A/" •** ^'As 



PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS 



TO 



AUSTRALASIAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 

 ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 



BT 



Professor T. W. EDGEWORTH DAVID, C.M.G., B.A.. 

 F.R.S., F.G.S., Hon. D.Sc. Oxon. 



In the first place, let me bid you, who are here gathered to- 

 gether to honour the principles for which our Association stands, 

 and to share in its work, a very hearty welcome to this noble hall, 

 a building sacred to the memory, not only of its beneficent founder, 

 but also to that of those many who have made the pursuit of 

 knowledge for its own sake the watchword of their lives. Such 

 men and women, whether students or teachers, whether high or 

 low in the world's esteem, are surely those whom our association 

 delights to honour; and we feel the inspiration of their worthy 

 lives present with us here in this hall to-night. 



Next let me thank you for the unprecedented honour you have 

 done me in electing me a second time president of our Association. 

 I am deeply touched by the trust you repose in me, more especially 

 when I know what that trust implies, for it means, not only that 

 I have the high honour of presiding over this distinguished gather- 

 ing, but, further, that you hope, in electing me to this office, that 

 I may liave the unique responsiVjility of representing our \s30cia- 

 tion on what we all hope will be an epoch-making occasion, the 

 visit to the Commonwealth, in 1914, of that mother society, of 

 which we aspire to be a not unworthy daughter, The British Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science. Such trust fills one with 

 a feeling of one's own un worthiness, and a sense of many short- 

 comings, and only your kind and unanimous will that I should 

 act has led me to accept office in the firm belief that I can count 

 in every one of you a friend who will not fail in time of need, and 



