708 president's address. 



Macleay was born in Scotland, but, coming to New South Wales 

 as a very young man, he became the most patriotic of colonists, 

 and spent all the rest of his life in this country, never once 

 leaving it except on the occasion of his expedition to New Guinea. 

 During all the earlier part of his life in this colony he was engaged 

 in pastoral pursuits on a large scale, being concerned in very 

 extensive stations in the district of the Murrumbidgee. He also 

 during these earlier years took an active share in the political life 

 of the country. But during the last 15 or 20 years of his life, 

 though he never ceased to take a keen interest in all public 

 matters and remained a member of the Upper House, and though 

 until comparatively recently he retained the ownership of large 

 stations, yet he gave a very large share of his time to the cultiva- 

 tion of Natural Science, and left his stations to his managers — 

 very rarely indeed leaving Sydney even for a single day. With 

 remarkable single-mindedness and still more remarkable absence 

 of ostentation, he set himself to advance the study of the Natural 

 History Sciences in this colony ; and this in a manner which — 

 though, in common with everything he did, not by any means 

 free from the impress of a strongly-marked individuality — was 

 characterised by a very exceptional breadth and liberality of view. 

 There are several ways in which an individual possessed of the 

 necessary means and the necessary enlightenment may further the 

 ends of science. He may himself add by his own investigations 

 to the sum total of our knowledge. He may, without himself 

 prosecuting any researches, accumulate in an intelligent way 

 material with the aid of which others may be enabled to advance 

 the science in which he is interested. He may by his personal 

 influence and example be the means of inducing others to devote 

 their energies to scientific work. He may provide facilities, as, 

 for example, by building laboratories or biological stations, fur- 

 nishing instruments and apparatus, and forming collections of 

 scientific books, by which scientific workers may carry on their 

 work with convenience and, thoroughness. Or he may provide 

 funds by means of which investigators may be enabled to devote 

 all their time and energy to the work of research. 



