378 PROCEEDINGS. 
of his classical description of the whole Australian flora. It is, I feel, no 
small distinction to be associated in the eye of Australian scientific men 
with these two eminent recipients of the Clarke Medal. My own work 
has, I feel, been the much humbler one of continuing a tradition, which 
by the wisdom of the Government has made Kew as much an Imperial 
as a local institution. 
The services to which you allude have become so much a matter of 
routine that they scarcely seem to possess any exceptional merit. Their 
reward, if they deserve any, continually manifests itself in the kindness 
and sympathy which Kew never fails to receive at the hands of its 
Colonial correspondents. If anything is needed to lighten the continuous 
and perhaps sometimes onerous labours of the Kew staff, it is the feeling - 
that they are working not merely for a limited section of the home com- 
munity, but for the pleasure and gratification of intelligent persons in 
every part of the Empire. 
Kew has undoubtedly in the last half-century been successful in effect- 
ing much for the advancement of many material interests. Its highest 
work has, however, perhaps been accomplished in the encouragement and 
help which it has been able to afford to the cultivation of science in 
England beyond the seas. In Australia, with its splendid Universities, 
energetic scientific societies, and fine botanic gardens, it sees an offshoot 
of the best home intellectual life, which must always command its 
warmest sympathy. | 
T am, dear Sir, yours truly, 
W. T. THISELTON DYER, 
Director. 
W. H. Warren, Esq., Hon. Secretary, 
Royal Society of New South Wales. 
Mr. H. C. RUSSELL, B.A., C.M.G., F.R.S., then read his address. 
A vote of thanks was passed to the retiring President, and 
Prof. WARREN, Wh. Sc., M. Inst. C.E., was installed as President for 
the ensuing year. 
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 1892. 
Prof. WARREN, M. Inst. C.E., President, in the Chair. 
Twenty members and two visitors were present. 
The minutes of the preceding meeting were read and confirmed. 
The certificates of five new candidates were read for the third 
time, of eleven for the second time, and of two for the first time. 
