THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 
199 
portant of these were on the evidence of the existence of 
Palaeolithic man during the glacial period in East Anglia. This was 
a communication by Mr. Sydney Skertchley, of the Geological 
Survey, and the proof was that from below tough undisturbed chalky 
boulder clay, at Brandon and elsewhere, the author had himself dug 
out various pala3olithic implements ; and the President, Dr. John 
Evans, Professor Boyd Dawkins, and others, acquiesced in the 
conclusions which the author of the paper had arrived at. 
The microscope has aided research in a conspicuous way during 
the past year, but to this I can only refer very briefly. It is 
perfectly marvellous to think of the enormous number of micro- 
scopes made in this country, as well as in France, Germany, and 
America, and yet how comparatively few the workers really are. In 
many cases the instrument is used as a toy ; in others it is bought 
because it is supposed to be the right thing to possess a microscope ; 
in others some occasional real work is done ; but while the former 
classes may probably be reckoned by hundreds, the latter are few 
and far between. But after all this is not to be wondered at; 
for a man or woman to do any really good work with a microscope 
there must be an amount of uninterrupted attention and conse- 
quent expenditure of time which many, however anxious they may 
be to undertake some investigations, are not at liberty to devote to it. 
Still it is impossible to overrate the value of the microscope, even 
when it fulfils but a little higher purpose than that of a plaything. 
It is impossible for anyone to look through a microscope without 
being the better for it, and while to those who are ignorant of 
nature's wonders surprise and a spirit of enquiry is raised, to the 
thoughtful observer a new world is opened, of which he had no 
previous conception. As the editor of the Microscopical Journal 
said, in the first part, issued now nearly forty years ago, " it cannot 
be a matter of surprise that many resort to the microscope as a 
means of intellectual pastime which is sure to terminate in bene- 
ficial results. General knowledge may be acquired by observation, 
recondite science by application alone, and the existence of the 
former, in the minds of the apparent tyro, by industry and perse- 
verance, imperceptibly produces the latter." 
Looking at the microscope as we now have it, an almost perfect 
instrument for the work for which it is designed, it is difficult to 
realize that it was not until the year 1824 that an achromatic 
