96 



and we have to look for theru very largely as the result of investigation 

 and patient collection of dry data -which do not appeal to popular fancy. 

 There is, therefore, good reason why the increasing number of people 

 among the genei'al public who appreciate the results of pure science 

 should give what encouragement they can to scientific institutions and 

 societies. 



Facts need to be ascertained. We are too apt to confine 

 ourselves to matters of importance of to-day, without regard to their 

 bearing on the future, when their commercial bearing may be most 

 marked. The scientific results of specialists should be discussed 

 by men of general knowledge or science, before they can become availa- 

 ble to all. One of the most remarkable signs of progress and develop- 

 ment during the last half century is to be found in the growth of the 

 colonies and dependencies of the Crown. The opening era of the Aus- 

 tralian continent, and of the foundation of our own Dominion, now 

 spanning this continent, are two of the brightest spots in this career of 

 progress. These developments of her resources have not cost England 

 battles by land or by sea, nor have they added millions to her national 

 debt. What we trace is a period of sunshine, prosperity and progress. 

 New communities devising for themselves institutions, now sub-dividing 

 for convenience, now confederating for mutual help, and all under one 

 benignant sceptre. The state of things is not yet definite, but time is 

 granted to devi&e even a firmer system, a federation of the whole. 

 Could we Ifit the curtain that covers the destiny of the next century, 

 who could foretell the aspect ] The word " Excelsior " would stand out 

 prominent, blazoned in letters of gold. 



Man's circumstances under the influence of man's mind tend to 

 progress. By the extension of railways, industrial conditions every- 

 where are undei'going changes j manufacturing towns need no longer 

 be located on rivers or by the sea, but may be established near the 

 sources where the raw materials for manufacture are obtained. The 

 development of the world's resources is facilitated by the application of 

 various departments of science, such as mining, farming, fishing, engi- 

 neering, and navigation; and supply and demand, and the changes 

 which are always in progress can be anticipated by such commercial 

 men as undertake to acquaint themselves with the leading princi[>les of 

 pliysical geography. 



