Royal Society of Canada. 327 



ties. But it had at last presented itself under happier con- 

 ditions which gave fair hopes of success. It was fitting that 

 the representative of a Sovereign, whose rule had been so 

 favorable to culture and research in the United Kingdom, 

 would show himself the patron of letters and science in the 

 new world. The time, moreover, was auspicious. Political 

 consolidation had been drawing nearer to each other the 

 once scattered and isolated scientific workers of the North 

 American provinces. Such a society would be to them a 

 bond of union and sympathy, and by the interchange of 

 ideas would supply a needed stimulus to men of kindred 

 pursuits. It would, by the publication of its Transactions, 

 be of incalculable benefit to Canadian naturalists, hitherto 

 so largely dependent on foreign aid for placing the results 

 of their labors, in a worthy form, before the world. As a 

 centre of literary and scientific effort, it would, without 

 interfering with the claims of older local societies, be of 

 very real help to them. Comparing Canada with other 

 countries, the President thought it was rather matter for 

 surprise that so many persons amongst us had won distinc- 

 tion in the paths of research and of letters than that there 

 were not more. Finally he spoke of the great responsibi- 

 lity of the members, and he hoped that by earnest and 

 united effort they would prove themselves deserving of the 

 name to which they aspired. The Vice-President set forth 

 in French, with his customary grace] of style, the intellect- 

 ual progress that Canada had already achieved, dwelling 

 especially on its literary, as Dr. Dawson had dwelt on its 

 scientific aspects. He trusted that the Eoyal Society would 

 prove a common meeting ground not only for scientific and 

 literary workers, but also for the culture of the two great 

 races whoso lot was cast together in this broad Dominion. 



The Society then separated into sections. Fifty-six 

 papers, embracing nearly all the departments of research, 

 were either read or presented at the first meeting, and of 

 these thirty-three were published in the Transactions, Ee- 



