xxviii President's Address for the year 1886. 



not yet been all destroyed to make way for the march of 

 modern improvement. 



A Philosophical Society has just come into existence under 

 favourable auspices. Whether it will succeed in throwing 

 any new light on the problems that have baffled the human 

 intellect since the days of the ancient Greeks, time alone can 

 tell. In any case, the mere existence of such a body is a 

 hopeful sign in a country where there are so many tempta- 

 tions to direct one's attention too exclusively to practical and 

 material considerations. 



It will thus be seen that there has been no abatement of 

 activity in scientific matters during the past year, and that 

 proposals have been made, and schemes brought under con- 

 sideration, which promise a wider scope and more advan- 

 tageous conditions for scientific work than have existed 

 heretofore. 



At the same time, when we consider the large and increasing 

 population of our colony, and especially of its metropolis, we 

 cannot fail to be struck with the comparatively small number 

 of real earnest workers in the various branches of science. 

 With our wealth, our educational advantages, our compara- 

 tively short hours of labour, we ought not to rest satisfied 

 with the present state of things. The bulk of the labour is 

 done after all b}^ a few, and these in many cases men past 

 the meridian of life. We look anxiously for the scientists of 

 the future, with youth, strength, and enthusiasm in the good 

 work, to appear on the stage, and lift at any rate a portion 

 of the load from the shoulders of those who for many years 

 have borne the heat and burden of the day. 



