6 Presidential Address 



that from the struggle something will 

 emerge of benefit to himself. Some posi- 

 tions, he feels, were too hastily abandoned 

 and may perhaps be retrieved; or, to 

 put it without metaphor, it seems possible 

 that a few of the things prematurely 

 denied, because asserted on inconclusive 

 evidence, may, after all, in some form or 

 other, have really happened. Thus the 

 old theological bitterness is mitigated, 

 and a temporising policy is either advo- 

 cated or instinctively adopted. 



To illustrate the nature of the funda- 

 mental scientific or philosophic contro- 

 versies to which, I do refer, would require 

 almost as many addresses as there are 

 Sections of the British Association; or 

 at any rate as many as there are chief 

 cities in Australia; and perhaps my suc- 

 cessor in the Chair will continue the 

 theme; but, to exhibit my meaning very 

 briefly, I may cite the kind of dominating 

 controversies now extant, employing as 

 far as possible only a single word in each 

 case so as to emphasise the necessary 

 brevity and insufficiency of the reference. 



