Sloyal Society of D7ismania. 



ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS, APRIL, 1903 



OPENING MEETING OF THE 1903 

 SESSION. 



The members of the Royal Socie(ty of 

 Tasmania held their opening meeting of 

 the 1903 secisiou on Tuesday evening, the 

 Kth April, the President, Hi'S Excellency 

 Sir A. E. Havelock, G.C.S.I., G.C.M.G., 

 presiding. His Excellency was accom- 

 panied by Lady Havelock, C.I., Captain 

 Sheppard, R.A., Private Secretary, and 

 Lady Havelock's brcrher, Mr. W. E. Nor- 

 ris. There was a large attendance of 

 members and friends present, including 

 His Lordship the Bishop of Tasmania and 

 Mrs. Mercer, Mr. J. H. Bvarber, of Ceylon, 

 v.'ho was a judicial officer there during 

 the time that Sir Arthur Havelock was 

 Governor; Sir Jno. Dodds, and the Rt. 

 Rev. Dr. Deiany, Bishop of La.randa. On 

 arrival, Ladj' Havelock was preisented 

 with a handsome bouquet (with the Have- 

 lock colours), as wa^ also Mrs. Mercer. 



Correspondence. 



The Secretary (Mr. Alex. Morton) read 

 the following letters: — 



"■Cullenswood House, Cullenswood, 7th 

 April, 1903. Dear Sir,— I much regret, 

 that owiug to my having to be present at 

 the opening of the St. Mary's produce 

 show on Wednesday, the 15th inst., in my 

 capacity as president, I shall not be able 

 to come to the opening meeting of the So- 

 ciety. I desire again to tender my 

 thanks, as a member of Council, to His 

 Excellency for the keen inteirest he hag 

 taken in the work of our Society, and to 

 express the hope that His Excellency may 

 see his way to continue th'at injterest dur- 

 ing the coming session. I would like bo 

 call attention to the very valuable acqui- 

 sition to the Museum of the handsome 

 and instructive series of coloured plates 

 of Japanese fishes. They add consider- 

 ably to the educational value of the insti- 

 tution, and wil'I be especially interesting 

 to visitors from the neighbouring States. 

 I may mention that Mr. H. C. Kingsmill, 

 Meteorological Observer, and myself 

 made a trip in March to the Great Lake. 

 The re.sult of our work will, I trust, add 

 considerably to our knowledge of the 

 physiography of Tasma,nia. We took ex- 

 haustive soundings of the Lake, and mea- 

 sured the inflow of the streams at the 

 north end, we were there during two 

 heavy falls of rain, and 'wevQ enabled to 

 observe the very lajrge supply of water 

 coming in from the ranges round Dry's 

 Bluff. This supply is constantly ■ renew- 

 ed ovring to the wez climate at the north 

 end, the rainfall being three ©Jid a kalf 



times what it is at -the south end." — 

 I am, etc. (Signed) W. V. LEGGE. Mem- 

 ber of the Council).'' 



Letters from Sir Adye Douglas, Mr, E. 

 M. Johnston, the Hon. N. J. Brown, Mr. 

 Russell Young, and the Hon. Dr. Butler, 

 regretting, that, owing to their absence 

 from Hobart, they were unable to attend, 

 were read. 



THE ANNUAL ADDRESS. 



His Excellency then delivered the fol- 

 lowing opening addrei&s: — 



Vice-presidents and Fellows of the 

 Royal Society, — For the second time there 

 devolves upon me the honourable and 

 agreeable duty of pre^siding at the first 

 meeting of the annual session of the Royal 

 Society of Tasmania. On this occasion, as 

 on that of the opening of the siession of 

 last year, the Council have decided that 

 our formal proceedings shall be short, and 

 that our meeting this evening shall take 

 the pleasant form of a social reception, ra- 

 ther than the more serious > haracter of a 

 scientific conference. The agreeable recol- 

 lection of last year's first meeting will, I 

 am confident, reconcile you '"o this pro- 

 gramme. 



Review of Last Session 

 I think it fitting that I should pass in re- 

 view, and I will do this as briefly as pas- 

 sible, the work of the session of 1902. The 

 Charter of the Royal ;Society lays down 

 as its leading objects the inves'tigation of 

 the physical character of Tasm^ania, ani 

 the illustration of its natural history and 

 productions. The records of the socdeiT 

 show that a wide interpretation has been 

 given to this enactment. One of my pre- 

 decessors, when opening the session of 

 1887, in commenting on the extent of the 

 range otf the subjects dealt with by .he so- 

 ciety, remarked that its operations aad 

 investigations had covered so vast an area 

 as to include such diverse subjects as iij6 

 occultation of Jupiter and the Drainage 

 of Hobart. The same distinguished pre- 

 sident, when addressing the society, for 

 the last time, in 1892, spoke as follows: — 

 "The attention which is now being given 

 on all sides to social and economic sub- 

 jects has left its mark upon the work of 

 our society for 1892; and the papers upoji 

 such subjects, and the discussions arising 

 upon them, form a marked feature in this 

 year's proceedings. While on the one 

 hand, I myself should be very sorry to 

 see the Royal Society ofTasmania so far 

 dc'part tfrom the original intention cf its 

 founders as to develop into more or less 

 of a debating socie-ly on social and eco- 

 nomic subjects, on the other, to exclude 



