) 
HISTORY OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. ua 
sonally, that, at the time when the Australian Society was 
projected (the 1850 Society.—J.H.M.) there was such a 
difference between the gallant Admiral and the former 
Secretary (Dr. H. Grattan Douglass, J.H.M.), as to prevent 
cordial working on behalf of that Society.” | 
How long this ‘Scientific Club”’ or 1821 Society precisely 
lasted (i.e., when was the date of its last meeting, or the 
date of its formal disbandment if any) I cannot say; probably 
not beyond the year 1822, but being a private organization 
it may have gone on longer. Like Mr. Clarke I have made 
careful search for information, and I only hope that the 
Macquarie papers, or the vast masses of contemporary or 
almost contemporary papers which have been recently 
acquired by the Mitchell Library, will throw light on the 
subject as they become indexed and annotated. We only 
know as much of its proceedings as we do, because Barron 
Field published its papers; perhaps others exist which 
were not published. 
The following extract from the inaugural address of the 
late Mr. H. C. Russell at the Australasian Association for 
the Advancement of Science (1888), refer to the 1821 
Society:—"‘At the very time that Sir David Brewster was 
using his pen and his influence to stir up the scientific men 
of Hngland to greater effort in the cause of science, and to 
the formation of the British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, the British Government were sending to 
Sydney one of the most energetic scientific men that ever 
sat foot upon Australian soil, (James Dunlop, the Astrono- 
mer), with a view of keeping alive the dying embers of the 
first attempt to plant science in this part of the world. 
And I think it most fitting that, at this first meeting of the 
Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 
we should remember that first effort to promote science in 
a country so remote from the home of science. It is diffi- 
