AUGUST, 1900. 



The monthly meeting of the Eoyal So- 

 ciety was held at the Museum on Monday 

 August 13, His Excellency the Adminis- 

 trator, Sir John Dodds, C.J., presiding. 



Before the proceedings commenced 

 Mr. T. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S., speak- 

 ing as a vice-president, said that, 

 on a former occasion, the society 

 had congratulated His Honor, Sir 

 John Dodds, on the distinctions con- 

 ferred upon him in recognition of high 

 services rendered in the course of a long 

 public career. Any honourable distinc- 

 tion of this kind reflected credit not only 

 on the recipient, but also on the country 

 to which he belonged, and the institu- 

 tions in whose welfare he had personally 

 interested himself. On behalf of the 

 Fellows of the Eoyal Society, of which 

 His Honor would now become President, 

 he desired to tender their hearty con- 

 gratulations on the rank and position he 

 was again about to assume as Adminis- 

 trator of the colony. (Hearty applause.) 



Sir John Dodds, in reply, said:— Mr. 

 Stephens, Ladies and Gentlemen,-?! am 

 taken completely by surprise. I cltd not 

 know that I was to receive, nor did I ex- 

 pect, this further mark of your kindness. 

 It adds to the many obligations under 

 which my fellow-colonists have placed 

 me, and I thank you very sincerely for 

 the generous approval that you have 

 given to the more than kind words in 

 which Mr. Stephens has offered your con- 

 gratulations. In whatever office it has 

 pleased the people of Tasmania to place 

 me, -I have endeavoureu to discharge the 

 duties of that office to the best of my abi- 

 lity, and I most gratefully acknowledge 

 and appreciate the encouragement and as- 

 sistance that I have invariably received 

 from the people amongst whom I have 

 lived the greater part of my hie. (Warm 

 applause.) 



Apologies were received from the senior 

 vice-president, S'r James Agnew, 

 K.C.M.G., and Mr. A. G. Webster, re- 

 gretting that, owing to ill-health, they 

 were unable to attend. 



NEW MEMBERS. 



The following gentlemen were elected 

 members of the society : — ^Rev. W. R. 

 Cunningham, Messrs. Thos. Bennison, 

 Wm. Burn, C. B. Target, C.E., of 

 Hobart, and Mr. W. J. Norton Smith, of 

 Burnie. 



PAPERS. 



MAGNETIC S^BVET OF TASMANIA. 



Professor E. G. Hogg, M.A., of the Tas- 

 manian TJniTersity, read a paper, which 



was illustrated by some specially-prepared 

 lantern slides, entitled "The Proposed 

 Magnetic Survey of Tasmania." 



The writer said the discovery of 

 the approximate position of the 

 Southern Magnetic Pole by Sir James 

 Ross, in 1840, was largely instru- 

 mental in causing Hobart to be se- 

 lected by the Royal Society of London 

 as the station of observation of the 

 scientific expedition sent out under its 

 auspices in the early forties, to investi- 

 gate magnetic phenomena in this part of 

 the Southern Hemisphere. Detailed 

 magnetic observations were carried out 

 in Hobart under the superintendence of 

 Lieutenant Kay, R.N.^ from 1842 to 

 1850. During this period both the mag- 

 netic dip and the horizontal intensity 

 passed through minimum values, though 

 not in the same year, while the mag- 

 netic declination was found to be 

 steadily increasing at the rate of about 

 l|min. per annum. Dr. Neumayer, 

 who had been investigating magnetic 

 phenomena for some years in Victoria, 

 and had carried out a magnetic survey 

 of that country, visited Hobart in 1863. 

 He found the magnetic declination of 

 Hobart to be lOdeg. 25min. 9sec. E., a 

 value not far removed from that calcu- 

 lated from Kay's observations on the 

 rate of variation. The next determina- 

 tion of the declination was made by His 

 Excellency Sir J. H. Lefroy, in 1881. 

 He found it to be 8deg. 49min. E., or, 

 rather more than 2deg. in defect of the 

 value computed from Kay and Neu- 

 mayer's observations. The explanation 

 of this difference is probably to be found 

 in the fact that, shortly after Neu- 

 mayer^s determination of the declina- 

 tion, it attained its maximum easterly 

 value, and has since that time been 

 slowly moving towards the west. 

 Since 1881 no further observa- 

 tions on the magnetic elements 

 of Hobart appear to be available, and 

 some considerable uncertainty exists as 

 to their value at Hobart, and their an- 

 nual rate of change. Absolute magne- 

 tic observations have been carried on 

 without intermission in Victoria since 

 1858. During each of the past two 

 years the New Zealand Government has 

 voted the sum of £500 for the purposes 

 of the magnetic survey of that colony. 



