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ANNIVEESARY ADDRESS 



OF 



Mr. R. L. J. Ellery, F.R.A.S., Government Astronomer. 



[Delivered to the Members of the Royal Society, at the Annual 

 Conversazione, held on August 14, 1871.] 



Gentlemen of the Royal Society, 



This evening we meet to commemorate the sixteenth year 

 of existence of this Society, and, in accordance with time- 

 honoured custom, it devolves upon me, as your President, to 

 deliver an address to you on its past year's history and 

 progress. At our former annual gatherings it has been 

 usual also to review briefly the progress achieved by the 

 various public institutions devoted to science or art in the 

 colony, as well as to advert to a few of the more prominent 

 and interesting instances which mark the past year's 

 advance in knowledge, and I think we could not do better 

 than still to adhere to this custom. 



Our last anniversary meeting was held on the 8th July, 

 1870. Since that date twelve ordinary meetings have been 

 held, at which many valuable contributions to science and 

 art were read or laid before you, leading in several instances 

 to interesting and instructive discussions. 



At the July meeting, last year, Mr. Le Sueur read some 



notes on the Great Melbourne Telescope, which were for the 



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