PROCEEDINGS FOR 1883. XLV, 
The following societies were also represented by delegates, who gave to the meeting encouraging 
oral statements of the work that was being done : 
Nova Scotia Institute of Natural Science, W. Gossrp; Nova Scotia Historical Society, Dr. Azrr- 
son; Natural History Society of New Brunswick, G. W. Hay; Institut Canadien, Quebec, H. J. B. 
CaouINaRD ; Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society, J. McMILLAN. 
On motion of M. Faucher de St. Maurice, seconded by M. Sulte, it was 
Resolved,—That a memorial be presented to the Government setting forth the importance of pro- 
curing for the contemplated National Museum such specimens from {the International Fisheries Exhi- 
bition as may be of permanent scientific value to Canada. 
The Society then adjourned to meet in sections. 
WEDNESDAY, 23d May. 
The Royal Society met at the hour of ten o’clock in the Railway Committee room, and Dr, Todd, 
on the invitation of the Society, read the following paper 
On the Relation of the Royal Society to the State. 
Since our last meeting, Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to confer upon this 
association the designation of The Royal Society of Canada. And proofs have not been wanting of 
an increased interest on the part of the Canadian public in the existence of the Society. It has 
received from Parliament an Act of Incorporation for the better accomplishment of the objects sought 
to be attained, viz.: to encourage studies and investigations in literature and science, to publish 
transactions and original papers, and generally to assist in the promotion and diffusion of useful 
knowledge concerning history, literature and science in this Dominion. Besides granting us corporate 
powers, Parliament has liberally voted a sum of money in aid of our work: thereby ratifying, 
substantially, the act of His Excellency, the Governor-General, in calling this Society into existence, 
It is now incumbent upon us to devise suitable methods, by which the privileges thus bestowed may 
be used to the best advantage in promoting the important interests committed to our charge, 
The present time is peculiarly favourable for the furtherance of a movement intended to assist in 
the intellectual progress of Canada. The population and wealth of the Dominion are rapidly 
increasing. By the settlement of the fertile regions of the North-west, and by the construction, with 
a speed hitherto unexampled, of railway communication through our vast territory from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, the material development of this country is going forward at an accelerated pace, 
This condition of national growth and expansion is introducing our people to new and heretofore 
unknown fields of intellectual effort. The ability and experience of our foremost men will be taxed 
_ to the utmost in the endeayour to solve the various mental, moral and scientific questions which will 
undoubtedly arise in the fulfilment of the task which lies before us. Our statesmen must grapple 
with the political problems that will necessarily present themselves in the colonization and organiza- 
tion of new territories. The scientist will find ample opportunity for extending his erudite investiga- 
tions in the wide area thus opened to his view. And the practical worker, whether in agriculture, 
art, or mechanics, will need all the help he can obtain from the thought, the skill and the experience 
of those who have mastered the great principles which underlie the operations of nature in her 
beneficial relation to man. 
It is at this juncture that the counsel and co-operation of members of the Royal Society of 
Canada, both individually and collectively, may prove of inestimable advantage to the whole Dominion. 
The application of this idea to Canadian public affairs will naturally involve considerations of 
some delicacy and complexity, into which I do not venture to intrude, But it may be desirable to 
bring under the notice of this Society efforts which have been made elsewhere, in other parts of the 
