Excerpt from Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Vol. 4: October 25, 1880 May 28, 1883 The president opened the proceedings with the following remarks: Having now completed my year of Office you will per haps think it becoming of me to say a few words on the present occasion of our annual general meeting. I trust that during the twelve months that I have been your president the Society has had no reason to regret its choice. Beyond, however, returning my sincere thanks to the Council and all the members of the Society - but especially to the Treasurer and Secretaries - for the kindness which I have invariably received at their hands, in the discharge of my duties, I will not occupy your time by dwelling at any length on the events of the past year. What I have to say refers more to the future. First I would remark that the attendance at our meetings, though I have no reason to believe it has generally fallen below the average of the last few years, is certainly not SO full as is to be desired, and is, if I mistake not, considerably smaller than it used to be in the days when I first knew the Society. It seems to me that there is a very easy explanation of this fact. In former days the customary hour of dinner in the University was much earlier than it now is and, more than that, all or nearly all Of the Colleges dined at almost the same hour. N ow, as you are aware, there is a very great diversity in this respect, and this change of habits appears to me to he obviously the prime cause of the small attendance. I believe I am right in stating that those Colleges which maintain the ancient practice of dining at a comparatively early hour are now in a minority - certainly they are in a minority as regards the number of members belonging to them. I speak in the presence of those who will correct me if I am in error, but I think that the hour of the Society's meetings has more than once been changed in past time, and that we meet now at a later hour than formerly. I would therefore venture to suggest that the Society might find it advantageous to consider this subject once more; but it will be apparent, I think, to all that we cannot fix a later hour than we have at present; and that, if any change be made, it must be to one that is earlier. It will be within the knowledge of several here present that some months ago the Royal Society de termined to try the experiment of holding its meetings at an earlier hour - before instead of after dinner. The experiment has, I believe, succeeded, I will not say to the full extent that some expected, but at all events partially. I understand that the attendance has im proved, and that the new arrangement has been found convenient by the most constant frequenters of the Society's meetings, whether they be officials or not. I therefore cannot help throwing out the hint that we might find it expedient to try the same experiment in Cambridge, and to hold our meetings in the course of the afternoon. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.