1885.] 
The British Association, 
61 1 
VII. I'HE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AND 
SIR LYON PLAYFAIR'S PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 
r H !T l T,r e ° f the British Association is not quite un- 
ouded. Its annual gatherings show no falling off 
any lack of fu“„T The “dSilT 
sirabie tTreport fh Wel ‘ as m « tro Politan, still find Tde- 
Special 43‘J^t^bfd tt oTp^^W- 
the Association wheresoever it meets Last war’o • ’ 
at Montreal presents even some of PreVatTes offnol",",® 
piogiess, foreshadowing the rise of an Association for the 
vv tilTt ].n t° f Sc / ence> whlch > if not absolutely international 
will at least embiace not merelv thp TTnifp>r-i tv - j 1 ’ 
the British Empire and thsUn Ld 's tat" If Amlr.f a 
other words the English-speaking nations of The Globe 
May it so fal out ! But for all this it seems to us and to 
not a few others, that a change of ill omen is gradual v 
stealing over the meetings. It would be a delicate and” an 
mvidlous task to decide whether the work done by the 
fallM off h in T e, f 10ra f ted in C1Ua ' ity ’ but i( «rtainly has 
healers ff ° f quantlt >'’ and in the number of 
Eminent names will still draw a numerous audience but 
a young savant who has not yet won his spurs will certainlv 
not find he sedl.onal meetings of the Association a fit 
opportunity for bringing his researches before qualified and 
appreciative listeners. On the other hand, the amusinf 
featmes of the gathering, excursions, garden-parties, lunches* 
and what not come more into prominence, and, not content 
with the evening, are gradually encroaching upon the after 
noon. The bread is decreasing to a poor halfpennyfvortT 
while the sack is becoming an intolerable deal . 3 Hence 
theie are those who— not scientific specialists, but observant 
men of the world-question whether the Association has in 
it another half-century’s life. 
Our immediate concern is not, however, with the general 
position and prospers of the British Association, bu°t with 
the Inaugural Address of its President. Sir Lyon Playfair 
dl f n .°* S lve . as some of his predecessors have done, a gene- 
ral pifture of the most recent developments of Sc ence of 
the diredlion they are likely to take, and of their bearings’ on 
