PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS. Tait 
in Asia, he derives them from the north by way of New Guinea, 
and he looks upon the now extinct Tasmanians as the lineal 
descendants of the original Australians. t 
He then supposes Australia to be invaded by a more advanced, 
fairer, straight-haired race which arrived at a very early period 
of the world’s history, perhaps on the north-west coast, and poured 
into central Australia with a generally south-easterly current. 
Partly driving before it, partly darkening itself by the tide of 
life upon which it pressed, the stream inundated the whole country, 
but not to an equal depth.* 
Finally, it is supposed that another invasion, apparently of 
Malays, took place from the north, first with some degree of 
continuity and then intermittently, winding about here and there, 
touching the shores at various places, and bending back inwards. t+ 
The author then says that upon the Papuan aborigines “the 
Dravidian influx” made a deep and general impression. The 
influx of the final arrivals, the Malays, was slighter and more 
partial. 
Mr. R. Etheridge, junr., in 1890, in a most valuable contribu- 
tion on this subject asked the question, “Has man a geological 
history in Australia?’; After reviewing the evidence derived 
from the discovery of stone axes, bone implements, oven mounds 
common in parts of Victoria, and the occurrence of a human molar 
in the Wellington Cave in New South Wales, he reaches the 
conclusion that the matter cannot be summed up better than by 
the Scotch verdict ‘“ not proven.” 
As to the Tasmanian aborigines, he remarks that the former 
geological connection of Australia and Tasmania appears to be a 
generally accepted fact, and that if such be the case, a vast period 
of time must have elapsed since that connection, allowing for the 
formation of Bass’s Strait. He very justly observes that herein 
lies one of the strongest proofs of man’s early existence in the 
island continent, although trustworthy geological evidence is still 
wanting as to the approximate date of his first advent in Aus- 
tralia. 
Following Mr. Etheridge’s paper, there appeared in 1892 a work 
on the Geology and Paleontology of Queensland, by Mr. R. L. 
Jack and R. Etheridge, junr.{ In this, after quoting the paper 
just referred to, Mr. Jack discusses the question whether the 
dingo was introduced into Australia by the agency of man, and 
says that, although he is quite willing to admit that the dingo is 
an alien, it is yet open to question whether the agency of man 
was the only possible means of effecting his introduction to this 
island. He appears to think that the dingo may have arrived in 
Australia by some chance means of conveyance, or may have 
* XxXIX, p. 382, + XV, pp. 259 to 266. } XxxI, vol. I, p. 622, 
