March 3, 1892] 



NA TURE 



423 



On the evening of the 7th Sir Robert Hamilton delivered his 

 presidential address before a large audience in the Town Hall. 

 He presented an interesting sketch of the history of the Royal 

 Society of Tasmania, and suggested many sound reasons why 

 all intelligent persons in Australasia should do their utmost " to 

 hasten the advent of the time, which is undoubtedly approaching, 

 when science will form a much more integral part of the life of 

 the people than it does at present." 



It is impossible for us to give a full account of the proceed- 

 ings of the meeting ; but the following notes may suffice to 

 indicate the wide range of the work done in the various Sections. 



SECTION A. 



MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS, AND MECHANICS. 



Prof. Bragg, Adelaide, was President of this Section. He 

 chose as the subject of his presidential address, " Mathematical 

 Analogies between various branches of Physics." About fifty 

 years ago, he said. Sir William Thomson showed that there 

 existed between several branches of physics a very close analogy — 

 the analogy was so exact that the solution of any problem of any 

 one theory was at the same time the solution of the problem in 

 any other. The list of analogies might be still further increased 

 by the addition of certain other theories, which were to some 

 extent imaginary, yet important in that they were simple to 

 realize, and therefore of great use in presenting to the mind the 

 usual means of grasping the other problems. It was a matter of 

 the greatest interest that so wide and so perfect an analogy 

 should exist, and for that reason the analogy would be a fit 

 subject for an address. There were other grounds for its fitness. 

 It was of the greatest assistance in physics to follow up this 

 analogy, and examine carefully its nature. It was a common 

 remark that analogies were dangerous things, and the remark was 

 often true enough. But the danger lay only in an imperfect know- 

 ledge of the extent to which calculations might be made upon 

 the analogy, and could be avoided once and for all by amending 

 the imperfection. Moreover, the student of electricity and 

 magnetism could hardly avoid the use of some sort of analogy, 

 for these theories deal with quantitative relations between things 

 of the real nature of which we are completely ignorant, and 

 most minds could not for long consider these relations in mere 

 symbols, but must finally give them some sort of form. He then 

 explained the nature of the problem, and proceeded to show the 

 measure of analogy that exists between various theories of 

 physical science. 



A paper hy Sir Robert Ball, on " The Astronomical Explana- 

 tion of a Glacial Period," was read by Sir R. Hamilton, and a 

 hearty vote of thanks was accorded to His Excellency and to the 

 author. Mr. A. B. Biggs, Launceston, read a paper on " Tas- 

 manian Earth Tremors." Mr. C. W. Adams, Dunedin, dealt 

 with a graphic method of showing the relation between the 

 temperature of the dew-point and the temperature of the air for 

 any given climate. Mr. George Hogben, Timaru, N.Z., read 

 the report of the Committee on " Seismological Phenomena in 

 Australasia." This Committee had begun its work by making 

 a compilation of the records of all previous earthquake shocks 

 throughout Australasia, and these records were now nearly com- 

 plete, except for Queensland and Western Australia. It had 

 also provided for as accurate a system of observations in the 

 future as was possible under the circumstances, by means of 

 memoranda to be forwarded from various telegraph offices. The 

 system adopted was, with the necessary modifications, that 

 which had been in use with success in New Zealand for some 

 time past. The Secretary explained what had been done in 

 New Zealand by this means in the determination of earthquake 

 origins, and of other facts about earthquakes, and pointed out 

 that it was as part of a world system of observations that the 

 observations in Australasia are likely to be most useful. With 

 that aim in view the Committee proposed to extend their obser- 

 vations to the islands of the Pacific, and so to establish a con- 

 nection, if possible, with what was being done in South America 

 and in Japan. An imporlant step was also taken in the adoption 

 of a common standard of intensity— the Rossi-Forel scale, as 

 used by Swiss and Italian seismologists, being that agreed upon. 

 It was pointed out that the system now adopted throughout 

 Australasia had led to the fixing of five of the chief origins of 

 disturbance in or near New Zealand, among them (during the 

 past year) of the origin of most of the Cook's Straits shocks. 



Mr. A. McAuley, Ormond College, Melbourne, contributed a 

 paper on " Quaternions as a Practical Instrument of Physical 



NO. r 166, VOL. 45] 



Research." He indicated the power of the method by six 

 examples: — (i) A theorem in potentials illustrated by applying 

 it to a general electrical problem. (2) Two examples in curvi- 

 linear coordinates. (3) A qua'ernion proof of a well-known 

 theorem of Jacobi's of great utility in physics. (4) A generali- 

 zation of one of the well-known equations of fluid solution. (5) 

 The well-known particular system of the differential equation 

 expressing the conditions of equilibrium of an isotropic elastic 

 solid subject to arbitrary bodily forces. (6) A short criticism 

 of Prof. Poynting's theory of the transference of energy through 

 an electric field. 



Papers were read by Mr. W. H. Steele on *' The Con- 

 ductivity of Solutions of Copper Sulphate " ; by Mr. R. W. 

 Chapman on "The Dodging Tide of South Australia," con- 

 taming a summary of the work done by the Committee on Tidal 

 Observations ; and by Archbishop Murphy, Hobart, on 

 " Solar Phenomena and their Effects." 



Mr. H. C. Russell, F.R.S. (Government Astronomer, 

 N.S.W.), read a paper on "The Grouping of Stars in the 

 Southern Part of the Milky Way." He pointed out the advan- 

 tages of the photographic method of studying star distribution, 

 and discussed the evidence offered by a large number of photo- 

 graphs taken by himself. The results he had obtained tended 

 to diminish the value of the rifts in the discussion of stellar dis- 

 tribution. The interest of this paper was much enhanced by the 

 exhibition of a large collection of photographs. 



Mr. R. L. J. Ellery, F.R.S. (Government Astronomer, V.), 

 read a paper describing some of the difficulties occurring in the 

 photographic charting of the heavens, more especially regarding 

 the determination of stellar magnitude. He also spoke of the 

 desirableness of establishing tidal observations in Tasmania. He 

 drew attention to the incompleteness of the tidal records for 

 Tasmania, and moved a resolution urging the Government to 

 establish several more tide gauges, especially on the north 

 coast. This resolution was seconded by Mr. H. C. Russell, 

 and carried unanimously. 



Mr. R. B. Lucas read a paper on the unification of standards 

 of weights and measures, in which the condition of legislation in 

 regard to this important matter, with suggestions for the unifica- 

 tion of standards throughout the colonies, and recommendations 

 for a central depot with central administration, was specially 

 considered. 



Captain Shortt (Meteorological Observer, Hobart) read a short 

 paper advocating a particular method of determining longitude 

 at sea from observations of the maximum altitude. The paper 

 gave rise to a very interesting discussion. 



The President of the Section moved " That the Section tele- 

 graph its congratulations to Sir W. Thomson on his elevation to 

 the peerage." This was seconded by Mr. Ellery, supported by 

 Mr. Russell, and carried unanimously. 



SECTION B. 



CHEMISTRY AND MINERALOGY. 



Mr. W. M. Hamlet, Government Analyst, of New South 

 Wales, presided over this Section. In his opening address he 

 dealt with the progress of chemistry in Australasia. Having 

 described the difficulties with which chemists in Australasia have 

 to contend, he said that in spite of them work had been done. 

 He mentioned the discovery of the alkaloids brucine and 

 strychnine in the fruits of Slrychnos psilosperma, by Prof. 

 Rennie and Mr. Goyder, of Adelaide ; also the work done 

 by Mr. J. H. Maiden, of Sydney, in the examination of 

 Australian kinos, gums, and barks. Chief amongst Mr. 

 Maiden's researches was his work on wattle bark, which he 

 found contained from 15 up to 46 per cent, of tannic acid. These 

 barks were proved to be invaluable for tanning purposes, and 

 their cultivation proved easily remunerative to the agriculturist. 

 Mr. Kirkland's discovery of gallium and indium in some 

 specimens of blende were referred to, as were the highly- 

 interesting investigations of different minerals by the Rev. J. 

 Milne Curran, of New South Wales. Reference was also made 

 to researches being made by observers who were seeking to find 

 out the actual state of combination in which elements occur in 

 different ores. Much of this kind of work needed to be done, 

 and if such questions were investigated by men who knew what 

 they were doing, it would go a long way towards facilitating the 

 operations attempted in the smelting works, where it is often 

 expected that carbonates, sulphides, chlorides, and oxides should 

 each and all yield to the same treatment. 



