10 president's address. 



the Council for the Session, 1915-16 had been made, brought 

 about an extraoidinary vacancy, which was subsequently filled 

 by the appointment of Mr. A. F. Basset Hull, who, in accord- 

 ance with the provisions of Rule xv., governing such appoint- 

 ments, retires at this Meeting, but is eligible for re-election. 

 From the foundation of the Society continuously np to the time 

 of Mr. Garland's death, the Council had always included in its 

 number one, and, for a great part of the period, two members of 

 the legal profession interested in Science, who were most helpful 

 in truidinsr the deliberations of the Council in matters submitted 

 by, or to be referred to, the Society's Solicitors, or on obscure 

 points which presented themselves unexpectedly, in connection 

 with the administration of trusts. The appointment of Mr. Hull 

 has restored the succession of such helpful members of Council. 



As abstracts of the papers read during the year have been 

 communicated to Members, and the papers themselves have been 

 published, it is not necessary to refer to them in detail in offering a 

 record of the Society's research-staff for the past year, as follows : — 



Dr. R. Greig-Smith, Macleay Bacteriologist to the Society, 

 continued his investigation of problems involved in the study of 

 Soil-Fertility, and Nos. xiii., and xiv., of his series of papers on 

 this subject were read during the year, and will be found in the 

 last Part of the Proceedings. The first of these treats of the 

 toxicity of soils; the second, of the stimulative action of chloro- 

 form retained by the soil. In addition, a third paper, in Parti., 

 is descriptive of a new levangum-forming bacterium, which has 

 been isolated and studied. 



Dr. J. M. Petrie, Linnean Macleay Fellow in Biochemistry, 

 completed two papers, (me on the identification of the alkaloid of 

 Native Tobacco, which will be read at the second Meeting of the 

 coming Session; and the other, the third part of his study of 

 hydrocyanic acid in plants. Other problems in hand are the 

 statement of the results of the analyses of the inorganic con- 

 stituents of plants; the photographic effects of the latex of 

 Euphorbia pepliis; the chemistry of the native Duboisias; and 

 the alkaloids of Solandra Icevin. 



