for the year 1861. xxxiii 



country in triangles, of which they form the points ; it may 

 be well for me to mention that I have recently received a 

 report, which the Government of the United States has most 

 kindly had drawn up at the instance of the British Government, 

 *n which it is stated that the rectangular system has been in 

 operation there ever since the commencement of the present 

 century, with satisfaction to all concerned, and that it is 

 considered both cheaper and better than the trigonometrical 



Looking upon its retention, therefore, in Victoria as certain 

 I trust that the erection of the new Observatory, for the 

 reception of the improved instruments which Mr. Ellery is 

 procuring, will not be unnecessarily delayed ; for even if the 

 whole amount requisite for its completion cannot well be 

 spared at once, enough might be granted to enable a com- 

 mencement to be made. 



I am fully aware that a time of financial pressure like the 

 present is unfavourable to the extention of scientific enter- 

 prize, and that even existing scientific institutions not only 

 cannot hope to escape their share of the general economy, 

 but must be prepared, as having no special representatives 

 to protect their interest, to bear the brunt in such reductions 

 as are made. 



So far, however, as the influence of the Royal Society of 

 Victoria extends, it must ever be our duty to exercise it on 

 behalf of the not less real, because less apparent, wants of 

 true science in this community, and to lift up our voices, 

 when once we feel convinced of the occurrence of such 

 wants, in favour of a due provision for them by the state. 



Our testimony in such matters ought assuredly to be 

 treated with respect. We have no selfish ends to gain ; we 

 are actuated by no sordid motives. We love knowledge for 

 her own sake, it is true, but we prize her far more highly for 

 the blessings she is capable of bestowing on our fellow 

 creatures, and if we advocate the devotion of a portion of the 



c 



