for the year 1881. xvii 



have attracted public attention, and the Government has 

 promised to introduce an Adulteration Act. Mr. Adams and 

 Mr. Mansfield, in the metallurgical laboratory, have been 

 engaged in working out processes for the more complete 

 extraction of gold and other products of our mines. 



The curator of the Botanical Gardens continues to com- 

 bine with the ornamentation and tasteful disposal of the 

 gounds under his charge scientific arrangement in a manner 

 which, without in any way detracting from their beauty or 

 picturesque harmony, adds considerably to the pleasure and 

 information which can be obtained there. The classified 

 groups, which have formed part of the general scheme of 

 planting, have been largely increased, and now contain over 

 500 genera and nearly 2000 species. A very important im- 

 provement in the labelling of these groups is apparent. 

 Each specimen has a label, on which is set forth the botanical 

 and vernacular name, the natural order, the country to 

 which the plant is indigenous, and the name of the botanist 

 who first described it. Near the Victoria Regia house a 

 a group of plants of known medicinal value has been com- 

 menced, among which can now be seen specimens of most of 

 the better-known medicinal plants ; this will no doubt soon 

 become of very great interest and value to medical students. 

 If this course of making landscape gardening and pleasure- 

 ground ornamentation go hand in hand with botanical group- 

 ing and classification continues to be carried out, our gardens 

 will soon become an important and pleasant means of educa- 

 ting the people in a very useful branch, of knowledge. 



I stated just now I would refer again to the subject of 

 Australian meteorology, and a few words on this subject 

 may perhaps be of interest to some of our members. The 

 meteorologists of Europe and America, during the last few 

 years, by systematic co-operation, and aided by the tele- 

 graph, have greatly increased our knowledge of meteorology, 

 and it has been advanced from its former unsatisfactory 

 position almost to the condition of a science. I say almost, 



