Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London - University Library

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PHOCEEDINGS OF THE
had beeu spared to us. But this hope was dispelled bv the
intimation of the death, on March 10, of Juhus Victor Carus,
Professor of Zoology in the University of Leipzig. He was
elected a Foreign Member in 1885, and was especially well known
as the historian of Zoology, as the translator into German of
several of Darwin's works, and as one of the few foreign
Professors who have been engaged in scientific work in British
Universities.
Within a few weeks the sad intelligence arriAed of the death of
yet another of our Foreign Members, M. Francois Crepin, the
distinguished Director of the Royal Botanic Garden in Brussels.
M. Crepin had attained a deservedly high reputation as a
systematic botanist, and was a leading authority on certain groups
of plants, notably the genus Rosa. His election as a Foreign
Member took place but two years ago ; every botanist here today
feels, I am sure, as I do, a profound satisfaction that we did not
fail to take advantage of that opportunity of showing our esteem
and respect for the man and his work whilst he was yet with us.
So recently have these two gaps been made in our list of
Foreign Members, that it has not yet been possible to take the
necessary steps to fill them. I have therefore no election of
Foreign Members to announce to j'ou.
Turning to finance, you have learned that the Treasurer has
barely succeeded in making the two ends meet. It is more true
even than it was last year, that the income of the Society is
not nearly large enough to meet all the demands that might
justifiably be made upon it. So abundant is the supply of
really good papers that, had we the funds available, the bulk
of our annual publications might well be considerably increased.
A larger expenditure upon the Library, and a margin for the
xip-keep of the Society's apartments, are both urgently needed.
It is, I think, a healthy state of affairs in a Society like ours when
the demands for really useful expenditure somewhat exceed the
available funds : it is a sign of growing activity, and it enforces
economv. But when the discrepancy becomes too great, then
efficiency suffers. I do not say that we are yet in this predicament,
but we must make every effort to avoid it.
I think that I have now brought before the Fellows all the
chief events in the history of the Society for the past year, and
have given them some idea of our present state and future
prospects. But it is still a considerable time before the Ballot
can close and we shall be statutably at liberty to separate. Of
what can I profitably discourse to you, so that I may relieve the
tedium of waiting ? I can think of nothing better than that
I should tell you about a subject at which I have been working
for some time past, and upon which I have already made communications
to the Society. The subject is the digestion of
proteids by plants. But I shall not by any means confine myself
to plants : it will be absolutely necessary to say something about