Proceedings of the Rof/cd Society of Victoria. 237 



and suffer the infliction of hearing papers read in which they 

 had not the slightest interest, and so provide audiences for 

 the readers. If it was intended merely to get rid of Section 

 G, then Section G had no desire to remain if it was not 

 wanted, and it had already taken steps to withdraw. The 

 Engineering and Physical Sections had had meetings which 

 were rendered more uleasant than any mixed meetings could 

 be. It should be borne in mind that the Sections acted as 

 feeders to the general Society. 



Dr. Dendy considered that the more the Sections were 

 increased so were the expenses. The Council practically 

 lost all control over the Sections. 



Professor Spencer said that his motion was general, and 

 did not applj^ to any particular Section. They had given 

 Sections a fair trial, and he did not think they had been a 

 real success. 



Professor Orme Masson said that if the motion were 

 carried, it did not follow that Section G could not remain. 

 He would urge that the motion be carried, for the reason 

 that it would not be an arbitrary abolition of any existing 

 Section. It would simply be a certificate from the Society 

 that it did not care to create new Sections. 



Mr. Ellery drew attention to Rule 54, which provided 

 that meetings should be for scientific objects only. If that 

 Rule had been kept in view, all difficulty might have been 

 avoided. 



Mr. Jaeger hoped that the abolition of the Rules would 

 not preclude the reading of any papers on Art. 



Mr. Ellery. — Certainly not. The formation of Section G 

 was the result of many years' discussion. It was urged that 

 Art and Literature should be moie thought of in the Society 

 than they were. 



Mr. RuSDEN thought it was hard to suppose that the 

 Rules were framed without consideration and wisdom. 

 Rule 30 provided against anything objectionable occurring 

 in any Section, and that Rule had been overlooked. If it 

 had not been overlooked, no paper would have been read 

 without being submitted to the Council. 



Mr. White agreed with Mr. Ellery that the Society was 

 not strong enough for Sections. As the Council had the 

 right of vetoing Sections, wh}^ not leave the matter to it. 



