32 



A. LIVERSIDGE. 





UUUIO KJ\. 



^""b 1 



IX & VKJ 









rr ^l c 



CIO 1U1 



1888. 



N.S.W. 



Vict. 



S.A. 



W.A. 



Q'land. 



N. Ter. 



Tas. 



N.Z. 



Sydney . . . 



550 



130 



59 



3 



46 



1 



18 



50 



1890. 



















Melbourne 



323 



580 



73 



2 



33 



# 



30 



37 



The members belonging to the various Colonies were as follows : 



Total 



857 



1080 



The number of members living in New Zealand is noteworthy 

 when we consider the small population and the great distance of 

 New Zealand, and the comparatively infrequent communication 

 that there is between it and Sydney as compared with that of the 

 other colonies. 



A feature in connection with the Melbourne meeting — the first 

 meeting at which it was possible — is that reports were received 

 at it from the Committees appointed at the first meeting, and 

 although only a few of the Committees reported, it is a source of 

 great satisfaction to find that the work is being taken up by them, 

 for after all the work done by the Committees should be the back- 

 bone of the Association, we cannot always hope to obtain good 

 papers from individual members, for they of course would usually 

 prefer and rightly so, to read them before special Societies, and 

 that too without having to wait until the annual meeting of the 

 Association comes round, hence we must look to the Committees 

 for the best work of the Association, as is the case with the British 

 Association. We must not, however, forget the fact that a vast 

 amount of good work is done which does not appear in print at 

 all, for we must not overlook the benefit which accrues from the 

 discussions and from the opportunity given to workers, ordinarily- 

 living at great distances apart, to meet and compare their views 

 by word of mouth, instead of by printed papers only. 



Some think that there is no longer any necessity for the British 

 Association but a glance at its annual volume of reports from Com- 

 mittees shows that this idea is quite erroneous. The meeting of 

 such Associations infuses much vitality and enthusiasm amongst 

 not only the working members, but induces others to try to do 

 something towards the Advancement of Science, even if only in the 

 way of providing entertainment to the members ; the peripatetic 

 nature of these meetings also affords facilities for seeing new 

 districts and objects of interest. 



* One each from Fiji and Canada. 



