122 ROYAL SOCIETY FROM THE YEAR 1840 TO 1900. 



with much clearness by Mr. Harrap, at a later date, and the 

 arij^uments on which he differed from Professor Ehrenberg 

 aud others logically stated. 



These questious of the exact position of the wonderful 

 links between the kinf^^doms is at all times one of absorbing 

 interest, and then, as now, opinion was rlivided about some 

 of them. The number of these beautiful alge found in 

 Tasmania then amounted to 38. 



Dr. Downing gave some account of Norfolk Island, whicli 

 was written in a chatty style, and contained a good deal of 

 information about the climate, natural productions, and 

 geological characteristics. 



Three recent discoveries, each important, mark off the year 

 1865 as noticeable, and they are all referred to by Dr. Hall in 

 an address to the physical section of the Society. One was 

 the separation of the illuminating from the heat-giving rays 

 of the sun, discovered by Professor Tyndall, and which was 

 the beginning of many discoveries in refraction that cannot 

 be mentioned for want of time. The second was full of pro- 

 mise that has not, so far, been realised, except to a limited 

 extent. It was the discovery of magnesium wire and its high 

 illuminating ]>ower. It is useful, doubtless, but it has not 

 superseded gas or electricity, as was at one time fondly 

 hoped. The third was Baron Liebig's discovery of a substi- 

 tute for mother's milk, and did much to reduce the mortality 

 of infants during the first year of life, but if mothers 

 more fully understood the importance of the subject it would 

 be more usf-d than it is at pres^ent. Even now the infant 

 mortalitv is far too high for the enlightenment of the age. 

 I mention these to show how alert the members were then, as 

 now, to notice what was going on in the world outside Tas- 

 mania, and to utilise that knowledge for the benefit of their 

 fellow-citizens. In May, 1865, the attention of the Society 

 was directed to the necessity of some method of establishing 

 a time signal which should give the time regularly so as to oe 

 available for the whole of Tasmania. The first duty of fixing 

 a time signal was soon after undertaken by Colonel Chesney, 

 who arranged for three guns to be fired at 4 p.m. on the first 

 Thursday in every month, or, if that day proved wet, they were 

 fired on the first fine day following. In 1867 the Museum, 

 three rooms of which had been built, contained a sufiicient 

 collection to justify bringing into use the upper room, and 

 various kind friends gave much time to the arrangement of 

 the specimens in the best way then considered possible. One 

 cannot speak of their labour with other than gratitude, even 

 though the classification had been of the primitive order. 



The practical aspect of every new discovery commended it 

 or the reverse, to the notice of many of the Fellows, and the 



