president's address — SECTION D. 137 



It must not be forgotten that bacteria are plants, and that yeast 

 is merely a degenerate fnngus, and that both therefore come within 

 the scope of the botanist. Although the technical applica- 

 tions of bacteriology are mainly due toi the medical bacteriologist, 

 and of late years also to the agricultural bacteriologist, practically 

 the whole of our knowledge of the structure, reproduction and 

 nutrition of bacteria is due to the labours of botanists, and with- 

 out this knowledge medical and agricultural bacteriology woulr* 

 have been severely handicapped. In addition the recent dis- 

 covery of the previously unsuspected existence of many bacterial 

 diseases of plants is whollv due to botanists. 



It would b© just as easy to indicate the importance of zoology 

 as a basic science in productive industry, but angels fear to tread 

 where fools rush in, and hence I leave that task to my zoological 

 friends. I do not wish to suggest by that either that botanists 

 are v.dnged animals or that my zoological friends are otherwise, 

 but merely that they are better fitted to carry out the task than 

 I am. 



In the following short review therefore of recent Australian 

 work in botany and zoolog3^, I would ask you to remember that 

 the most academic researches are just as important as, and often 

 more important than, those which appeal to the general public 

 as being of immediate economic utility. 



Taking zoological work first, a very large amount of work has 

 been carried out in Australia of which the greater proportion 

 consists of systematic work and eintomology. In entomology, we 

 may notice more particularly papers on Cbleoptera by A. M. Lea, 

 E. Ferguson, H. J. Carter, T. G. Sloane, A. H. Olston ; on 

 Diptera, Hemiptera and Neuroptera bv Bergroth, F. H. Taylor, 

 E. W. Ferguson, R. J. Tillyard, E. Petersen, A. White, G. F. 

 Hill; on Lepidoptera and Microlepidoptera by A. J. Turner, R. J. 

 Tillyard, O. B. Lower; on Hymen optera by R. C Turner; on ants 

 by W. M. Wheeler, N. Banks, and A. M. Lea; on Hymenoptera 

 by A. P. Dodd ; and on Cicadas by H. Ashtoii. We have also 

 a series of papers by F. H. Taylor on Culicideae, and by R. J. Till- 

 yard and H. M. Giles on Dragon Flies. In addition Dr. Tillyard 

 has made valuable contributions to our knowledge of zoogeography 

 and to- our knowledge of the mesozoic insects of Queensland and 

 of the Permian and Triassic fossil insects of New South Wales. 

 In economic entomology we have numerous contributions by W. 

 W. Froggatt and G. F. Hill, as well as papers by the late Dr. 

 Rutherford on the scale of the sugar cane, and by T. Steel on the 

 parasites cf the dingo. 



In regard to the lower forms of life we have a series of papers 

 in plant and animal plankton by I. G. Playfair, and on Hydroids 

 and Hydrozoa by E. A. Briggs and W^. M. Bale. 



