest should render 
themselves more evident than may appear quite seemly. 
One of the first things which we set ourselves to do was the 
compilation of accurate lists of the Fauna and Flora of our County, 
and I think we may look with satisfaction upon the result, for 
although there are some classes both of animals and plants with 
