20 President's Address 



upon as holding imprisoned within it, and bearing to us, 

 hydrogen from the stars." Speaking of the amount of 

 gas given up by this meteoric iron being three times 

 the amount found in iron of telluric origin, he further 

 says, " The inference is that this meteorite has been 

 extruded from a dense atmosphere of hydrogen gas, for 

 which we must look beyond the light cometary matter 

 floating about within the limits of the solar system." 



A few years ago results of this kind would have been 

 deemed almost beyond the hopes of even the most sanguine 

 philosophers. Dr. Graham presents to us in a tangible form 

 the hydrogen brought from remote regions of space to which 

 possibly our most powerful telescopes have yet failed to 

 reach. He demonstrates that it must have come from a 

 dense atmosphere of the gas found ; and, what is of still 

 higher interest, his experiments conduce towards the view, 

 that the so-called chemical elements of our world are so 

 framed as to adapt them to uses throughout the entire 

 scheme of nature. 



In conclusion, I will for a moment return to the affairs of 

 the Society. There seems to be every prospect of steady 

 progress. I am rejoiced to see the members earnestly 

 following up the objects for which this institution was 

 intended. Our efforts, whether they have for their 

 aim the investigation of the laws of nature, the 

 development of our natural resources, or the alleviation of 

 the sufferings of our fellow-creatures, although, perhaps, 

 crowned with only partial success, have each the effect of 

 promoting our advancement as a people, and of raising the 

 estimate of the intellectual status of this colony in the minds 

 of the intelligent in other parts of the world. In these 

 days no apology for scientific experiment is required, 

 for although the primary object of science is the dis- 

 cover}^ of truth, it is now universally admitted that the 



