.A. B S T IR^A. O T 



OF THE 



jrorccbings d tljc %(iQn\ SacietD of Casmanm, 



ISQS. 



OFEITIITG- l^IEETIira, MA7, 1S98 SESSION. 



The first meeting of the session of 1893 

 was held by the Royal Society of Tasmania, 

 at the Alt Gallery on Monrlay, May 25. 

 His lordship the B shop of Tasmania (Dr. 

 Montgomery) presided. There was a larjie 

 attendance. Apologies for non-attendance 

 were received from His Excellency the 

 Govercor, Sir Jannes Aj;new, K.C. M.G., 

 M.D , M E.G., and Mr. T. Stephens, M.A., 

 F.G.S. 



The following persona were elected mem- 

 bers of the Socieoy :— F. J, Drake, M.B., 

 B.S., Melb. Univ.; Dr Alsop, G. M. 

 Anderson, M.P., C.M.; E. W. J. Ireland, 

 M B., CM., Edin.; Mr. E. T. Miles, 

 M.H.A.; Mr. George Steward, Under Secre- 

 tary ; and Mr. O. E. White. 



Before calling on the secretary to read the 

 annuil raport, the Chairman referred to tl.e 

 death of the late Ghiwf Justicp, who had 

 been oa) of the Vtc -Presiients of the 

 Society. He Siid they als > keenly felt the 

 deep loss occasioned by the deaith of the late 

 Mr. Matthew Seal. A more recent and 

 deeper loss, hovcever, was the death of the 

 late Chief Justice. Their late Vic -Pre ident 

 had been a most regular attendant at all meet- 

 ings, and the Sonety deeply lamented his 

 death. There was still another loss to 

 deplore. He referred to the death of Mr. 

 F. Belstead, who had been one of their 

 highest typ33 of a pablic servant. 



ANNUAL REPORT. 



The Secretary (Mr. A. Morton) then 

 read the following annuil report : — 



The Council of the Royal Society of Tas- 

 mania have pleasure in pres«nting this, their 

 annual, report for the year 1897. During the 

 session six meetings have been held. At the 

 first ineeting, His Honor Sir Lambert Dobi^on, 

 K.C.M.G., C.J., F.L.S.. Vice-President, presided. 

 Before the business of the meeting commenced, 

 the Chairman referred to the loss the Society 

 had sustained in the death of Mr. James 

 Barnard. "Vice-President of the Society. A 

 full account of the remarlis of the Chairman 

 is given in the 1897 Volume of Proceedings. 

 At this meeting the Chairman read an address 

 from the Society that had been decided to 

 send to Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen 

 on the celebration of Her Majesty's Record 

 Reign. Among the papers read at the May 

 meeting, were one by Professor W. Jethro 



Brown, MA., LL.D., entitled, " The applica- 

 tion of the Hare system in Tasmania." 

 Mr R. M. Johnston, F.L.S., F.S.S., Government 

 Statistician and Registrar-General of Tasmania, 

 read a paper, " Observations on the working 

 results of the Hare system of election in Tas 

 mania" illustrated with diagrams. Messrs. W. 

 H. Twelvetrees. F.G.S., and W. F. Petterd, 

 C.M.Z.S., contributed an interesting paper on 

 some microscopical studies of Tasmanian 

 rocks. Mr. F. Back, A,M.I.C,E., F.S.S., General 

 Manager of Tasmanian Railways, furnished a 

 paper on the " Mount Dundas Narrow-gauge 

 Railway." The papHr was of particular in- 

 terest, being illustrated with some specially 

 prepared lantern slides, by Mr. J. VV. Beattie, 

 Hon. Photographer to tlie Tasmanian Govern- 

 ment. At the June meeting Mr. T. Stephens, 

 M.A., F.G.S., Vice-President, announced that 

 Mr. R. M. Johnston, F.L.S., F.S.S., had been 

 unanimously elected a Vice-President of the 

 Society, taking the place of the late vlr. James 

 Barnard. Dr. Gregory Sprott, Health Officer 

 of the City of Hobart, read a paper that 

 evoked some interesting discussion, entitled, 

 " Disposal of our Dead by Cremation." Some in- 

 teresting correspondence on the working of the 

 Ben Nevis Observatory, by Mr. Alex. Buchan, 

 Presidentof the Scottish Meteorological Society, 

 was read by Mr. H. C. Kingsmill, M.A., 

 Meteorological Observer of Tasmania. At the 

 next meeting congratulations were conveyed to 

 the Vice-President, Sir Lambert Dobson, on the 

 honour that had been conferred on him since 

 the last meeting as K.C.M.G. Several interest- 

 ing papers were read at the August meeting— 

 " On the Topaz-quartz-porphyry, or stannifer- 

 ous olvan dykes ot Mount Bischoff." by Messrs. 

 Twelvet-ees, F.G.S., and Petterd, C.M.Z.S. Mr. 

 J. B. Walker, F.R.G.S., added to the history of 

 the Tasmanian aboriginal race a valuable paper 

 from notes taken from the late Mr. Geo. 

 Washington Walker's journal. At the Sep- 

 tember meeting Mr. W. R. Harper, member of 

 the Polynesian Society, read a paper on the 

 measurements of the Maori and Moriori crania. 

 At the same meeting, a paper on the iron de- 

 posits of Tasmania.by Mr. VV . G. Dauncey, C.B., 

 and one on obsidian buttons,by Mr. T. Stephens, 

 M.A., F.G.S., were read. At the October meeting 

 Messrs. W. E. Haroer, M. Polynesian Society, 

 and Mr. A. H. Clarke, M.R.C.S.E., read a very 

 valuable paper giving the measurements of the 

 Tasmanian Aboriginal crania contained in the 

 Tasmanian Museum. At the last meeting of 

 the session Mr. L. Rodway gave a paper 

 on the "Tasmanian Fungi," and a new 

 "Trithuria." Mr. W. F. Petterd one on 

 " Some Recently New and Rare Minerals 

 Discovered in Tasmania." A paper by the same 

 author and Mr. W. H. Twelvetrees on "The 

 Occurrence of Spherulitic Felsite on the West 

 Coast " was read, as also one by Mr. A. Mault, 

 engineering inspector to the Board of Health, on 



