633 



The fact was, there was no period in the history of the 

 institution when it had money to burn. The Act was per- 

 missive, and when the loudly-voiced demands of the subscribers 

 and country institutes had been met, there were no funds left 

 in which the Society might participate. 



Nevertheless, the Society continued to do good work; 

 many of its papers were of high quality, and it continued 

 to interest itself in economic matters of public utility. 



In 1862 it attempted to establish an Acclimatization 

 Society. For this purpose it appointed a Committee to carry 

 out this object. Much information was collected and an 

 important paper was prepared and read by Mr. G. W. Francis, 

 an enthusiastic advocate of the movement. This paper was 

 published by the Society, and duly circulated, but did not 

 create sufficient public interest to warrant further steps in 

 regard to the matter. About a year later, however, such a 

 body was duly founded in Adelaide, the success on this occa- 

 sion being undoubtedly due to the earlier efforts of the 

 Philosophical Society. 



Another matter which claimed its serious attention in 

 1866 was that of the city drainage, a subject of great import- 

 ance to Adelaide from the standpoint of the health and com- 

 fort of its citizens. A series of resolutions were formulated 

 and embodied in a memorial to the City Council, with the 

 result that a Bill was introduced into the Legislature to 

 enable the Corporation to initiate a modem system of sani- 

 tation. 



In the same year, the question of railway gauge exercised 

 the minds of its members and formed the subject of much 

 interesting discussion. Tlie result of this was the adoption of 

 several resolutions, one of which was: ''That the saving in 

 the construction of a 3 ft. 6 in. line over that of a 5 ft, 3 in., 

 calculated for a similar amount of traffic, would be by no 

 means proportionate to the difference of width of gauge, and 

 that our branch lines should be constructed as lightly and 

 as cheaply as possible with a 5 ft. 3 in. gauge and worked 

 with horse-power, until the amount of traffic renders the use 

 of a light locomotive at low speed more economical." 



Towards the close of 1870, there had been held nearly 

 170 meetings at which upwards of 200 papers had been read. 

 Many of these dealt with geographical exploration and 

 branches of applied science relating to horticulture, metal- 

 lurgy, and meteorology; others were important contributions 

 to the geology and natural history of the Province. 



John Howard Clark became Hon. Treasurer in 1863, a 

 position which was not without its penalties. In 1866, the 



T 



