ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 7 



things familiar, and this is no exception. The clumsy systems of 

 the Hebrew, Greek, or Roman, would have placed burdens upon 

 the computational necessities of the modern world, too heavy to 

 be borne. It is only when we are compelled to appreciate this 

 fact, that we can estimate the debt we owe to Hindustan, whence 

 was derived our ordinary system of notation. 



Civilisation may, from one point of .view, be regarded as 

 dependent upon our ability to levy tribute upon Nature, and to 

 so utilise her material and direct her great sources of power, that 

 they shall serve our purpose. In such issues Mind is regnant, 

 and of all her instruments none compare with mathematics, the 

 generality of whose function is unique. But whether this science 

 had its genesis in the practical needs of mankind, or was begotten 

 of speculative curiosity, would now be difficult to determine. The 

 legendary origin of geometry supports the former view, and it 

 must be admitted that the early Egyptian mind, where, according 

 to Aristotle, geometry had its birth, gave little evidence of interest 

 in purely theoretical results. The hieratic papyrus in the Rhind 

 Collection of the British Museum, deciphered in 1877 by Eisenlohr, 

 is perhaps the earliest mathematical document extant, taking us 

 back, as it does, to the Egyptian mathematician Ahmes, whose 

 "Directions for obtaining the Knowledge of all Dark Things" 

 was written before 1700 B.C. Ahmes' treatise was based upon 

 a still older work, to which the date 3400 B.C. has been assigned 

 by Birch. The early Egyptian geometry and algebra, very 

 elementary and not always accurate, was essentially practical in 

 character. Cultivated by their priesthood, it was their guide in 

 cadastral operations, and in constructing those great monuments 

 of early civilisation, which even to-day are impressive in their 

 grandeur. Herodotus tells us that Sesostris (Ramses II.) divided 

 Egypt into equal quadrangles, from which after allotment he 

 derived his revenues, by the imposition of a tax levied yearly. 

 Many of the areas being affected by the overflow of the Nile, 

 re-survey was involved for the purpose of adjusting the taxation, 

 and thus many problems in geometry arose for solution. An 



