1862.] 283 



In adverting in the briefest terms which it is possible for me to 

 employ to the choice which you have been pleased to make of a suc- 

 cessor to this most eminent man, I can only say that you have 

 honoured me far beyond any pretensions which I could have ventured 

 to claim for myself, and that it will be my earnest endeavour to 

 justify your choice by emulating the example of Sir Benjamin Brodie 

 in attention to the business and devotion to the interests of the 

 Society. 



Since the last Anniversary our country and our Queen have had to 

 mourn the loss of the illustrious Prince, the active and enlightened 

 friend and promoter'of measures for advancing either the welfare and 

 comfort of the great body of our people, or the interests of Science, 

 Literature, and the Arts. In this great general loss the cultivators 

 of Science have their own particular share. Qualified in an eminent 

 degree to estimate the importance of Science as one of the elements 

 of the strength and prosperity of a nation, his sound and extensive 

 knowledge enabled him to appreciate the value of researches in the 

 various branches of natural knowledge, and to give them on all 

 suitable occasions the advantage of his countenance and support. 



The Anniversary Meeting may be considered a fitting opportunity 

 for apprising the Fellows generally of subjects out of the ordinary 

 routine which may have occupied the attention of the Council in the 

 past year. Without too much trespass on your time, I may permit 

 myself to notice very briefly one or two such subjects, in the interest 

 of which I may hope the Society will warmly participate. 



The first of these relates to a desire which has manifested itself in 

 the Colony of Victoria to possess a telescope of much greater optical 

 power than any previously used in the Southern Hemisphere, to be 

 employed chiefly in observations of the southern nebulse. A con- 

 venient and suitable site has recently been appropriated for an 

 observatory at Melbourne ; and a grant of ^4500 has been voted 

 by the Colonial Legislature for the completion of the requisite build- 

 ings. In July of the present year the Board of Visitors of the Mel- 

 bourne Observatory presented the following address to Sir Henry 

 Barkly, K.C.B., Governor of Victoria : 



" The attention of the Board having been drawn to the following 

 circumstances : 



" I. That, as long since as 1849, the facts brought to light by 



