ADDRESS 



BY 



ROBERT THORBURN AYTON INNES, 

 F.R.A.S., F.R.S.E. 



PRESIDENT. 



Excluding the purely formal meeting of 1905, in which 

 year we joined forces with the visiting British Association for 

 the Advancement of Science, this is the second session of the 

 Association to meet in the Transvaal and the first to meet in 

 Pretoria. Our Association was started in 1903 at Capetown, 

 and in 1904 the meeting was held in Johannesburg, but on that 

 occasion one day was spent in Pretoria. This year we hold 

 our meeting in what is now the Administrative Capital of the 

 Union, but we are invited to spend one -day in Johannesburg, 

 visiting the Crown Mines, when visitors will have a favourable 

 opportunity of seeing the conditions under which our staple 

 industry is conducted, especially with regard to modern views 

 on hygiene and the preservation of life. 



The calm atmosphere of our Association is especially suit- 

 able for discussions upon the broad principles underlying polity. 



