66 
MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION. 
November 4th, 1872. 
Professor W. C. Williamson, F.RS., President of the 
Section, in the Chair. 
The President delivered an address of which the follow- 
ing is an abstract : — 
Your secretary has intimated that a few remarks would 
be expected from me on the occasion of our entry upon the 
work of a new session and of my occupying once more 
your presidential chair. Under these circumstances I would 
direct your attention for a few moments to a question that 
vitally affects us as Lancashire naturalists. We live in a 
district that has long been celebrated for the multitudes of 
men who have devoted their leisure to the study of nature 
in some one or other of its varied aspects. It was the home 
of Hobson and of Caley, of Crowther and of Buxton, and the 
race is still perpetuated by a large number of men like 
Butter worth, Nield, and Whittaker, to whose field-labours, 
as active collectors, the special investigations upon which I 
have long been engaged owe so much of their success. The 
energetic spirits of a kindred society — the Scientific Stu- 
dents’ Association — are in like manner taking a fair share in 
the work of sustaining the reputation of Lancashire for the 
earnestness of its practical naturalists. We have much 
reason for being thankful that we are surrounded by so 
many men who are able and willing thus to carry on this 
labour of love. 
