118 
PROCEEDINGS OP THE SOCIETY. 
Mr. J. M. Allen then moved that the Reports of the Council and of 
the Treasurer, together with the Balance Sheet for the year 1898, be 
received and adopted, and that they be printed and circulated in the 
usual way. 
Mr. Richard Smith having seconded the motion, it was put to the 
meeting by the President, and unanimously carried. 
The Scrutineers having handed in their report, the President de- 
clared the following gentlemen to have been duly elected as Officers and 
Council of the Society for the ensuing year. 
President — Edward Milles Nelson, Esq. 
Vice-Presidents — * Alfred W. Bennett, Esq., M.A., B.Sc., F.LS. ; 
* George C. Karop, Esq., M.R.C.S. ; The Hon. Sir Ford North; J. J. 
Vezey, Esq. 
Treasurer — William Thomas Suffolk, Esq. 
Secretaries — Rev. W. H. Dallinger, LL.D., F.R.S. ; R. G. Hebb, Esq., 
M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P. 
Twelve other Members of Council — * James Mason Allen, Esq. ; 
Conrad Beck, Esq.; ^Robert Braithwaite, Esq., M.D., M.R.C.S., F.L.S.; 
Rev. Edmund Carr, M.A., F.R.Met.S. ; ^William Carruthers, Esq., 
F.R.S. , F.L.S., F.G.S. ; T. Comber, Esq., F.L.S. ; Edward Had swell, 
Esq. ; *A. H. Michael, Esq., F.L.S. ; Thomas FI. Powell, Esq. ; Charles 
F. Rousselet, Esq. ; John Tathara, Esq., M.A., M.H., F.R.C.P. ; Rev. 
A. G. Warner, M.A. 
Curator — Charles F. Rousselet, Esq. 
The President then read his Annual Address, the first portion being 
a review of the work of the past year, and the second portion being a 
paper on Dispersion, in the course of which he discussed some formulae 
necessary in constructing achromatic lenses ; diagrams and tables in 
illustration of the subject being shown upon the screen. 
Mr. A. D. Michael said they had listened with great pleasure to the 
address which the President had given them, and which he had called 
a summary ; doubtless they would soon be able to have it before them 
in extenso. The mathematical calculations involved in questions of dis- 
persion and refractive index were not things which could be grasped in 
a moment by the man in the street, or indeed by any person who had 
not previously given much attention to the subject ; but they were 
addressed to a Microscopical Society, and one of the very first objects 
of that Society was to increase the perfection of the instrument. In no 
respect was perfection more necessary or important than in the know- 
ledge of dispersion and refraction. He believed he was right in saying 
that no one in this country was a more thorough master of the subject 
than the President. Amongst the many admirable addresses which had 
been delivered before the Society during its existence of over half a 
century, he felt sure that the one which they had heard that evening 
would take a very high place. He had much pleasure in jwoposing 
* Those with an asterisk (*) had not held during the previous year the office to 
which they were elected. 
