xliv President's Address 



Concerning the botanical department, under the direction 

 of our esteemed fellow-member, Dr. F. von Mueller, there is 

 also something to say. During the past year the seventh 

 volume of the Fragmenti Phytographice Austrolis has been 

 completed, and considerable" progress has been made with 

 the arrangement of material and elaboration of the notes for 

 the sixth volume of the Flora of Australia. This volume 

 will contain the rest of the MonochlannydicB, and a portion 

 of the Monocotyledonece. Dr. Mueller has placed before the 

 public, in the Technological Museum, a large number of 

 technological and medicinal articles derived from plants. 

 These are all beautifally arranged, and cannot fail to be of 

 the greatest value. It includes various kinds of timber 

 (indigenous and foreign), drugs, oils, fibres, dyes, tars, paper 

 materials, acids, &c. All these are named and labelled in a 

 way that conveys clear information as to the source from 

 whence the samples were obtained. 



I am happy to inform you that Dr. Mueller contemplates 

 issuing a work on such industrial cultures as can be pursued 

 in our climatic zone with advantage. For such a publication 

 the necessity has gradually arisen through the great increase of 

 agricultui'al settlement, and it appears that there is now 

 some hope that the necessary monetary help for such an 

 undertaking will be afforded. 



In an appendix to a report of the Acclimatisation Society 

 Dr. Mueller has already given a list of such indigenous and 

 foreign timber trees as seem particularly eligible for 

 industrial culture and for establishing new forests, or for 

 enriching those which exist. 



As regards the progress achieved in the arts and manufac- 

 tures in the colony during the past year, there are one or 

 two points worthy of special note. The preservation of meat 

 for exportation is especially becoming of great importance — 

 on the one hand to the Australian colonies, which are 



