and of the co-operation of many minds. So it has been truly remarked 

 that the telescope and the microscope did not flash their wonders upon 

 a startled world, but crept into being with steps so slow, that the 

 impression is too faint to trace the history of their birth. So again, the 

 improvements in the steam engine were so gradual that, in the memory 

 of men still alive, a Court of Law pronounced a solemn judgment that 

 even "Watt had contributed nothing essential towards them. So once 

 more, the compass cannot point to the period when it first offered its 

 inestimable services to the seaman. These are but well known examples 

 of a great law of nature. The growth of scientific discoveries is ever 

 slow ; nor does it, like the Prophet's gourd, spring into full fruit in a 

 sinoie nio-ht. "The sfreat discoveries of science leave behind them no 

 boundary line of demarcation from those which have preceded ; but, 

 like the full day succeeding the dawn of the sun, follow that which fully 

 foretold their approach." 



I will now pass on to the lectures printed among the Transactions. The 

 first is the brilliant essay on the " Nature of Art," by Mr. Fitzgerald, 

 to whom we all listened with so much pleasure. The profound questions 

 dealt with in the lectures of Mr. Justice Richmond on " Man's Place in 

 Creation," and on " The Modern Aspect of Natural Theology," are treated 

 in a lucid and attractive style, that cannot fail to secure many readers 

 who are generally repelled by subjects of this nature. In the lecture of 

 our indefatigable associate, Mr. Travers, "On the Changes effected in the 

 Natural Features of a new country by the introduction of Civilized Races," 

 we recognize a strong desire to render practical aid in the work of coloni- 

 zation, by directing attention to the remarkable potency of small causes 

 ever recurring in their effect on the natural economy of these islands. The 

 lecture by Mr. Felix Wakefield " On certain Modern Projects of Inter- 

 Communication, and their relation to New Zealand," was very oj)portune, 

 for in the interval between its delivery and its publication, the Colonial 

 Government has brought into operation the postal service via San 

 Francisco, which he foreshadowed. Mr. Crawford's lecture " On the 

 Geology of the Province of "Wellington," has an immediate local interest; 

 and it is satisfactory that so practised an observer speaks rather hope- 

 fully of the prospect of the discovery of gold fields in this part of the 

 colony. The fom^ lectures on " Mining in New Zealand," by Dr. Hector, 

 furnish, in a condensed form, very suggestive and encouraging informa- 

 tion respecting our mining industries. By a comparison of the mineral 

 bearing regions of Australia with those of New Zealand, our able and 

 learned Director places before us in a striking manner the wide extent 



