xxii President's Address 



subject, and Lord Carnarvon has introduced a bill into the 

 British Parliament, which, I think, will be hailed by all 

 right thinking men as a just and righteous provision. The 

 provisions of the bill are categorically given in Nature, and 

 are as follow : — " 1. Experiments must be performed with a 

 view only to the advancement, by new discovery, of know- 

 ledge which will be useful for saving or prolonging human 

 life, or alleviating human suffering ; 2, In a registered place; 

 3, By a person holding a licence from one of -Her Majesty's 

 principal Secretaries of State ; 4, The animal must, during 

 the whole experiment, be under the complete influence of 

 some anaesthetic, not urari ; and 5, Must be killed before 

 it recovers from the influence of the anaesthetic ; 6, The 

 experiment shall not be performed for demonstrational pur- 

 poses ; 7, Nor for the purpose of attaining manual skill." 



In former addresses I have on several occasions alluded to 

 the subject of Meteorology somewhat at length, and have, I 

 trust, kept you au courant with the most important points 

 in connexion with the advancement of this- branch of 

 knowledge. To us in Australia the value of a better 

 knowledge of the laws that govern the weather can scarcely 

 be overrated, as our prosperity depends so largely on the 

 amount and period of rainfall. Not that it is possible, by 

 any amount of knowledge, to largely modify our climate ; 

 it may become, nevertheless, possible, by systematic investi- 

 gation, to foresee the approach of great disturbances of the 

 atmosphere, or even critical seasons^ and to be forewarned is 

 to be forearmed. I do not think we have data extended 

 over suflicient period or area in Australia to enable any one 

 to safely make any deductions yet. I believe, however, that 

 with the data we already possess, aided by a system of 

 observations over as much of the coast-line as possible, 

 combined with others at representative localities in the 

 interior, and especially in those parts under the influence of 



