718 president's address. 



sustain a heavy loss. For though the intrinsic value of the 

 scientific work done can only be finally decided upon by a tribunal 

 that does not belong either to the present time or to any particular 

 society or particular country, yet the sympathy and co-operation 

 of those with whom they come in immediate contact must always 

 be of importance to investigators in science, as to workers in any 

 sphere of life. 



The choice of subjects for investigation which the devotee of 

 biological science resident in Australia has before him is a very 

 large one. To the botanical worker there are very numerous 

 tempting fields promising rich harvests. For instance among the 

 Algse the abundant Siphonece that live on the tropical parts of 

 the coast are only known as regards their general form ; and their 

 structure and especially their development offer a promising field 

 of investigation. The same holds good of the Red Seaweeds; 

 for though many have been described by Agardh, Sonder, 

 Harvey and others, yet in the case of many — one might say 

 most — of the genera that seem to be specially characteristic of 

 our coasts little is known but the form of the thallus. 



The development of some of the Australian ferns is unknown, 

 and in the case of such remarkable genera as Schizcea, Lyyodium, 

 and Alsophila is a study likely to lead to interesting results. 

 Among the Lycopodiacece we have three remarkable genera — 

 Tmesij)teris, Psilotum and Phylloglossum ; and as absolutely 

 nothing is known respecting their development, whoever should 

 succeed in tracing the germination of the spore and the formation 

 of the prothallium stage would be making an important contri- 

 bution to botanical science. 



Among the higher plants many subjects of enquiry lie before 

 the Australian botanist. For example the embryonic development 

 of the Proteads and the development of the parts of the flower I 

 might mention as untouched subjects, for the investigation of 

 which a botanist resident in Australia has special opportunities. 

 The mode of fertilisation of members of this order is also still a 

 matter of conjecture. Another promising subject for investigation 



