638 



The following memorial was at length forwarded by His 

 Excellency : — 



"To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty. 

 "May it pleaso Your Majesty. 



"We the undersigned, acting on behalf of and at the 

 request of the Council and members of the Adelaide Philo- 

 sophical Society, as expressed by a resolution passed at a 

 meeting of the Society on the 4th day of May, 1880, humbly 

 lay before you our prayer, that Your Majesty will be graciously 

 pleased to become the Patron of the Society under the title 

 of 'The Royal Society of South Australia.' 



"The Adelaide Philosophical Society was founded in 

 1853, for the diffusion and advancement of the Arts and 

 Sciences, by the meeting together of the members, for the 

 reading and discussion of papers connected with the above 

 subjects and by other approved means; and was, in 1863,(2) 

 incorporated with the South Australian Institute, under the 

 provisions of the South Australian Institute Act of that 

 year,<3) which retained to such incorporated Societies their 

 individuality and full independence of action. 



"The Society has done much in the past to keep 

 alive in a struggling and young community the im- 

 portance of scientific research. The rapid extension of 

 agriculture in districts which were until recently occupied 

 only for pastoral purposes, the successful journeys of many 

 exploring parties, the consequent advance of pastoral settle- 

 ment in the interior and in the Northern Territory, the devel- 

 opment of the country by railways and telegraphs, and con- 

 sequent prosperity of the colony, have given increased 

 opportunities and leisure for the collection of facts in the 

 natural history of the Province, which has hitherto been a 

 field almost unexplored by the scientific observer. The Society 

 has, therefore, established correspondents throughout the 

 Province, and the value of the results thus obtained and for- 

 warded to the leading scientific societies of the world will 

 be seen by an inspection of the two volumes of the New Series 

 of the Society's Transactions, copies of which are forwarded 

 for Your Majesty's information. The Old Series of Trans- 

 actions, published only for distribution amongst the members, 

 is now out of print. 



"The Society, numbering at present about 110 members, 

 meets monthly, and its income this year will exceed £200l. 



(2) The year of incorporation was 1859. 



(3) Tlie Institute Act was passed in 1856, the Amending Act 

 the same year. 



