xii President's Address 



face is no longer seen, the familiar voice no longer heard from 

 the presidential chair. While yet in the full vigour of his 

 strength and usefulness, he has chosen to withdraw from the 

 position of greatest prominence, and to serve the Society 

 in a sphere similar to that occupied by Nestor amongst the 

 Grecian leaders before Troy. Long may he continue to aid 

 by his wise counsel and effective support the future Presi- 

 dents of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



It was with some trepidation that I understood that there 

 was a probability of my being proposed as a candidate for 

 the vacant office. To give satisfaction in a position long 

 occupied by such a veteran in science as our late President 

 must assuredly be by no means easy, while any shortcoming 

 cannot fail to provoke unpleasant comparisons. But while 

 the words nolo episcopari well expressed my private senti- 

 ments, I felt that I should be acting an unworthy part were 

 I to decline the combined honour and responsibility my 

 brother scientists were anxious to confer upon me. Thus, 

 though strongly of opinion that it would have been better 

 had the choice fallen upon some older and more experienced 

 member, I accepted the office, and crave your kindly 

 indulgence for my inaugural address. 



And now, and appropriately, at a meeting at which many 

 visitors or non-members are present, let us inquire, What is 

 a Royal Society, and what are its objects ? The Royal 

 Society, it may be replied, is that great and honoured 

 association of learned men which had its origin, under 

 kingly patronage, in London more than two centuries ago, 

 and which from that day to the present has interested itself 

 in all branches of science, and has included in its member- 

 ship the most illustrious names the world has known. It 

 assisted in publishing Newton's Principia ; it aided Bradley 

 in his great discoveries of aberration and nutation ; it 

 introduced the Gregorian Calendar ; it encouraged Harvey in 

 his discovery of the circulation of the blood ; to it Dollond 

 and Ramsden, Davy and Cavendish, Faraday, Herschel, and 

 a host of other scientific worthies are indebted in a thousand 



