PEOCEEDINGS FOR 1888. XXIX 



degree of care on this continent that have been phiced on record. More tliau a quarter of a century 

 ago an attempt was made to secure obsei-vations on tlie periodical phenomena of plants, their times of 

 leafing, llowering and fruiting, at suitable points throughout Canada, and a certain amount of material 

 was accumuL'tted. It may be well for our Fourth Section to consider the propriety of reviving this 

 subject, and considei'ing whether we could not cai-ry out some simple system of seasonal observa- 

 tions at leading centres in the Dominion in correspondence with those now recorded at the Botanic 

 Gardens of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St. Petersburg, and at other suitable points of observation in 

 Aorthcrn Europe and Asia, so that definite vernal, festival and autumnal lines might be carried ai'ound 

 the whole northern hemisphere. The observations should be made, by preconcerted arrangement, 

 and, as far as possible, on the same forms of the same species at the different points of observation. 

 Facts thus obtained would form much needed data for treating the influences of climate as a sepai-ate 

 factor in the discussion of questions of distribution and origin. Such information would also r)rove 

 of great practical value to farmers, gardeners, foresters, pomologists, graziers, shepherds, and intend- 

 ing settlers. 



At the double risk of proving tedious to m}- hearers, and unsatisfactory to those whose researches 

 arc so briefly leferred to, I have thus adverted to the work of the Society's past year as embodied iu 

 the Transactions. This sample will indicate the nature and extent of the researches in which our 

 members are engaged. When we consider that, in many cases, a single paper is the result of months 

 or even years of labor, we may be fairly satisfied so far with what is being done. It ma^- be that some 

 of those inclined to assist in our work have hesitated to place their labours at di^posal of the Society 

 on the plea that the Transactions are not read. It is true that papers of immediate interest find 

 more ready response in the scientific and literary pei-iodieals devoted to their special branches. Our 

 Transactions form a publication of a different kind, designed to a large extent for papers of a more 

 or less finished character and adequately illustrated, such in fact as are likely to be of permanent 

 utility, either for the information they contain or as a groundwork and guide for further research. To 

 serve this latter use, they must often bo loaded with references and technicalities, which, necessary 

 as they are for the student, are altogether distasteful to the ordinary reader. It is this feature partly, 

 and another, the tame exactness of composition often necessai-y for the clear statement of scientific 

 facts, that give the heavy character attributed proverbially to the Transactions of such societies. 

 Wherever the real function of our publication has become known, its usefulness is recognized. We 

 are not unmindful that, in the past, much has been done by our local societies, considering the limited 

 means at their disposal, to bring together in their several j^ublications information relating to the 

 country, notably among which ma}' be named the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, the 

 Natural Ilistoi-y Society of Montreal, the Canadian Institute of Toronto, and the Institute of Natural 

 Science of Nova Scotia. But nevertheless it is a fact that hitherto information in regard to many ques- 

 tions in Canadian history, literature and science has had to be looked for through the scattered papers 

 of periodicals and proceedings of societies, published in many countries, in diff'erent languages, in 

 works so numerous as to be liej-ond the capacity of even the largest libraries we could hope to sec 

 established in this country. And thus, even the most favourably situated student, with all the assist 

 ance that college and library could give him, felt, after ransacking cvcrj^ available source, that his 

 monograph might still be incomplete. One object of our Transactions is to lemedy this evil by offer- 

 ing a i-epository for the reception of everything presented in a properl}' digested form that may bo 

 deemed of permanent value in relation to Canadian science, literature and iiistory. By the continued 

 coiiperation of intellectual workers in the several departments wo may hope to form a book of refer- 

 ence for all time — a recoid of Canadian research, to which the student, seeking for the latest infor- 

 mation on any Canadian subject, may turn with some confidence that his needs will be supplied. The 

 Council announced to us yesterday that the amount necessary to defray the o.Kpcnse of our publication 

 was this year placed in the regular estimates. Can I give utterance to a better wish for the welfare 

 of theEoyal Society of Canada than to reiterate the hope expressed by the Council that the security 



