822 PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 



already been dealt with by such competent authorities as the late 

 Baron von Mueller, Mr. Howitt,.and the late Rev. Dr. Woolls; 

 but many species have at present been considered only from a 

 Victorian standpoint, and demand investigation as to habits and 

 variation when found in New South Wales. 



The difficulty of defining what is a species among Eucalypts or 

 indeed in any large and variable genus is very great. It is 

 very easy to make very serious mistakes by grouping some that 

 ought to be kept separate, or in the case of very variable forms, 

 giving specific rank to mere varieties. 



A curious example of errors that may be committed before 

 sound knowledge is acquired I find in a Report to the Lieutenant 

 Governor by Mr. William Swainson, F.R.S., in 185.3. This 

 gentleman divided up what he called the " Eucalyptidje " into 

 seven genera and 1520 species and varieties, while of the genus 

 Casmriiia he found 213 species, some of which he was obliged 

 to leave unnamed, having exhausted his vocabulary. The most 

 difficult species of Eucalyptus are probably those with smallish 

 fruits, for there is then so little opportunity to seize hold of dis- 

 tinguishing characters, and it is only by taking into account forms 

 of buds, anthers, fruits, leaves, seedling and mature, bark and 

 perhaps the wood itself that anything like certainty can he 

 arrived at. 



What an opportunity is here for some of the spare energy of 

 the old country which spends itself on monographs of a small and 

 variable genus of Compositse! What scope of useful investigation 

 exists in the study of the variation of vegetable forms on a large 

 continent like our own, which has been altogether free from the 

 destructive and thinning out action of Glacial Periods and 

 catastrophes, and where opportunities of almost unlimited varia- 

 tion exist ! 



During the year four ordinary Members and one Associate have 

 been added to the Roll, and one Member has resigned. 



The Society has lost the services of Mr. U. A. Henn and Dr. 

 Martin on the Council, but I am glad to be in a position to say 

 that they will continue their Membership although circumstances 



