478 president's address. 



I am sure, also, that most valuable observations are made and 

 would be recorded, but are now lost. The work that we can do 

 for science by encouragement, and by taking a little trouble for 

 those who wish to be observers, would be more than what our 

 own observations would effect. I am fully aware of the great 

 extent to which this has been done already, but I would venture 

 to suggest that it should take a more systematic form. If we 

 were to form a special committee, to whom all enquiries should 

 be referred, and then let it be widely known that any specimens 

 forwarded to our secretary for examination would be attended to 

 and information returned to the sender. We have amongst our 

 working members enough of specialists to do this work, and on 

 whom we could rely, will appear more plainly as I proceed. Thus 

 I am sure we should gather an immense amount of observations, 

 and what is more important would awaken a wide-spread interest 

 in the natural sciences, and tend to make them truly popular. 

 The educational value of our Society would be increased, and no 

 doubt we should, in consequence, be able to count upon an 

 increased support and sympathy both from the Government and 

 public. 



I turn now to review what is actually being done amongst us 

 at the present time. We have, I am happy to say, a fair 

 proportion of naturalists in all the various colonies, and the 

 different special departments seem to be pretty equally divided 

 amongst them. The increase in their numbers of late years has 

 been very great. Previous to twenty years ago they might be 

 counted on the fingers, and whatever they did was scattered 

 through the scientific serials of Europe, or attached as appendices 

 to works on the Colonies. A few Government papers contain 

 some valuable early records, and a few more occur in long 

 forgotten works. How few for instance, have seen Dr. Lindley's 

 papers on the flora of West Australia or Stutchbury's remarks 

 on the Natural History of Port Jackson. Would any library in 

 Australia be likely to contain the proceedings of the Natural 



