Opening address of his Excellency Sir J. H. Lefroy, C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., President

Gentlemen,the profound sense which I have of my slender qualification for the honourable position which the constitution of this society assigns to Her Majesty's representative, and of my inability to address you with the authority of a master in any field of the vast domain of science, shall not tempt me to take up your time with vain excuses for allowing myself to be placed in such a position. There has been, as you are aware, a considerable interval of time since my predecessor delivered an inaugural address upon a similar occasion. I should be unwilling to see the custom of an occasional presidential address abandoned, and I ask your indulgence for the remarks which, at the request of your Council, I have committed to writing, upon subjects of immediate interest to this Society, however wanting in scientific value.