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imbued with a love of Nature, as she attires herself in the ever- 
varying attitudes of organised existence t Is is not delightful to 
come in contact with those ichose sympathies extend to objects placed 
beyond the narrow confines of their daily observation ? Is it not 
congenial to welcome truth in whatever phase she is discoverable in 
the physico-chemico-vital records of a past and passing world f 
And is it not profitable, withal, to cherish glimpses of the infinite 
as we try to draw aside some superficial folds of that dark and 
many -plaited “ veil which separates the seen from the unseen ?” 
To these interrogatories our learned Institutions will surely 
answer affirmatively; and I do not suppose the highest of them 
will object to the following definition of its final aim, as expressed 
in the language of Vicesimus Knox : — “ Mutual improvement, 
and the investigation of truth ; the development of the seeds of 
genius, and the detection of falsehood ; the emancipation of the 
mind from the fetters of prejudice, and the cultivation of true 
friendship by social and liberal intercourse !” 
M ‘GO WAN AND DANK3, GREAT WINDMILL STREET, HAYMARK6T, 
