12 president's address. 



bungle and Nandewar Mountains. Dr. Petrie, another Fellow, 

 is doing good work in determining the toxic and other substances 

 of interest produced by Australian plants. Mr. Halligan has 

 been instructed by the Government to make a hydrographic 

 survey of the whole of our coast. Mr. Maiden, besides being 

 the Watchdog of the Domain and the Botanic Gardens, is 

 bringing out a richly illustrated " Forest Flora of New South 

 Wales," with a full account of the economy of each tree. The 

 Forestry Commission availed itself largely of Mr. Turner's know- 

 ledge of the local distribution of our trees. I may recall to you 

 the very extensive and careful work done by Messrs. Baker and 

 Smith on the essential oils of the Eucalypts and other Australian 

 plants, work which paves the way to an extensive trade with 

 Europe and America. Every year is showing with startling 

 emphasis the need of the exact diagnosis, and of knowledge of 

 the life-histories, of insects, mostly injurious but some useful. 

 We have an active band of workers on insects in the Society, 

 and an immense amount of information is being accumulated. 

 I may mention the names of Messrs. Masters, Meyrick, Sloane, 

 Blackburn, Lea, Froggatt, Turner, Carter and Tillyard. Two 

 illustrated books on Australian Entomology have been published 

 during the year, by Messrs. Froggatt and Rainbow, and another, 

 by Messrs. Waterhouse and Lyell, on the Butterflies, is in course of 

 preparation. Mr. Stead is working under the Fisheries Board. 

 Mr. Hedley has published an account of the Ship-worms, Teredo, 

 and his extensive researches on the Mollusca in general are sure to 

 possess practical utility. Lastty, we will cite two recondite 

 investigations, those of our Macleay Bacteriologist, Dr. Greig- 

 Smith, on the opsonisation of bacteria; and those of Dr. Chapman, 

 in conjunction with Professor Welsh, on the true nature of preci- 

 pitin reactions, and their application to Forensic Medicine, in 

 the identification of blood-stains in suspected criminal cases, the 

 recognition of human or other animal remains, and the detection 

 of substitutions and adulterations in food, as well as, in certain 

 cases, in ordinary clinical diagnosis. This partial enumeration 

 shows that the work of our members has a many-sided and far- 

 reaching bearing on the practical concerns of life. 



