for the year 1881. xxv 



to waste a second thought upon. This specification was 

 made the theme of a paper, the question fully discussed, 

 and a resolution carried laying bare the facts. Now, this 

 was a social science question clearly within the province of 

 the Society, and one which it would have been almost cul- 

 pable to have passed unnoticed. It is a matter for con- 

 gratulation, therefore, that our members spoke plainly 

 and clearly on the subject. Our Society was constituted 

 on a wide basis, suited to the work before it in a new and 

 rapidly growing community, and it is very desirable we 

 should keep in view the functions it is obligatory upon 

 the Society to fulfil. They extend beyond the records of 

 the results of research and the discussion of abstract points 

 of science, and its chief social function is to endeavour to 

 protect the community from the effects of ignorance of 

 natural laws, false science, and untruth, in whatsoever shape 

 it may come, either as a levy upon its health, its pocket, its 

 material progress or general well-being. 



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