xlviii President's Address 



With the recognised position and established organization 

 which the Royal Society of Victoria now enjoys, it ought 

 not merely to be the medium of communication and inter- 

 change between this country and the scientific bodies of the 

 rest of the world, but to draw to itself and garner up every 

 species of local knowledge. No where can a stronger neces- 

 sity exist, an ampler scope be found, for such an institution. 

 The realms of science in Australia are as yet but imper- 

 fectly explored, and almost all we meet is strange, non- 

 descript, and worth observing. Of the origin and lan- 

 guages of its aboriginal races, how small the extent of our 

 information. Its fauna and its flora still remain for 

 publication. The habits of its animals require investigation ; 

 the habitats of its plants to be defined. We are ignorant of 

 the process by which its quartz- veins were impregnated with 

 gold, or its enormous nuggets moulded. We know less still 

 of its other metallic and mineral treasures. Nor do the 

 marvels of earth and -air alone invite our researches. The 

 recesses of the heavens above, are yet unprobed by human 

 vision ; the depths of the ocean beneath teem with fresh 

 masterpieces of Divine handiwork. 



