562 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 20. 



and vast lakes, our boundless plains, our forest soli- 

 tudes and changeful climate. These are unwritten 

 poems, which have impressed themselves on the 

 minds of our people more than any thing man has 

 yet said or done ; and he who most truly interprets 

 them will build up the most lasting fame. For this 

 reason he rejoiced that the society embraced both 

 literature and science; and he was profoundly con- 

 vinced, that it was for the highest interest of Canada, 

 that, while its scientific men should be men of cul- 

 ture, its literary men should be men of scientific 

 knowledge and scientific habits of thought." 



Dr. Chauveau, the vice-president, followed 

 in a brief discourse in French on the progress 

 of both French and English letters in Canada, 

 after which Mr. Louis Frechette, the well- 

 known poet and laureate of the French Acade- 

 my, recited with much grace and feeling a 

 poem on The discovery of the Mississippi. 



On Thursday, the Queen's birthday, tlie 

 morning was given to a business-meeting of the 

 societ}', after which the members and delegates 

 were entertained at lunch bj' the governor-gen- 

 eral at Rideau Hall, and were subsequently 

 received b}' the princess at a garden partj'. 

 Fridaj' morning was devoted to receiving re- 

 ports, the election of oflScers, and other busi- 

 ness. In sections I. and III., Messrs. Louis 

 Frechette and J. B. Cherriman were chosen 

 chairmen in place of J. Mi Lemoine and T. 

 Sterrj' Hunt. Dr. Dawson, the president, hav- 

 ing declined re-election, Dr. P. J. O. Chauveau, 

 the vice-president, was elected in his place as 

 president of the society, and Dr. T. Sterry 

 Hunt as vice-president, for the ensuing j'ear. 



It would be foreign to our purpose to give 

 an account of the communications on literary 

 and historical subjects which were presented 

 to the first and second sections of tlie societ}' 

 during the meeting. One of these, however, 

 which, on account of its especial interest to the 

 societj' at large, was hy request read in gen- 

 eral session, deserves notice. This was a 

 paper bj' Dr. Alpheus Todd, librainan of Par- 

 liament, on the relation of the new roj-al 

 society, and of similar societies, to the state, 

 and was replete with valuable information 

 and suggestions. He sketched the history of 

 the Royal societj- of arts of Jamaica, which is 

 there doing an important work, and then gave 

 an account of the Royal societ}' of New South 



Wales, a colony which has already made great 

 advances in all matters relating to intellectual 

 progress. That country, we were informed, 

 now numbers about a hundred literary and 

 scientific societies, or ' one to ervevy one hun- 

 dred and fifty adult males of the population.' 

 A government astronomical observatory, a 

 geological survey, a botanic garden, a gallery 

 of fine arts, and a free public library, the latter 

 under the direction of the minister of public 

 instruction, are among the evidences of the 

 enlightened educational policj' of this colony ; 

 and to crown the whole we have the Roj^al 

 society of New South Wales, which aspires to 

 lead the scientific movement of the country, 

 and to give aid and direction to all its various 

 scientific and literar}' institutions. 



Dr. Todd then proceeded to review the 

 history of the Royal society of London with 

 especial reference to its present important 

 position in relation to the state. This bod_y, 

 which has, moreover, considerable revenue of 

 its own, has now for more than a third of .a 

 century received from the imperial govern- 

 ment an annual grant of one thousand pounds, 

 to be emploj'ed in aid of scientific research at 

 the discretion of the president and. council of 

 the societ}^, — an amount vyhich, since 1876, 

 has been augmented to from four to five thou- 

 sand pounds annuallj-, without counting special 

 grants for astronomical and other investiga- 

 tions conducted under the auspices of the 

 Royal societ}^ To it was intrusted the organ- 

 ization of the Challenger expedition. The 

 Weather bureau, moreover, with its annual 

 expenditure of fifteen thousand pounds, origi- 

 nally under the Board of trade, is now con- 

 ducted by a commission appointed bj' the 

 crown on the nomination of the president and 

 council of the Roj^al society. This disposition 

 of the British government to place the scien- 

 tific work of the nation under the control of 

 its Royal society is an example already imi- 

 tated by New South Wales, and one which 

 will, it is hoped, be followed bj' the govern- 

 ment of the New Dominion. Dr. Todd did 

 not allude to the National academ}^ of sciences 

 of the United States, one object in the creation 

 of which was the establishment of a bod}' to 

 serve as scientific aids and councillors to the 

 federal government, — a function which they 

 have efflciently discharged on many occasions 

 with vast advantage to the state. The United 

 States Congress has, however, thus far in its 

 relations to the National academy, failed to 

 imitate the wise generosity of the British par- 

 liament, or even that of the Dominion parlia- 

 ment to its newl}' formed Roj'al societ}'. 



