Gentlemen,—On taking formal possession of this chair, to which your generosity has called me, which confers honour on its occupant because it has been tenanted by a succession of able and distinguished men, and which is to me especially venerable, because my father once filled it, I shall, I believe, be conforming to excellent precedents if I begin by passing in rapid review before you the principal occurrences of the last twelvemonths, affecting the interests of the Medico-Psychological Association.