LX ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 
M. Fréchette a fait pour cette circonstance de son poéme, “la découverte du Mississippi,” sujet tiré 
de notre histoire ancienne et qui contient une si belle peinture du grand fleuve rival de notre Saint- 
Laurent. 
Ce n’est qu'hier qu'une dame me demandait spirituellement si dans notre société nous parlions 
d'autre chose que de roches et de fossiles. La poésie de M. Fréchette fera une agréable diversion aux 
études dont il est si souvent question dans nos séances. (Applaudissements.) 
His Excellency the Governor-General then invited Mr. Fréchette to come forward. 
His Excellency, the Governor-General and Her Royal Highness, the Princess Louise having 
retired, the members of the Society dispersed until the afternoon, to meet again in sections. 
May 24th, 1883. 
The Royal Society again met in general session at 10 o’clock. 
The draft of Regulations prepared by the Council was then taken up and discussed seriatim. 
The first section, having been read, was amended as follows on motion of Principal Grant, 
seconded by Professor Cherriman : 
The objects of the Society are, as set forth in the preamble of the Act of Incorporation, as 
follows: First, to encourage studies and investigations in literature and science; secondly, to publish 
transactions annually or semi-annually, containing the minutes of proceedings at meetings, records of 
the work performed, original papers and memoirs of merit, and such other documents as may be 
deemed worthy of publication; thirdly, to offer prizes or other inducements for valuable papers on 
subjects relating to Canada, and to aid researches already begun and carried so far as to render their 
ultimate value probable ; fourthly, to assist in the collection of specimens with a view to the formation 
of a Canadian Museum of archives, ethnology, archeology and natural history. 
The second section, having been read, was amended by substituting the word “ Fellow’ for 
“Member,” on the motion of Mr. George Stewart, Jr., seconded by Professor Bailey. 
The third section, having been read, was agreed to. 
The fourth section, having been read, was amended as follows on motion of Dr. Daniel Wilson, 
seconded by Professor Cherriman : 
The Society shall consist of the four following sections : 
1. French Literature, with History, Archeology, and allied subjects. 
2. English Literature, with History, Archeology, and allied subjects. 
3. Mathematical, Chemical and Physical Sciences. 
4. Geological and Biological Sciences. 
The sections may meet separately for the reading and discussion of papers and for business at 
such times and places as may be fixed by the sections under the control of the Council. 
The fifth section, having been read, was agreed to. 
The further consideration of the Regulations was then deferred until the following day. 
Dr. Daniel Wilson submitted the following draft of an address to His Excellency, the Governor- 
General : 
May 17 PLEASE Your EXCELLENCY : 
We, the President, Council, and Members of the Royal Society of Canada gladly avail ourselves 
of this first meeting after our organization as a corporate body under the authority of the Parliament 
of Canada, and with the designation which Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen has been pleased to 
confer, to express to you, as our Founder, the grateful sense we entertain of the sympathy manifested 
by you in the intellectual and scientific progress of the Dominion. 
The interest manifested by Your Excellency, and by Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise, in 
