xlv 



AUGUST, 1899. 



The monthlv evening; meeting of the 

 Royal Society of Tasmania was held 

 on Monday, August 14, in the Art Gallery 

 of the Tasmanian Museum. The acting 

 president. His Excellency The Administra- 

 tor (the Hon. J. S. Dodds, C.M.G., C.J.) 

 presided. 



The secretary (Mr. Alex. Morton), read 

 the following apologies : — From the Hon. 

 Sir James Agnew, K.C.M.G., M.D., senior 

 vice-president, the Eight Rev. H. H. 

 Montgomery, D.D., vice-pi'esident ; Hons. 

 N. J. Brown, C. H. Grant, M.E.C.'s ; Col. 

 W. V. Legge, R.A. 



ELECTION. 



Mr. L. F. S. Hore, B.A., Oxon., was 

 elected a Fellow of the Society. 



THE LATE MR. JAMES BARNARD. 



His Excellency said some little time back 

 the Secretary, Mr. Alex. Morton, conceived 

 the excellent idea of having the portraits 

 of those who had done good work in con- 

 nection with the Society hung on their 

 walls. Last month the portrait of Sir 

 James Agnew was presented, and on this 

 occasion that of Mr. Barnard. Mr. James 

 Bai-nard, like Sir James Agnew, was a 

 very early member of the Society ; he first 

 became a member of the Tasmanian 

 Society, which was started by Sir John 

 Franklin. In an old minute book in the 

 Royal Society's library the following 

 notice occurs: — "Wednesday, 7th April, 

 1841. Present : Sir John Franklin ; Messrs. 

 Bedford, Kay ; Drs. Lillie and Turnbull ; 

 Captains Ross and Crozier, R.N., H.M.S. 

 Erebus and Terror. Upon the motion of Mr. 

 Bedford, seconded by Sir John Franklin, 

 James Barnard, of Hobart Town, was 

 elected a member of the Society." (3n the 

 formation of the Royal Society on October 

 14, 1843, the late Mr. Barnard was elected 

 one of the first members of its Coun- 

 cil, a position which he held to 

 the time of his death, which oc- 

 curred in the year 1897. In 1878 the 

 late gentleman was elected one of the Vice- 

 Presidents of the Society. During the 

 year 1883 Mr. Barnard acted as hon. secre- 

 tary during Sir James Agnew's visit to 

 Europe. He took a very keen interest in 

 the Society, the Museum, and Botanical 

 Gardens, seldom ever missing any of the 

 Council meetings. Mr. Barnard con- 

 tributed a number of papers which have 

 appeared in the Society's transactions, and 

 by his will he left a sum for the purchase 

 of works for the library. The portrait is a 

 gift to the Society by the family of the 



late gentleman, and has been reproduced 

 by Mr. J. "W. Beattie. hon. photographer 

 to the Government of Tasmania. (Ap- 

 plause.) 



The Secretary read the following 

 letter from the Hon. Sir James Agnew, 

 K.C.M.G., M.D., senior Vice-President :— 

 "Hobart, August 14. My dear Mr. 

 Morton,— I am very sorry that I can- 

 not be present at the" meeting of the Royal 

 Society this evening, as it would have 

 given me extreme pleasure to take a more 

 practical p irt than I can do in the cere- 

 mony which is to take place in honour of 

 my old and valued friend, the late Mr. 

 Barnard. Ever since the formation of our 

 society Mr. Barnard pi'oved himself to be 

 a warm and consistent friend in zealously 

 promoting its best interests, and the 

 legacy which he so generously bequeathed 

 to it shows that his practical regard for its 

 welfare continued unabated to the last. I 

 am heartily glad to join in recognising 

 such services, and cannot but feel that no 

 portrait can more fitly adorn our walls 

 than that of the friend we have lost. — 

 Very truly yours, J. W. Agnew." 



correspondence. 



The Secretary read a letter that had 

 been recei%^ed by the Hon. W. Crosby, 

 M.L.C, Consul for the Netherlands at 

 Hobart, stating that an Exhibition at 

 Hague would be held in the months of 

 July and August, 1900, and that His Excel- 

 lency the Minister for Foreign Affairs at 

 Hague would be glad to receive for exhibi- 

 tion anything relating to maritime mat- 

 ters previous to 1795. 



Mr. L. Rodway, Hon. Botanist to the 

 Government of Tasmania, read an 

 interesting paper entitled " Forestry 

 for Tasmania." The author said the 

 paper referred to the indifference to 

 forestry in the past, culminating with the 

 necessities of depression rendering it 

 necessary, inthe opinion of the Government, 

 to reduce forest attention to a minimum. 

 The recent appointment of so able a man 

 as Mr. Penny has revived hope that not 

 only our native forests will be conserved, 

 but that some attention may be turned to 

 the plantati®n of areas in places that are 

 now suffering deforestation. The subject 

 was treated under three heads : — Timber 

 Production, Water Conservation, Influence 

 on Climate. Native trees would not 

 yield the best results if planted for 

 timber. Owing t© the slowness of the 

 growth in most instances, and the 



