482 president's address. 



the law precisely in these terms, hut all would readily admit the 

 facts upon which it is hased. It is for this reason that Mr. 

 Bailey's researches into the "lower orders" of our Australian 

 flora are replete with interest. The Crytogamic flora is also 

 included in his investigations, and he is just now engaged in the 

 publication of a work on the Queensland Ferns. I may mention 

 that he is employed by the Government as keeper of a Herbarium 

 which gives him special opportunities for observation. Though 

 the Government of Queensland does very little for science, yet 

 this is an extremely valuable exception. 



It is very much to be regretted that we have no complete 

 Herbarium for New South Wales, the oldest colony of all, and the 

 one where it is most needed as a record. While the collections 

 of Cunningham, of Foster, of Solander, and Robert Brown are to 

 be found in Kew, we have not a single good public collection of 

 our native plants in this colony. It should be remembered that 

 as a record of what has been done by our great botanists, such a 

 collection is invaluable, and the time for giving it the greatest 

 interest and importance is rapidly passing away. There are good 

 herbaria now in Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania, but in this 

 respect the colony of New South Wales is behind them all. 



In connection with botanical observations, I must mention the 

 labours of Dr. Bancroft, F.L.S., of Brisbane. This most industrious 

 observer is labouring amidst very many difficulties to discover the 

 useful medicinal qualities of our plants. His success in the case 

 of Duboisia myoporides is well known. This is a plant of the 

 Solanum family, which possesses in its extract a property far 

 superior to belladonna for diseases of the eye. It also contains 

 many other valuable medicinal properties which are being worked 

 out. It is now known that the opiate used by the natives of the 

 interior is the dried leaves of another species of Duboisia, D. 

 Hopwoodii, or Pituri. Dr. Bancroft has pursued his inquiries 

 with such vigour, that he has now a long list of colonial drugs at 

 his disposal. Alstonia con&tricta is at present a marketable 



