PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 19 



the rising generation must necessarily be done in the State 

 Schools, and the scientific training of craftsmen in the State 

 Technical Colleges. Thus it seems to me that while the 

 Commonwealth takes the kudos, the States will have to do 

 most of the work, and to pay the piper for some time at 

 least. I note that the Ministers of Agriculture of the 

 several States have been included as ex-offlcio members of 

 the Preliminary Advisory Council, and if this will obviate 

 any friction that may threaten to occur, the scheme should 

 succeed. But this State at the present time is not doing 

 its utmost to assist research as I shall show later on in the 

 case of Mr. H. G. Smith, and I have my doubts about the 

 sincerity of any sudden conversion. However, the post- 

 bellum conditions may alter matters, and I sincerely trust 

 it will. Although the State laboratories exist for conduct- 

 ing routine work, a certain amount of research work has 

 been done in the past, indeed it is difficult to prevent 

 scientific men from investigating. Among the list of sub- 

 jects proposed by the committee as being pressing, two are 

 being attacked by the States. Mr. Froggatt is engaged 

 upon the sheep fly-pest, and the eradication of the prickly 

 pear is being dealt with under the aegis of the Queensland 

 Government. 



Research Fellowships of the Linnean Society. 

 While the whole scheme of the proposed Institute emanates 

 scientific research, it is strange that the Linnean Society 

 of New South Wales was neither represented on the Com- 

 mittee nor is represented on the Preliminary Advisory 

 Council. Thanks to the far-sightedness of the late Sir 

 William Macleay, the Linnean Society occupies the unique 

 position of having under its control five University gradu- 

 ates who are wholly occupied in scientific research. No 

 other institution in Australia or even in the Southern 

 Hemisphere has the same potentiality for conducting 



