ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 



By A. Leibius, Ph. d., m.a., f.c.s., 

 Senr. Assayer to the Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint. 



[Delivered to the Royal Society of N.S.W., May 6, 1891.'] 



At the last anniversary meeting of this Society you did me the 

 honour of electing me your President for the Society's year 1890-91. 

 To day it becomes my duty, according to old custom, to address 

 you in the first place on matters more immediately connected 

 with the affairs of our Society and its doings during the past year, 

 after which I propose to bring under your notice, in a condensed 

 form, some matters in applied science, which have special reference 

 to our Colony. In attempting this I must crave your indulgence, 

 feeling as I do my inability to treat the subject in hand in that 

 complete manner which I myself would like. 



This is our Seventieth Anniversary Meeting, counting from the 

 inauguration of the Philosophical Society of Australasia in 1821, 

 from which this Society sprung. The first general meeting under 

 our present name of the Royal Society of N.S.W. was held on 

 the 9th of July 1867, when that great man, whose memory will 

 never be forgotten, the late Rev. W. B. Clarke gave his inaugural 

 address under the presidency of the then Governor Sir John Young. 



It is a matter of congratulation that to-day we occupy as the 

 senior scientific Society of Australasia, a position which may 

 fairly be called satisfactory, and which justifies the hope that it 

 will go on increasing, not only in the number of its members but 

 also in the number of valuable papers brought, forward at our 

 monthly meetings. 



Financial position. -t-¥roni the statement of our Honorary 

 Treasurer, submitted to you this evening, you will perceive that 

 our total income for the past financial year was .£1,265 lis. 7d., 

 being an increase of £45 on the receipts of the previous twelve 



A— May 6, 1891. 



