for the year 1885. xvii 



friends have seen their way to come in and form sections of 

 the Royal Society, I cannot help thinking it would have 

 been advantageous to all parties. They would have imparted 

 life and vigour, while we lent dignity and prestige, and 

 secured a more permanent record and wider circulation for 

 their investigations. However, it has been decided other- 

 wise, and we ought to rejoice at the numerous manifestations 

 of scientific activity, even though they do not take place 

 under the immediate control of the Royal Society. Our 

 library continues to grow by constant accessions, and our 

 Transactions are eagerly sought for by similar institutions in 

 other lands, who send us their publications in return. The 

 question of increased accommodation is at present in the 

 hands of a committee of the Council, and should they report 

 favourably it is gratifying to know that land on which to 

 build, and funds to meet the expenditure, will nc j be lacking. 



A number of interesting and valuable paper have been 

 read during the year. Of the questions discussed, that of a 

 glacial period in Australia is perhaps the most interesting. 

 The discussion was opened early last year by an exhaustive 

 paper by Mr. Griffiths, who maintained that the beds of 

 boulders found in many parts of our colony, notably on our 

 goldfields, cannot be accounted for by the comparatively 

 feeble action of streams with restricted watersheds, but need 

 a more potent agency, that of ice, to fully explain them. 

 The explorations of Dr. Von Lindenfeld, at Mount Kosciusko, 

 appear to have led to the identification of the well-known 

 glacial phenomenon of rocks planed clown to smooth and 

 flowing outlines. More recently Mr. Stirling, who has done 

 so much to elucidate the flora and meteorology of the 

 Australian Alps, has submitted specimens of supposed 

 glaciation from the neighbourhood of Omeo. With regard 

 to these specimens there has been some difference of opinion ; 

 but even those who question the evidences admit the reason- 

 ableness of the theory. 



Of the sections — the formation of which the laws of the 

 Society provide for — Section A is the only one in esse, the 



