89 



in general ; Imt the subject of the present paper was one which must be 

 of importauce to the community at large. His Lordship proceeded to 

 comment upon several portions of the paper, especially in reference 

 to the comparative number of children to adults in Tasmania, and in the 

 other colonies, etc. The writings of Dr. Hall, and papers such as that 

 before the meeting, might have very important results, as the question 

 of making Hobart Town the naval station of the colonies may rest upon 

 the proofs which we can give as to the salubrity of our climate. 



Mr. Stephens doubted if, in the matter of the public health, 1875 

 was a desirable year for statistical purposes. He had never known so 

 unhealthy a year throughout the island. Eiiidemics of various kinds were 

 continually occurring in dift'erent localities. Possibly thej' might, to some 

 extent, have been influenced by local circumstances, but the state of the 

 weather, whether wet or dry, did not appear to have any influence, either 

 in promoting their occurrence or otherwise. 



Mr. No WELL had no doubt that local circumstances exercised great 

 influence, and mentioned instances within his knowledge in which two cases 

 of diphtheria had occurred in a family from imperfect drainage, and the 

 health of the father had also suffered from the same cause. 



Dr. Agxew knew the cases referred to by Mr. Nowell, and these were 

 certainly not due to imperfect drainage. The father too had suffered from 

 a mere local aifection which could not have been induced by imperfect 

 drainage. He had, however, been informed by Dr. Butler that the out- 

 break of diphtheria at Brighton was imdoubtedly due to local causes. There, 

 a great number of the inhabitants took theu" drinking water from a pool of 

 the River Jordan (which was then not running) into which the drainage 

 of many of the houses found its way from the high banks in the immediate 

 vicinity ; ■4\'ith this drainage of course human excreta and various other 

 impurities were mixed. 



Mr. Barxaed had listened with great pleasure to the paper, but ex- 

 pressed the difficulty which he in common with every one must feel in 

 commenting upon papers which dealt so largely with figures. He suggested 

 that papers of this kind should be printed and circulated among the 

 members before being read. By this means only could a proper discussion 

 be obtained, as it was impossible when masses of figures were in question 

 to deal with them vsiithovit previous study. As to the death rate of the 

 colony, it was worth noting that the very sahibrity of our climate might 

 affect it unfavourably, because many invalids, attracted by this very 

 salubrity, come here in the last stage of illness, and thus the deaths were 

 increased, although it was evident that the climate was not in fault. He 

 thought that good use might be made of the paper by the Immigration 

 Board if they would disseminate in proper quarters the valuable informa- 

 tion it contained. It might assist in determining the selection of this port 

 as a naval station, which was a matter of considerable importance, as the 

 presence of ships of war would probably lead to the local expenditure of 

 about a hundred thousand pounds annually. 



Mr. Rule would only make one remark in reference to a point which had 

 been casually alluded to during the discussion, viz., the establishment at 

 Hobart Town of the naval station. No doubt in a pecuniary point of view 

 this would be very beneficial, but he feared that morally speaking it would 

 be anything but an advantage. 



The Rev. Jcllin E. T. Woods read a paper by F. M. Bailey, Esq., 

 of Brisbane, a corresponding member of the society, "On the Queensland 

 Gras.ses." 



The Bishop observed it was interesting to note that so many of our Tas- 

 manian grasses were found in Queensland. The opinion of so competent 

 an authority as the writer as to the great nutritive value of many of the 



