Ill 



An honour has been conferred on the 

 Royal Society by the Executive Council otf 

 the Australasian Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science, in their selection 

 of Colonel Legge and Mr. Twelvetrees, tivp 

 members of the Royal Society, >to be presi- 

 dents, respectively, of the Biological and 

 Geological secMons of the Association, 

 Tvhose next meeting will be held at Dune- 

 din in January, 1904. 



The munificent gift by Mr. Carnegie of 

 the sum c«f i'7,500 for the purposes of a 

 Tree Public Library in the city of Ho- 

 bart, cannot fail to be a matter of interest 

 and of rejoicing to -the Royal Society. The 

 ch'oice of a site for the librar-r is a sub- 

 ject of anxious consideration. We all 

 trust that an early decision will be made, 

 and that the building of the new library 

 will then be at once taken in hand. 



CENTENARY OF TASMANIA. 



0^ the 12th September, 1803, the first 

 settlement of our Island State was planted 

 by Lieutenant Bo wen, oif the Royal Navy. 

 On the 14th October, 1843, the Royal So- 

 ciety came into being, iinder the auspices 

 of the then Governor, Sir J. E. Eardley- 

 Wilmot. Thus, during the present year, 

 the centennial jubilee of Tasmania and the 

 diamond jubilee of the Royal Society will 

 all but synchronise. The hundred years 

 of Tasmania's life have seen her people 

 grow into a healthy and vigorous com- 

 munity, showing perhaps a less rapid rise 

 and achieving perha.ps a less brilliant posi- 

 tion than her neighbours, bu-t attaining a 

 happy and healthy state of social and in- 

 dustrial development, I believe that the 

 Royal Society, working with the com- 

 munity at large, along parallel and sound 

 lines of progress, has contributed in no 

 small degree to this propitious end. May 

 Tasmania and her Royal Society ever con- 

 tinue to co-operate in. the promotion of the 

 welfare and enlightenment of the people of 

 this favoured land. 



DISCUSSION. 



^Ir. T. Stephens said he had prepared a 

 small paper on a purely b'usinesis subject, 

 but the circums'tances of the evening im- 

 pelled him to ask His Excellency to ex- 

 cuse him from reading it on tJiat occasion. 



The Bishop of Tas-mania &aid that his 

 pleasant duty wouI4 commend itseif to 

 all present. It was to propose a vote of 



thanks to His Excellency for his presence 



and The address that had been delivered. 

 He wisheid to felicitate the Society upon 

 having His Exceillency as president, as 

 they had reason to be proud of the real 

 interest Sir Arthur Havelock took in the 

 Society. It was gratifying to think that 

 Tasmania possessed such a Society. Their 

 library was, indeed, a magnificent on-,. 

 He desired to return rhanks for having 

 been elected ^a member of the Council, and 

 he would do his best in the interests of the 

 Society. With regard to the scope of the 

 Society, if it was to be tied down to its 

 original charter, the membership would 

 be small indeed. It was, therefore, essen 

 tial to give a wide interpretation to the 

 charter. It was his opinion that they 

 should be liberal in their interpreta- 

 tion of the terms of the charter. One of 

 the objects of the Society should be to ad- 

 vance the interests of Tasmania. In Tas- 

 mania there was everything that nature 

 could endow the State with, and still 

 there was oinly a handful of people here. 

 He hoped that in the study of social and 

 economic questions, consideration woull 

 also be given to the development of Tas- 

 mania. 



Bishop Delany seconded the motion. He 

 was de.iighted to hear euch encouraging 

 words as Bishop Mercer had used, and of 

 his desiire to make the island pro- 

 gressive. When he first came to 

 Tasmania, he had been struck with 

 the need of more progress being 

 made, but in response to all inquiries 

 on the subject, he was simply told "it 

 could not be done." (Laughter.) How- 

 ever, he hoped that the time had noTV ar- 

 rived when the State would progress, and 

 the removal of inter-State barriers would 

 surely conduce to that end. He thanked 

 His Excellency for the 'address delivered, 

 and hoped he would long take an interest 

 in the Society. 



The motion -vVas carried by acclamation. 



On the motion of Mr. A. G. Webster, a 

 hearty vote of welcome was accorded Mr. 

 W. E. Norris and Mr. J. H. Barber. 



His Excellency r&turned thanks for the 

 kind vote that had been accorded him. 



Light refreshments were then served in 

 the trophy room, which was nicely fitted 

 up for the occasion, a suite having been 

 lent for the purpose by Messrs. T. White- 

 sides and Son. The other rooms of the 

 Museum and Art Gallery were also ligited 

 up during the evening. 



