ii PROCEEDINGS. 



the structure and geologic formation of Digby Basin throw much light 

 on some hitherto obscure problems of the geology of that region. 



The teaching of science in our public schools would be greatly 

 improved if the methods recommended by Dr. MacGregor, in his able 

 address on Physical Laboratory Work, were generally adopted. 



It is too soon yet to attempt any prediction regarding Mr. Twining's 

 novel experiments in boat-sailing. They seem calculated to lead to a 

 great improvement in the quality of speed by showing how friction and 

 water displacement may be reduced to a minimum. 



Dr. MacKay's phenological observations, assisted as he is by a large 

 corps of observers all over the Dominion, may lead to some important, 

 generalizations regarding the relation of organized life to latitude and 

 other climatic conditions. 



I have referred to the difficulty of securing papers on scientific sub- 

 jects for our ordinary meetings. This does not necessarily imply that 

 our members are becoming less interested in science than formerly. It 

 may and probably does mean that work in science like work in every 

 other department of human life is becoming more specialized. Our 

 earlier scientists worked in comparatively new fields. It was then an 

 easy matter to find plants or animals not previously known in our 

 country and with the aid of good text books to describe and identify 

 them. The first explorers in a rich gold mine find it easy to make 

 fortunes. Those who come later require much greater skill and patience. 

 It did not require much scientific knowledge forty years ago to enable a 

 man to acquire some reputation in the field of science. The possibilities 

 in this respect made it more attractive as an outlet for the expen- 

 diture of those surplus energies which are nowadays required for the 

 severer business competition of a more congested state of society. 



Then, a little enthusiasm, a vasculum, an insect net and a pocket- 

 glass comprised all the outfit necessary to enable a man to write valuable 

 papers and to give, him a good standing in our Institute. Now he requires 

 a thorough scientific training, costly scientific apparatus, and years of 

 patient toil to be able to add a single new or valuable idea to our 

 scientific knowledge. It is not, therefore, difficult to understand that 

 scientific pursuits as a recreation are every year becoming less attractive 

 and are being left to those who make of them the business of life. 



While, in some departments of natural science, such as natural 

 history, elementary electricity, and geology, the charm of novelty, ease 



