INAUGURAL ADDHESS. 11 



of a few of the papers submitted, to show the class of sub- 

 jects which appears first to have attracted the attention of 

 these early pioneers in the cause of science. But the papers 

 were by no means purely confined to Tasmanian subjects. 

 A good deal of the space in the early Journals of the Society 

 is occupied by papers on the results of the then recent 

 Antarctic exploration by the Erebus and Terror, and on 

 contemporary exploration and observation in the Australian 

 Continent and New Zealand, interspersed with papers and 

 notices on various subjects of general interest, under the 

 heading of " Miscellanea." In this class I find notes and 

 papers on such subjects as the Discovery of the Daguerro- 

 type ; on Solar Radiation ; on Terrestrial Magnetism ; and on 

 Smelting by Electricity. The original meetings of the Society 

 appear to have been held altogether at Government House 

 during Sir John Franklin's time; and, when his term of 

 ofiice came to a close, there was quite a touching leave- 

 taking between him and the Members, who presented him 

 with an address, in which they said, " the friends of science 

 have, upon this and no other claim, ever been treated 

 as your personal friends, and admitted to your domestic 

 circle." 



The Tasmanian Society existed under the same name 

 till 1848; but in 1843 another society came to the front, 

 viz., the Society of Van Diemen's Land for Horticulture, 

 Botany, and the Advancement of Science. The leading 

 objects of this Society, of which Her Majesty was graciously 

 pleased to become the Patron, and to allow it to be 

 called "The Royal Society of Tasmania," were, and still 

 are, " to investigate the Physical Character of the Island, 

 and illustrate its Natural History and Productions." In 

 the published Report of the Tasmanian Society for 1845 

 I find the following passage : — " Whether so small a 

 community as this can efficiently support two scientific 

 Societies having similar objects in view, or whether the 

 Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land, with its patronage 

 from the Queen, grant of land, and allowance of £400 per 

 annum from the funds of the Colony, may not eventually 

 supersede and swamp the self-supporting and unostentatious 

 Tasmanian Society, that has pursued the even tenor of its 

 way for the past seven years, must remain for the present 

 unanswered. We are too sincerely attached to the cause 

 of science to regret that there are an increased number of 



