864 president's address. 



plates of this gigantic Lacertian species — a contemporary in 

 Australia with the large extinct marsupial mammals, the 

 Diprotodon and Thylacoleo, &c. In these two last parts there are 

 no less than eight well illustrated plates of the bones found and 

 illustrations of lizards in a perfect state which this monstrous 

 reptile most likely resembled on a large scale. Some notion of 

 the size of this gigantic lizard may be formed by my stating that 

 one of the bones (the ante-penultimate caudal segment) measures 

 fully 11 inches across. 



I would like to draw the attention of our members to a work 

 recently published by Charles Darwin, on a subject which has so 

 far received but little attention at the hands of naturalists. I 

 refer to our earth worms. The publication of this work may 

 induce some of the members of this Society to take the subject up. 



This work is spoken of in "Knowledge" of 4th November, 

 1889, as follows : — " No man of science of our day understands 

 better, or applies more thoroughly than Darwin the principle 

 laid down by Lord Bacon, that ' Man, as the minister and inter- 

 preter of nature, does and understands as much as his observations 

 on the order of nature permits him, and neither knows nor is 

 capable of more.' To one who rightly apprehends this, the 

 fundamental principle of modern scientific research, small things 

 and great, so only that they illustrate the order of nature, are 

 alike worthy of study. Perhaps the most remarkable result of 

 Darwin's observations is the stupendous work accomplished 

 by creatures so small and weak. It was objected against the 

 views which he published in 1837 that worms could not possibly 

 burrow to a depth of several inches into the fragments of cinders, 

 burnt marl, &c, which had been strewn over the surface of 

 meadow land. But now Darwin is able to speak confidently of 

 their burrowing into the remains of Roman villas and pavements. 

 He shows also how ancient encampments and tumuli have been 

 gradually lowered by the agency of worms. Grass-covered 

 slopes undergo perpetual denudation through their operation, 



