JOURNAL 
OF THE 
ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 
APRIL 1899. 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 
III . — The President's Address. 
By Edward M. Nelson. 
{Delivered January 18 th, 1899.) 
I have a pleasant duty to perform before beginning my Address, 
viz. to tbank you most sincerely for the quite unexpected honour 
you Lave conferred upon me by electing me your President for the 
third year. Although, when first taking this chair, I was forced by 
the conditions which then existed to speak in a somewhat pessimistic 
strain, I am now happy to say that those conditions, owing to the 
untiring efforts of your Council, have passed away, and I need not 
reiterate what you have already learnt from the Report of your 
Council, that we have entered upon a new life of prosperity and, I 
trust, usefulness. 
You must have been pleased to hear from the Report of your 
Treasurer that this year a balance takes the place of a deficit ; this, 
coupled with the statement that all liabilities outstanding at the close 
of the financial year have been met, must be regarded as very satis- 
factory. 
You must remember that this gratifying result is in no small 
measure due to the kind offices of Mr. Bennett, Prof. Thomson, and 
Dr. Hebb, who have for a second year devoted so much of their 
valuable time to the interests of the Society. The abstracts in the 
domains of Zoology, Botany, and Bacteriology still maintain their 
high state of efficiency, and I am sure those interested in “ Micro- 
scopy ” will have noticed the very able extracts sent to us by Air. 
Disney, and the general improvement of this part of the Journal. 
Your records show that a larger number of new Fellows have 
been elected during the past year than in the previous one, and that 
there has been an increase in the number of Fellows attending the 
meetings, as well as of visitors, which -we may take as a sign that 
the subjects brought forward at the meetings have not been devoid 
of interest. 
K 
