The South Australian Naturalist. 87 



To defeat your enemy you must know his weak points. 

 The conqueBt of yellow fever has been made possible through 

 the minute investigation of the stomachs of certain small 

 mosquitoes. The lazy sickness of the tropics has been traced 

 to the ravages of a small hookworm. In the realm of the 

 study of Nature the most minute fact may ultimately prove of 

 immense importance to the welfare of mankind. This is 

 especially so where the field of the worker is as great as it is 

 in our unexplored continent. 



Can we not add a stone to the vast cairn of Knowledge 

 which has been erected by the patient labors of our predeces- 

 sors? 



Many of our members might devote some part of their 

 time to the collection of facts relating to the life of the 

 places about us. The weeds in our park lands, with the 

 times of their growth, flowering, and disappearance, the 

 appearance and spread of new weeds, such records as thes»^ 

 patiently collected, would in time to come have great value. 



The columns of the "S.A. Naturalist" are open for the 

 publication of any such notes of original observation, howevei- 

 trivial they may appear. The intensive study of such an 

 easily accessible area as part of our park lands, or even of our 

 National Park, might well occupy the leisure of enthusiastic 

 members. Bird life and insect life offer opportunities no less 

 than the study of plant life. The study of the trees of the 

 city alone would furnish ample scope for investigation. It 

 is on the ultimate results of studies such as these that seienof 

 builds its laws and nations advance. 



FLINDERS CHASE. 



In connection with Flinders Chase this Section arranged 

 with Captain White that his lecture should be given in the 

 Town Hall, and that a collection should be made on behalf of 

 the Flinders Chase Reserve. Other societies were asked to 

 join in making the meeting a success. The Town Hall was 

 packed, and scores had to be refused admission. 



Captain White was as usual most interesting and instruc- 

 tive. Unfortunately other speakers took the occasion to give 

 the proceedings a political tone, and the original object of the 

 meeting was to some extent lost sight of, with the result that 

 the collection totalled only £40 2/3, exclusive of the donation 

 of £10 by our own Section. 



