266 
THE ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT 
PROFESSOR RALPH TATE. 
Without preamble, I will beg your indulgence whilst I 
endeavor to briefly treat of 
SomE WorK OF THE SOCIETY SINCE 1876. 
The past history of this Society may be divided conveniently 
into two periods—(1) that from its inception in 1853 to 1876, 
and (2) that from 1876 to the present. During the latter period 
monthly meetings have been held without intermission, save for 
each summer recess, and publication of its Proceedings have been 
regular. It was during my presidency that a better organization 
was adopted, which has eventuated in the creditable position that 
the Society now holds among similar institutions in the Austral- 
asian Colonies. Now, at the close of a second term of office I 
may be pardoned if I speak with pride of the results achieved 
during the past eighteen years. 
It was at about the commencement of the second stage in the 
life of the Society that it was remarked, “‘ Why contribute to such 
an obscure publication?” But, despite the implied reproach, the 
small band of workers at that time was not to be deterred from 
striving to make this Society an exponent of science in South 
Australia, believing that with judicious nursing this scientific 
weakling might receive increasing support by the advent of other 
laborers, and eventually attain to some measure of independence. 
. This expectation has for some few years been realised, as may be 
gauged by the demand for our publications and the many appli- 
cations made by others than Fellows to use our Transactions as 
a channel of communication to scientific readers. For this achieve- 
ment we owe a debt of gratitude to the loyalty of several con- 
tributors whose papers might have adorned the publications of 
Societies of the highest standing, and who thereby ran the risk of 
self-condemnation to comparative obscurity. ‘All’s well that 
ends well;’ for we have passed the critical stage of our existence, 
whilst the work of the future can only be curtailed by want of 
pecuniary means. Indeed, already have some papers been 
diverted into other channels for publication through this cause. 
The subjects which have engaged our attention are diversified, 
whilst the many papers on Zoology, Anthropology, Geology, and 
Botany contained in our volumes of Transactions are results 
which close a past of unwarranted belief in the incapabilities of 
