154 REPORT—1857. 
whose country you have taken possession of ; but rather let the land be sold at a 
cheaper rate than it generally is, and the money placed as a fund to improve the 
moral and domestic condition of the savage, and not for immigration, What is 
required for Vancouver is for the Government to encourage emigration by facilitating 
the means of transport; and as first impressions are strongest, let there be imported 
into Vancouver, colonists possessing the sterling qualities of our British labourer,— 
fidelity, hardy and industrious habits, and strong domestic affections. 
There are strong reasons for assuming that this will turn out a fine mining country ; 
they have already found, and are working successfully, plenty of superior coals, which 
will become the nucleus of every nation’s wealth. 
‘ 
On an Inscription in the Language of Ancient Gaul, and on the recent 
researches of Zeuss and others into that Language. By R. Sincrriep, 
PhD. 
On the present Condition of the Natives of Australia, in a Letter to R. Cull, 
F.S.A. By the Rev. J. THRELKELD. 
On the supposed unity of the Americun Race. By D. Witson, LED. 
STATISTICS. 
Introductory Address by the AncusisHor or Dusuin, President of the 
Section. 
In opening the business of this Section there is no occasion for me to enter into 
any lengthened detail of its characteristic objects, for these, I presume, must be 
sufficiently known to most of you. Our department is conversant about almost all 
the most important transactions of human life, as far, at least, as this present world 
is concerned. It is conversant about all that relates te prosperity, national and in- 
dividual,—all that relatesto the promotion of honest industry and fair dealing between 
man and man,—all that relates to the repression of crime,—all that relates to the 
spreading of industrious, sober and useful habits,—all that relates to the mitigation 
or prevention of famine and pestilence,—all these come within our department; and 
if there be any one thing which it is needful that all should have some knowledge of, 
it must be that which all persons are concerned about,—which all persons must do 
and attend to, and which it is highly important that they should be instructed how 
to do well. We collect, and reason from, facts relating to all these matters. We do 
not encroach on the department of any branch of science, but we lend our aid to 
almost all,—there is hardly any one which, in its practical results, is not more or less 
connected with ours. For example, the procuring of valuable substances from peat, 
which you must have all heard of,—that is a matter for the chemist ; the cultivation 
of beet for the production of sugar is a matter for the chemist and the agriculturist; 
but how far these processes can be made profitable and valuable, that is, how far 
they will be worth attending to, is a question that comes within our department. 
Again, there is the important invention of the manufacture of soda from sea-salt. 
That is a matter, of course, for the chemist. We, in our economic department, have 
nothing to do with that; but with the commercial results, and, 1 may add, the 
practical and moral results of it, we are greatly concerned. The increased cheapness 
of soda, which has been the result of that invention, has created a very greatly in- 
creased demand for soap, through its increased cheapness; and that has created 
an increased demand for the supply of the oils necessary for the manufacture of soap. 
That, again, has occasioned a very great demand for palm oil from Africa, which has 
contributed to check, more than probably any other cause, the progress of the slave 
trade ; because the barbarian African chiefs find that it answers better and is more 
