640 PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 



singular advantages in its scientific history. Some of the most 

 eminent names on the roll of fame have been first knoTrn through 

 what they did on Australian shores. Sir Joseph Banks, liobert 

 Brown, Sir Joseph Hooker, Gould, Jukes, Swainson, and many 

 others are instances of this. I reserve for separate mention the 

 illustrious author of the ' Hora) Entomologica),' Mr. William 

 Sharp Macleay. At a time when the natural sciences were almost 

 in their infancy it is with satisfaction and just pride we read the 

 name of this illustrious Naturalist so often quoted. His reputation 

 was world-wide and his investigations all stamped with the mark 

 not only of genius, but with that accuracy and caution which 

 alone give a permanent foundation to scientific fame. All that 

 he acquired — and it was much — will always be associated with 

 Port Jackson, the oft-quoted scene of his labours. AVe may say 

 that he was truly the pioneer of Natural Science in Australia, 

 just as Sir Thomas Brisbane was the pioneer of Australian 

 Astronomy and Meteorology, and the Eev. AV. B. Clarke the 

 father of Australian Geology. 



But while the East Coast of Australia thus received its share 

 and more than its share of attention, the South and West, the 

 Centre and the North, were comparatively neglected. This was 

 unfortunate in man}^ ways. Great as the interest is which attaches 

 itself to any portion of our continent, 3'et the East Coast possesses 

 these novel features in the least degree. The reason of this is 

 that the East Coast shares its peculiarities with other and often 

 well-known provinces. Thus, on the North Coast, there is a large 

 intermixture of the Asiatic element. Some of the plants have 

 been known since the days of tlie Portuguese navigators. Its 

 mollusean fauna is almost entirely Indian or Pliilippine. These 

 characters are less marked as the coast is followed to the South- 

 ward, but then they become mingled with some belonging to the 

 Pacific Islands, Now Zealand, &c. But the South Coast is in 

 every respect Australian. Ity fiora has few foreigners, and its 

 fauna, whether marine or terrestrial, has scarcely any at all. 



