xiv President's Address 



mentary teaching and much of the most attractive and 

 popular incentives to a little dive into the sciences, but these 

 societies should constitute themselves the arenas for practi- 

 cally applying this teaching to the genera] advance of science 

 in the community. 



As regards our public, scientific and technical institutions, 

 I am able to report satisfactory progress. The Government 

 botanist, our fellow-member, Baron von Mueller, has been 

 busily engaged in elucidating the botany of Australia and 

 adjacent regions, involving continuous and laborious work, 

 for the most part literary. His valuable work on the 

 eucalypts has advanced another stage, and 120 lithographic 

 illustrations have now been completed. A considerable 

 amount of further information and material from the interior 

 regions of Australia will, however, be required before this 

 great undertaking can be completed. The Baron is now 

 engaged on another extensive work, a complete list of the 

 " Vascular Plants of Australia," with literary, chronological, 

 and geographical annotations, which it is expected will be 

 completed by the end of the year. In this work there will 

 be enumerated about 8800 species, and it is intended to 

 devote a second volume to the " Evaseulares," containing 

 about 4000 species. The Fragmenta Phytogra/phice Aus- 

 tralia was brought to a close last year. Baron von Mueller's 

 work on Select Plants for Industrial Culture has been pub- 

 lished in German at Cassel, and I am informed arrangements 

 are completed foH|)ublishing it in French in Paris. 



Our museums are rapidly increasing, and yearly becoming 

 more select and valuable ; not only this, but for the last few 

 years they have contributed very largely to museums, collec- 

 tions, and exhibitions in other parts of the world, examples 

 and specimens of the natural productions of Australia. The 

 National Museum at the University continues an object of 

 great attraction. All the collections are in excellent preser- 

 vation, due largely to the freedom from dust enjoyed by the 

 site in which the building is situated. Specimens stuffed 

 over twenty years still appear fresh and in good preserva- 



