XXXVll 



ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS, AUGUST, 1904. 



PRESENCE OF H.I.M.S. LIGUELVS 

 OFFICERS. 



The monthly meeting of the Royal So- 

 ciety of Tasmania was held in the So- 

 ciety's rooms on Tuesday evening, August 

 9, the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John 

 Dodds, K.O.M.G., presiding. A party of 

 ofl&cers oi the Italian warship Liguria 

 was present, in response to an invitation. 



His Excellency, in opening the meet- 

 ing, said : — Ladies and gentlemen, — As 

 the members are aware, the Royal Society 

 of Tasmania was the first scientific so- 

 ciety of which her late Majesty, Queea 

 Victoria, became patron in these south- 

 ern lands. Its foundation was the work 

 •of that great Arctic explorer, Sir John 

 Franklin, and it is fitting, therefore, that 

 members of this society, having become 

 awai-e that there is a distinguished 

 gentleman, with his ship, in our port, 

 and who has taken an active part in 

 Arctic exploration (having reached a 

 point nearer the North Pole than even 

 Nansen), should accord him a hearty wel- 

 come to our shores. I therefore express, 

 on your behalf, and on behalf of the citi- 

 zens, the pleasure we all feel at his visit, 

 and the gratification it affords members 

 of this society at seeing present, at this 

 meeting, gentlemen who are officers of 

 that ship of the Royal Navy of Italy. I 

 most cordially welcome them on behalf 

 of the inhabitants of this State. I 

 understand that the ordinary business of 

 to-night will be curtailed somewhat, so 

 that some Tasmanian views may be ex- 

 hibited to our distinguished visitors. 

 (Applause.) 



The Secretary (Mr. Alex. Morton) read 

 the following communication from the 

 aide-de-camp to the Due d'Abruzzi, com- 

 mander of H.I.M.S. Liguria: — His Royal 

 Highness desires me to express his hearty 

 thanks to you, and to the members of the 

 Royal Society of Tasmania, for your 

 kind invitation, and his regret at being 

 prevented attending the meeting. S'ome 

 of the officers will be pleased to be pre- 

 sent, and desire me to forward to you 

 their kindest thanks for the invitation."' 



New Member. 

 The Rev. A. Brain, M.A. (St. George's), 

 was balloted for, and unanimously elect- 

 ed a member of the society. 



Federal Meteorology. 

 Mr. H. C. Kingsmill read a paper on 

 federal meteorology. He said the mete- 

 orological department of the State had 



survived a good many changes. Now 

 that another change was in contempla- 

 tion, namely, its transfer to the Com- 

 monwealth, he thought it opportune to 

 bring the subject before the society, with 

 the object of considering how the inter- 

 ests of this State, and of meteorology in 

 general, were likely to be affected by the 

 change. What was there to be trans- 

 ferred?' He answered by first giving a 

 history of what had been done. Mete- 

 orological observations in Tasmania were 

 begun by Sir John Franklin, in 1840, who 

 sent home for instruments, and Captain 

 Ross arrived in Hobart in August, 1840, 

 m command of the Erebus, an observal 

 tory was built near Government House, 

 and instruments for magnetic observal 

 tions, a transit instrument for obtaining 

 the time, clocks, and meteorological in- 

 struments were set up. Lieut. Ray was 

 put in charge of the observatory which 

 was called "Rossbank." There he took 

 observations for eight years. Sir John 

 Franklin, himself, helping in the mag- 

 netic observations. When the Imperial 

 Government handed affairs over to repre- 

 sentative government in Tasmania, the 

 meteorological work was carried on by 

 its members. Am'ong those were Mr, 

 Henry, at Tamar Heads; Mr. Belstead] 

 Westbury; Mr. M. E. Shoobridge, New 

 Norfolk; Dr. Storey, Swansea; and Mr. 

 F. Abbott, Hobart. They established 

 climatological records, from which the 

 permanent characteristics of the climate 

 could be obtained, rendering valuable ser- 

 vice. Subsequently, at conferences in 

 Sydney and Melbourne, it resulted in an 

 intercolonial scheme of meteorological ob. 

 servation being formed. With regard to 

 Tasmania, it was unanimously resolved, 

 on the motion of Dr. Hector, now Sir 

 Jas. Hector, that the evidence before the 

 conference shows the paramount import- 

 ance of obtaining the co-operation of Tas- 

 mania in Australasian meteorology, and 

 Mr. EUery was deputed to secure the co- 

 operation of Tasmania, ''being regarded 

 as o5 the utmost importance in advanc- 

 ing our knowledge of the movement and 

 behaviour of storms, and of meteorology 

 generally, in thi.s part of the world." The 

 Hon. W. Moore, in 1881, replied, stating 

 that his Government was desirous of aid- 

 ing the proposed interchange of daily 

 weather telegrams with the Australian 

 colonies, and would pass, free of charge, 

 over the land lines of telegraph, all such 

 messages. As the result. Commander 

 Shortt, after receiving a course of in- 

 struction at the Melbourne Observatory, 

 was appointed meteorological observer for 

 Tasmania. The premises in the military 

 barracks, Hobart, where the Observatory 



