ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. 



30th January, 1884. 



The President, C. S. Wilkinson, F.G.S., F.L.S., etc., in the Chair. 



President's Address. 



Our Society has now completed its ninth year, and I am happy 

 to congratulate the members upon its vigorous growth. The 

 healthy vitality of the Society is not to be gauged by the number 

 of its members, but by the nature of the scientific work that is 

 being accomplished. 



Australasia, of which New South Wales auspiciously occupies 

 nearly the central position, offers one of the most interesting, 

 fruitful, and unique regions of the globe, for a Society such as this 

 which has been founded "for the Cultivation and Study of the 

 Science of Natural History.'' Here then we are privileged to 

 enter upon a vast and almost new field for investigation. A 

 considerable amount of work has already been done in it, but just 

 as in ascending a lofty hill we obtain a more and more extensive 

 view of the country near us and beyond, so what has hitherto been 

 achieved has not only laid down the base lines for further scientific 

 exploration, but has also stimulated our interest, for it has 

 revealed how practically unlimited is the field that awaits the 

 research of the naturalist — research that will prove of great value 

 not only to science, but also to this country in particular, in 

 aiding in the development of its natural resources. 



For instance it is only two months ago, that at our November 

 Meeting, the Hon. William Macleay, whose papers on Ichthyology 



