PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. Ixxxiii. 



utilised. Educational and civilizing methods as practised 

 by the Japanese in Formosa would, I fear, not be tolerated 

 here, though they might sometimes be useful. The 

 Aborigines are enclosed in a highly-electrified wire fence 300 

 miles long, which kills any who touch it. Any native wishing 

 to submit is handed over to the authorities to be civilized 

 and educated ; but the details of the process must be left 

 to the imagination, as I am ignorant of them. The Metric 

 system is spreading in the world, and some small steps towards 

 it have been taken in this country. It has undoubted 

 advantages for convenience of calculation, but the change 

 would be difficult. Last year, for the first time, a separate 

 sub-section of Psychology was formed at the British 

 Association Meeting, and attracted a large number of auditors. 

 It was also touched upon by the President of the 

 Association in his Address, but the subjects dealt with in the 

 various papers do not seem to have gone outside matters 

 connected with the working of the human and animal minds, 

 little, if any, of what is generally known as spiritualism 

 being contained in them. It has been the habit of the 

 British Association of late years to hold its meetings 

 occasionally in some of our Colonies, such as Canada and 

 South Africa. This year for the first time it has been decided 

 that it should visit Australia, and thus do its share in 

 realizing the union of the British Empire even in its most 

 distant shores. 



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