LXIV EOYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 



fiud the Natural History Society of that province (founded in 1890) witii which several able natural- 

 ists Jire associated, vrorking in conjunction vpith tiic pinvincial museum, and publishing results of 

 exceptional value on the fauna of that comparatively new field. 



In concluding I his list, which may possibly not be an absolutely complote one, mention must be 

 made of the Bot;inical Club of Canada, an organization which grew out of a recommendation made 

 by Section IV. of the Royal Society of Canada and which by the compilation and publication of Imal 

 lists of plants, based upon the collections of its members, is contributing toward a comjilete knowledge 

 of the geographical distribution of our flora. 



I regret that it is not pos.sible on this occasion to mention, even by enumeration, the many indivi- 

 dual workers in geology, zoolog}' and botany, who as amateurs and without any public support, have 

 devoted themselves to the study of various branches of natural science in Canada. The name-i of these 

 private investigators would form a long and very honourable list. They may be found of constant 

 occurrence in the transactions of the learned societies just referred to, as well as in those of the 

 Eoj'al Society of Canada and no inconsiderable part of our actual knowledge has resulted from their 

 efforts. 



The Royal Society of Canada at the time of its organization in 1882, at the instance of the 

 Marquess of Lome, had set before it a number of objects. It was intended to constitute a bond of 

 connection between the heretofore scattered workers in literature and science in Canada and a mode 

 of association between the various societies already e.xisting for the furtherance of tho.se objects. It 

 was intended also to afford a suitable means of publication for scientific, liierary, or historical work, 

 not necessarily contiued to that accomplished by its members. It was to promote original research 

 in these fields, and it was understood that its advice and assistance would be at all times at the dis- 

 posal of the government for the solution of problems which might from time to lime arise. 



The Society has now been in existence twelve years, and has been consistently aided in its work 

 by the government, by means of an annual grant toward publication and in other ways. It may 

 therefore be well to inquire in how far the field of activity originally mapped out for it has now been 

 covered. It has, I believe, been successful in forming a rallying point for scientific and literary 

 woikers throughout the countiy, and in bringing about a spirit of fraternity and of mutual interest 

 and co-operation, not only among individuals but between the various societies and associations, 

 whose representatives form an important clement in our annual meetings In respect to publication, 

 the Society, I conceive, has achieved at least an equal measure of success. The eleven handsome 

 volumes of ' Transactions,' including not only memoirs and special treatises by the members of the 

 Society, but contributions from other workers who have been glad to avail themselves of this medium, 

 contain a great mass of valuable matter, much of which could not otherwise have been published satis- 

 factorily in Canada, and some of which would undoubtedly, under other circumstances, have found 

 publicity through scattered scientific joui-nals abroad. The publications of the Society have now in 

 fact become an indispensable part of every scientific library, and care has been taken that tliey shall 

 be so distributed as to be generally available. It may, I think, be claimed that they are a credit to 

 the countrj'. 



The encouragement of original research has also already followed to some extent from the organ- 

 ization of the Royal Society, but chiefly in an indirect way and largely by means of the facilities 

 afforded by its publications. We have as yet no funds (as the Royal Society of England has, both in 

 the form of government grant and in that of piivate benefactions) directly at the disposal of the 

 Society for purposes of original research. These, it is to bo hoped, will come in time. A valuable 

 and exhaustive report was, it will be remembered, made by a committee of the Society in 1885, which 

 dealt chiefly with the benefit likely to accrue from the establishment of fellowships or foundations in 

 connection with universities, by the aid of which students might be enabled to engage in original 

 investigations. 



Respecting that aspect of the functions of the Society in which it is contemplated as an auxiliary 

 to the scientific efforts of the goverLment, much remains to be developed. The Society has from 



