president's address. 813 



Principal Librarian of the Public Library, which he held until 

 his retirement on a pension in 1893. The Public Library- 

 developed very considerably during Mr. Walker's lengthy admin- 

 istration. One branch of it especially commanded his attention, 

 namely, the literature relating to Australasia. As a result, and 

 with the co-operation of the Trustees, the Sydney Public Library 

 now possesses a very fine collection of publications and documents 

 of this character; and in 1893, under Mr. Walker's editorship, 

 a bulky quarto bibliography relating to the same was published. 

 Mr. Walker was not directly interested in the special pursuits 

 which it is the primary object of this Society to foster. His 

 membership, as in the case of many of the Original Members, 

 was to some extent rather the expression of his S3aiipathetic 

 recognition of the claims of a Scientific Society for support on 

 the broad general grounds of education and culture. 



No doubt the Society was most in need of support in the 

 critical period of its very early history. The number of those in 

 a position to contribute papers, and the amount of work done, 

 have since then been steadily on the increase. But, taking into 

 account the general increase in the population and the considerable 

 development of the Colony since 1875, the Council cannot but 

 regret that there has been a falling off in the membership, 

 especially in that section of it of which Mr. Walker was a repre- 

 sen tative. 



Professor Thomas Jefferj'- Parker, D.Sc, F.R.S., who died on 

 November 7th, 1897, at the early age of 47, was elected a 

 Corresponding Member in 1893. He was the eldest son of 

 the late William Kitchen Parker, F.R.S., the well-known com- 

 parative osteologist and morphologist, and was alike eminent as 

 teacher and as investigator. Until his appointment to Otago in 

 1880, Professor Parker for a number of years was ProfefSsor 

 Huxley's Demonstrator at the School of Mines, and there he 

 materially assisted his distinguished colleague in developing the 

 biological portion of the curriculum along the lines which made 

 it as a biological course second to none in the United Kingdom. 

 In "Nature" of January 6th, 1898, will be found a most interest- 



