Before I enter on subjects which will be more interesting to you than my own feelings, please allow me to say that I am deeply conscious of the honour which the Council conferred upon me last year in electing me, and you in confirming their election of me, as your President, and of the fact that I both succeed and preside over men far more worthy than I am to occupy that place. My earnest hope is that the Society may so prosper during my term of office that your choice may prove capable of defence. To secure such prosperity no effort shall be wanting on my part. Yet the fortunes of our Society, happily, depend more upon its Director, its Honorary Secretary, and its Honorary Treasurer than upon its President; and no Society could have more efficient or more zealous officers, and no President more genial allies or wiser counsellors than the gentlemen who fill these important posts. Relying on them and on the Council generally, who devote much earnest attention to our affairs, the Society may reasonably look forward to the future without misgiving.