CoLENSo. — Presidential Address. 129 



been named by Nordenskjold), who afc once extracted the new 

 gas, which was submitted for spectroscopic examination to 

 Thalen, one of the best spectroscopists of the day, who con- 

 firmed Crookes's statement, but found no trace of argon. 

 Ultimately, however. Professor Eamsay, while boiling cleveite 

 in weak sulphuric acid, not only obtained helium, but also 

 argon, devoid of the gas which is usually found associated 

 with atmospheric argon, and which may be the cause of the 

 high density of the latter. Thus several new forms of gas have 

 already been discovered, whilst more are apparently in view. 

 From these facts it appears certam that the means now avail- 

 able for producing argon in a pure condition, coupled with the 

 further discoveries made in the search for it, are sure to launch 

 both chemistry and physics into a new domain of philosophical 

 inquiry, which will not only materially widen our knowledge 

 of facts and our theoretical views in chemistry, but will pro- 

 bably also lead to some more definite conceptions of the 

 nature and structure of matter. 



Art. IX. — Presidential Address. 

 By the Eev. William Colenso, F.E.S., F.L.S. 



{^Delivered to the Haioke's Bay PJiilosophical Institute, 11th May, 1896.] 



Slave to no sect, who takes no private road, 

 But looks through Nature up to Nature's God. 



Pope, "Essay on Man." 



In my taking the President's chair on this occasion, being 

 the opening of our sessional meetings for this year, 1896, I 

 must, in the first place, thank you for your having again 

 elected me to this office. And while it is my pleasing duty to 

 do this, and to assure you I will do my best to fill it creditably, 

 I feel a certain amount of diifidential fear lest I may fail, and 

 so not come up to what you may have been led to anticipate ; 

 and this arises from many peculiar circumstances, which I 

 need not particularise. 



From the pubhshed report of our Council for the last year's 

 session, which you have seen, I find there were seventeen 

 papers on various subjects read here by members of this 

 auxiliary branch of the New Zealand Institute during that 

 period. As the last annual volume of Transactions published 

 by the Institute has not yet been received by us, we do not at 

 present know how many of those papers may have been 

 selected for publication in it ; I hope, however, that our 

 9 



