68 THE NORTHERN MICROSCOPIST. 


presidency of Dr. William Carter. The first business on the programme was 
the election of officers, and, accordingly, the following gentlemen were elected:— 
Mr. W. H. Weightman, president; Dr. Carter and Mr. F. T. Paul, vices 
presidents; Mr. W. J. Baker, hon. treasurer; Mr. I. C. Thompson, hon, ~ 
secretary ; Dr. Hicks and Messrs. G. H. Morton, H. M. Bennett, and H. R 
Boult, to the vacancies on the committee. The following report of the com- 
mittee for the past year was read :— 
In presenting the thirteenth annual report the committee are again ‘able to 
give a satisfactory statement as to the condition of the Society. The meetings 
throughout the session have been numerously attended, and the interest taken in 
the papers read and in the conversaziones indicate that the popularity of the 
microscope as a means of both instruction and recreation is on the increase. 
This fact is further confirmed by the many invitations received by the members 
to exhibit at soirées, &c., the microscope being now considered an almost ~ 
essential part of such entertainments. Your committee would, however, like to 
see a larger amount of original investigation undertaken by the various members. 
than appears to be the case, and would specially commend this to individual 
attention.. Nineteen new members have been enrolled during the past year, 
and six members have left or resigned. The numbers on the list now stand, ~ 
10 honorary members, 162 ordinary members, and I associate member. By 
death the Society has lost two of its earliest members, Mr. John Abraham and 
Mr. Alexander Cooke. Mr. Abraham was a former president, and throughout 
his long connection with the Society one of its warmest friends and most able 
supporters. The associated Science and Art soirée and the soirée of the Chester 
Society of Natural Science have again been benefited by the friendly co-operation 
of the Chester Society with our own. The library has been further augmented 
by the addition of the volumes of the Challenger Expedition as published, and 
by other works. The committee have to thank the donors of books, material, — 
and of slides to the cabinet for their various presentations. q 
The treasurer’s financial statement showed that the income of the Society — 
during the past year was £102 6s. 8d., and that there was a balance in hand 
of £18 13s. 3d., as compared with an overplus of £24 12s. 6d. in the previous ~ 
year. 
The reports having been adopted, the President-elect proceeded to deliver his 
inaugural address, in which he stated :— 
‘“‘ All the members of our Society are, I. am sure, anxious to promote its 
interests, and many do this by keeping up a steady attendance at its meetings, — 
which gain some of their attractiveness by the variety of the objects exhibited. 
They could, however, do more service still by recording their observations by — 
pen and pencil, and bringing them before the Society from time to time. The 
great hindrance perhaps to this being more generally carried out is the desultory 
mode in which a large proportion of our microscopic observers apply themselves ~ 
to the use of the instrument. Though no one should so shut himself up in a 
narrow speciality as to become blind to the great interests of human life, or to 
the grand phenomena of nature, yet it is obvious that when the subjects of study 
are so many, and the time for their pursuit so short, a definite and precise end — 
must be continually kept in view, if any considerable measure of success is to be — 
attained. A cursory and indiscriminate examination of all the minute forms of — 
life one meets with may be pefectly allowable as a pastime, but can scarcely be — 
expected to lead to important and permanent result. It will, indeed—and it © 
is not a small advantage—give a sense of satisfaction to the dilletante while ~ 
perusing or listening to the lucid teaching of some master in science, but it will 
not cause the aimless student himself to excel or advance by a fraction the 
boundaries of knowledge. On the other hand, a selection of some special line 
of study, made with judgment and in a direction congenial to the taste and ~ 
abilities of the observer, can scarcely fail to be rewarded with success in the © 
discovery of new aspects of truth ; and it would be a happy beginning of our © 

