32 ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OP SCIENCE. (AUSTRALASIAN.) 



sold was 2,070. Grants were made as follow : 

 To members for researches on mathematics and 

 physics, 235 ; chemistry and mineralogy, 60 ; 

 geology, 60; biology, 350; geography, 110; 

 economic science and statistics, 3 ; and anthro- 

 pology, 170 ; making a total of 988. The fol- 

 lowing resolutions were adopted : 



" That the council be requested to draw the 

 attention of the Local Government Board to the 

 desirability of the publication of the report on 

 the examination into deviations from the nor- 

 mal among fifty thousand children in various 

 schools, which has been presented to the board 

 by the British Medical Association. 



"That the council be requested to draw the 

 attention of Her Majesty's Government to the 

 anthropornetric method of the measurement of 

 criminals which is successfully in operation in 

 France, Austria, and other Continental couii- 

 tries, and which has been found effective in the 

 identification of habitual criminals, and conse- 

 quently in the prevention and repression of 

 crime." 



Subsequently the committee adjourned to 

 meet at Nottingham, under the presidency of 

 Dr. Burdon Sanderson, on Sept. 13, 1893. In 

 1894 the association will meet in Oxford, in ac- 

 cordance with the invitation extended by the 

 Mayor and the President of the Ashmolean So- 

 ciety. 



Treasurer's Report. The general treasur- 

 er, Arthur W. Riicker, reported that the invest- 

 ments amounted to 12,600 viz., 8,500 new 

 consols, 3,600 India 3-per-cents., and 500 

 in the treasurer's hands as a floating balance. 

 There was a deficit of 517, which, however, was 

 more apparent than real, as the accounts only 

 extended from Aug. 1, 1891, to June 30, 1892. 

 With the addition of dividends since accrued 

 the amount would be reduced to about 430. 

 It \vas thought desirable to have a regular finan- 

 cial year ending June 30. Some expense in 

 furniture and removal had been incurred in the 

 transfer of their offices from Albemarle Street 

 to Burlington House, but in future years the 

 change would effect a saving of 100 a year. 



Australasian. The fourth annual meeting 

 of the Australasian Association was held in Ho- 

 bart, Tasmania, during the week beginning Jan. 

 7, 1892. The officers were as follow : President, 

 Sir Robert G. C. Hamilton. Section Presidents : 

 A, Astronomy, Mathematics, Physics, and Me- 

 chanics, W. H. Bragg; B, Chemistry and Min- 

 eralogy, W. M. Hamlet ; C, Geology and Palaeon- 

 tology, T. W. E. David ; D, Biology, W. Baldwin- 

 Spencer ; E, Geography, Crawford Pasco ; F, 

 Economic and Social Science and Statistics, 

 Richard Teece ; G, Anthropology, Lorimer 

 Fison ; H, Sanitary Science and Hygiene, W. H. 

 Warren ; I, Literature and Fine Arts, Edward 

 E. Morris ; J, Architecture and Engineering, C. 

 Napier Bell. General Secretaries, Archibald 

 Liversidge and Alexander Morton ; General 

 Treasurer, James B. Walker. 



Opening Session. On Jan. 7, the meeting 

 began with a session of the general council in 

 the rooms of the Royal Society, when the election 

 of the sectional officers was confirmed and offi- 

 cers for the next meeting nominated. The first 

 general session was held in the evening at the 

 Town Hall, when, owing to the illness of the 



retiring president, Sir James Hector, the associa- 

 tion was called to order by its past president, 

 Baron Ferdinand Von Mueller, who inducted 

 the president-elect, Sir Robert G. C. Hamilton, 

 K. C. B., Governor of Tasmania, to the chair. 

 Various addresses of welcome were made, includ- 

 ing, one by Sir Henry Wyllie Norman, Governor 

 of Queensland, and appropriately responded to, 

 after which the usual presidential address was 

 delivered. 



President's Address. In opening his address 

 the president expressed his satisfaction, as Her 

 Majesty's representative in Tasmania and in 

 behalf of the colony, in extending a welcome to 

 the association. As evidence of his desires to 

 make the meeting valuable, he described his 

 efforts in trying to persuade some of the emi- 

 nent scientists of the Old World to attend it. 

 He was successful in securing the. presence of 

 Robert Giffen, but unable to procure the pres- 

 ence of William H. Huxley, Sir Robert Ball, and 

 Sir Lyon Playfair. He closed with a special 

 plea for the study of science, and said : 



Science directly tends to the elucidation of truth, 

 which is its groundwork : and what can be more 

 noble or ennobling than the pursuit of truth when 

 accompanied by a fearless acceptance of its conse- 

 quences ? The love of truth is the greatest force in 

 tlie moral elevation of the human race, and it is di- 

 rectly generated and fostered by the pursuit of science. 

 The more the scientific habit of mind is cultivated, 

 the more will a habit of absolute truthfulness he es- 

 tablished in all relations of life. We are scarcely 

 conscious of the extent to which misrepresentation or 

 concealment of truth permeates society in all matters 

 political, commercial, and social. I do not now refer 

 so much to that sort of misrepresentation which 

 would lead a man to be regarded as a liar as to the 

 conventional want of truthfulness, or the communica- 

 tion of half truths only, of which society generally is 

 so tolerant. Nor is it easy to conceive what the 

 world would become if falsehood and deceit were as 

 rare as robbery or murder, and the intentional con- 

 veying of a wrong impression or the permitting of a 

 wrong impression to be received were regarded as 

 utterly base and criminal. A scientific training of the 

 mind must work in this direction, for it is based on 

 truth, and is incompatible with any connivance at or 

 toleration of conscious misrepresentation in any shape 

 or form. 



A. Astronomy, Mathematics, Physics, and 

 Mechanics. The presiding officer of this sec- 

 tion was Prof. W. H. Bragg, who fills the chair 

 of Mathematics at the University in Adelaide, 

 South Australia. His address was on "Mathe- 

 matical Analogies between Various Branches of 

 Science." Subsequent to the reading of the 

 report of the Seismological Committee the fol- 

 lowing papers were read : " The Astronomical 

 Explanation of a Glacial Period," by Sir Robert 

 Ball ; " On the Conductivity of a Salt Solution," 

 by W. H. Steele ; " Quaternions as an Instru- 

 ment of Physical Research," by A. McAulay ; 

 " The ' Dodging Tide ' of South Australia," by 

 R. W. Chapman : " Solar Phenomena," by Arch- 

 bishop Murphy ; " Grouping of Stars in the 

 Southern Part of the Milky Way, illustrated by 

 Photographs," by H. C. Russell ; " On Some of 

 the Difficulties occurring in the Photographic 

 Charting of the Heavens " and " Remarks on 

 the Desirability of establishing Tidal Observa- 

 tions in Tasmania," by R. L. J. Ellery ; " Unifi- 

 cation of Standards of Weights ajid Measures," 



