II 
the Suniraary of the Meteorology of Norwich ; and our thanks are 
specially due to Mr. John Quinton, jun., their registrar, for a con- 
densed summary of the reports for the past four years. 
Our excursions have been more than usually successful : that to 
Costessy Park, by the kind permission of Lord Stafford, was 
attended by upwards of thirty members. 
The visit to Ilerringfleet Hall and Fritton Decoy, by the kind 
invitation of Lieut.-Col. Leathes, was also numerously attended, 
and Avas thoroughly enjoyed by the visitors. 
The visit of the Society (by invitation of J. H. Gurney, Esq.) to 
Northrepps Hall and Cromer, Avas replete Avith interest ; the fine 
ornithological collection at the hall Avas inspected under the 
guidance of !^[l^ J. H. Gurney and his sons, Avho spared no pains 
to make the visit interesting and instructive. 
As something more than a brief resume of the year’s Avork is 
expected in a Presidential address, I perhaps cannot do better than 
make a feAv remarks on a subject Avhich has of late years disturbed 
the biological Avorld — I mean .spontaneous generation. The 
doctrine of spontaneous generation is no ncAv thing. Many 
centuries ago, the sudden appearance of certain organisms aa^os 
attributed to spontaneous generation, but Avhen more accurate 
observations Avere made, it was foAind that the supposed spon- 
taneously produced forms Avere, after all, generated from seeds or 
eggs ; the microscope has also helped to dispel many erroneous 
notions in connection with that theory. 
The belief in spontaneous generation, or Abiogenesis, for many 
years nearly extinct, Avas revived by some French SaA*ans. Pasteur, 
for example, Avho conducted many experimente in a much more 
careful manner than had CA'er been done before, and with results 
that seemed to proA’c that life might originate de novo, from that 
which 'had no life. The opponents to Abiogeny repeated the 
experiments Avith still greater care, to exclude the presence of 
species, and found that living organisms now rarely made their 
appearance, but there was no doubt that they Avere occasionally to 
be detected after the most careful manipulation ; thus the battle 
has raged betAveen Panspermy and Abiogenesis. Dr. Bastian, 
