NOTES 645 



dealing with the early history of scientific societies in the Commonwealth. It 

 appears that the eailiest recorded effort to form an improvement society was made 

 in the year 1818, when Judge Advocate Wylde's attempt to form an Agricultural 

 Society failed because Governor Macquarie demanded the admission of emancipists. 

 In December 1821, Go\ernor Brisbane formed a scientific club under the grandilo- 

 quent name of the Philosophical Society of Australasia, whose members read 

 papers at each other's houses in turn Some of the papers were printed by Barron 

 Field, while the bronze plate at Kurnell at once celebrates the foundation of 

 this Society and the jubilee of Captain Cook's visit. This was succeeded by 

 the Agricultural Society in the fo'lowing year, which became a Horticultural 

 Society in 1826, and it is noteworthy that Sydney has never been without a 

 Horticultural Society from that day to this. Mr. Maiden considers that the Royal 

 Society of N.S.W. is a lineal descendant of the Australian Philosophical Society 

 founded in January 1850 and resuscitated in July 1855 as the Philosophical Society 

 of N.S.W. ; the present title being assumed in December 1866. This would make 

 the Royal Society of Tasmania, dating from October 1843, tne oldest scientific 

 society in Australasia. 



Messrs. Hilger & Co. have issued a short brochure descriptive of the new and 

 compact type of Abbe refractometer designed and constructed by them. With 

 this instrument refractive indices from 1*3 to 17 can be rapidly measured to an 

 accuracy of 00001, while at the same time the dispersion can also be obtained. 

 The purity of oils and other substances, and the strengths of aqueous, alcoholic 

 and other solutions, can be determined with only the one or two drops of liquid 

 required to form a thin film between the two dense flint glass Abbe prisms. To 

 increase the usefulness of the refractometer for industrial purposes Messrs. Hilger 

 are publishing tables of refractive indices of substances of industrial importance. 

 Vol. I., Refractive Indices of Essential Oils, is ready, and Vol. II., on Oils, Fats, and 

 Waxes, will shortly be in the press. The price of the refractometer, whose parts 

 are all interchangeable, is £47, while the lists of refractive indices are issued at 

 15J. per volume. 



The report of the Organising Committee of the Scientific Products Exhibition 

 held last summer at King's College has now been issued by the British Science 

 Guild. It appears that the whole cost of the exhibition, some ,£4,000, was met by 

 admission fees and by donations from exhibitors and members of the Guild. 

 These were more than sufficient, for when the outstanding liabilities have been 

 settled there should remain a balance of about .£1,500, which it is proposed to 

 use as the nucleus of a fund to cover the expenses of a second and still more 

 comprehensive exhibition this year. No financial assistance was received from 

 the State, though two or three individual departments gave such help as they 

 were able. Thus the Air Ministry, through Brig.-General Bagnall-Wild, under- 

 took the complete arrangement of the aircraft section, the Inventions Department 

 of the Ministry of Munitions gave demonstrations of the oxidation of ammonia, 

 and the Board of Trade loaned show cases and gave advice. Mr. J. H. Reynolds, 

 formerly Principal of the Municipal School of Technology, Manchester, was 

 responsible for the first draft of the exhibition scheme ; Mr. F. S. Spiers, Secretary 

 of the Faraday Society, acted as Executive Officer; and Mr. F. C. Higham gave 

 his services as Director of Publicity. 



At a dinner of the Guild on Thursday, January 9, Lord Crewe, the president 

 of the exhibition committee, laid further stress on the objects the Gui'd has in 

 view— namely, to emphasise the importance of science as part of our general 

 scheme of education, and to assist in the promotion of research in both pure and 



42 



