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XVI. The Presidential Address ; Delivered by Raphael
Meldola, F.R.A.S., F.C.S., at the Annual Meeting,
January 28th, 1882.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The grateful task of congratulating you upon the
completion of another annual cycle once more devolves upon
me. Whilst fully sensible of the honour which you have
conferred upon me by electing me for the third year to the
Presidential Chair, I cannot but rejoice to think that our
Society has now assumed such proportions that I may con-
fidently look forward to seeing, at no very distant period, my
present position filled by some gentleman having more direct
claim to your consideration both as a local resident and a
working naturalist. The duty of acting for another year the
part of a nurse towards this Club, whose birth and growth I
have watched with such interest, will, however, give me even
more gratification than heretofore, since our ranks are filling
with that class of members whose support we most value,
and our publications show that we have commenced work in
earnest.
During the past year our Society has had several resign-
ations, and two deaths; but, notwithstanding this, we now
number some 314 members as compared with 224 in our
last year's list. The deaths we have to deplore are those of
Mr. Walter P. Weston and Sir Antonio Brady.
Mr. Weston was well known as a student of our native
Lepidoptera and Coleoptera, the Tortrices being his special
objects of study. He also added considerably by his labours
to our knowledge of the insects inhabiting oak-galls, whilst
his activity as a general entomologist is borne witness to by
his numerous contributions to the pages of the 'Entomologist.'
Our late member died of consumption at a comparatively
early age, and although I had not the pleasure of knowing