VILL. ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 
and extending from south to north from the latitude of 42° to the Polar Sea. In this area we have 
representatives of all the geological formations, from the Laurentian and Huronian, to which Canada 
has the honour of giving names, to the Post-pliocene and modern. Of some of these formations we 
have more magnificent developments than any other country. In zoology our land area extends from : 
the home of the musk-ox on the north to that of the rattlesnake on the south, and we have perhaps 
the greatest area possessed by any country for the study of fresh-water animals. Our marine zoology 
includes that of the North Atlantic, the North Pacific and the Arctic Ocean, In botany we have the 
floras of the Atlantic and Pacific slopes, of the western plains and of the Arctic zone. In physical, 
astronomical and meteorological investigations we have the advantage of vast area, of varied climate 
and conditions ; while these circumstances in themselves imply responsibilities in connection with the 
progress of science not here only but throughout the world. Much is no doubt being done to cultivate 
these vast fields of research, and I would not for a moment underrate the efforts being made and the 
arduous labours, perils and privations to which the pioneers in these fields are even now subjected, 
but what is being done is relatively insignificant. Many letters from abroad reach me every year 
asking for information or reference to Canadian workers in specialties which no one here is studying ; 
and I know that most of our active naturalists are continually driven by such demands to take up 
new lines of investigation in addition to those already more than sufficient to occupy their time and 
energy. Were it not for the aid indirectly given to us by the magnificent and costly surveys and 
commissions of the United States, which freely invade Canadian territory whenever they find any 
profitable ground that we are not occupying, we should be still more helpless in these respects. Is 
there not in these circumstances reason for combination of effort, and for the best possible arrange- 
ments for the distribution of our small force over the vast area which it has to maintain. 
I have dealt sufficiently long on topics which indicate that the time has fully come for the insti- 
tution of the Royal Society of Canada. Let us turn for a moment to the consideration of the ends 
which it may seek to attain and the means of their attainment. 
I would place here first the establishment of a bond of union between the scattered workers now 
widely separated in different parts of the Dominion. Our men of science are so few and our country 
so extensive that it is difficult to find in any one place or within reasonable distance of each other, 
half a dozen active workers in science. There is thus great lack of sympathy and stimulus, and of 
the discussion and interchange of ideas which tend so much to correctas well as to encourage. The 
lonely worker finds his energies flag, and is drawn away by the pressure of more popular pursuits, 
while his notions become one-sided and inaccurate through want of friendly conflict with men of like 
powers and pursuits. Even if this Society can meet but once a year, something may be done to 
remedy the evils of isolation. 
Again,means are lacking for the adequate publication of results. True we have the reports of 
the Geological Survey, and Transactions are published by some of the local societies, but the resources 
at the disposal of these bodies are altogether inadequate, and for anything extensive or costly we 
have to seek means of publication abroad; but this can be secured only under special circumstances ; 
and while the public results of Canadian science become so widely scattered as to be accessible with 
difficulty, much that would be of scientific value fails of adequate publication, more especially in the 
matter of illustrations. Thus the Canadian naturalist is often obliged to be content with the public- 
ation of his work in an inferior style and poorly illustrated, so that it has an aspect of inferiority to 
work really no better, which in the United States or the mother country has the benefit of sumptuous 
publication and illustration. On this account he has often the added mortification of finding his work 
overlooked or neglected, and not infrequently while he is looking in vain for means of publication, 
that which he has attained by long and diligent labour is taken away from him by its previous issue 
abroad, In this way also it very often happens that collectors who have amassed important material 
of great scientific value are induced to place it in the hands of specialists in other countries, 
who have at their command means of publication not possessed by equally competent men here. 
