QUEENSLAND 
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
The abo7e society held its monthly meeting, 
in the Municipal Council Chambers, on the 
evening of Monday, the 25th of April last. 
Therewas a large attendance of members, and 
C. Coxen, Esq., vice-president of the 
society, occupied the chair. Chief Justice 
Cockle, president of the society, arrived after a 
portion of the business had been attended to. 
The minutes of the previous meeting was read 
by Rev. J. Bliss, secretary, and confirmed. 
Two new members, Messrs. J. M’Connell and 
Boyce, were introduced ; and Mr. R. Austin 
was ballotted for as a member, and unani- 
mously elected. The secretary handed a copy 
of the amended rules to all the members 
present. A vote of thanks wa3 passed to the 
Entomological Society, of Sydney, for a copy 
of their transactions. The secretary asked in- 
structions relative to the correspondence he had 
been requested to open with certain societies. 
It was thought upon the whole most 
desirable that the request should be 
made to certain long established societies, 
for copies of their printed transac- 
tions, without offering copies of the papers 
read before this society in return. Mr. Boyce 
volunteered to open a correspondence with 
some of his friends in Bombay connected with 
the Bombay Literary Society, a branch of the 
Royal Asiatic Society, with the special view of 
obtaining information regarding the cultivation 
of sugar and cotton. Mr. LeG-ould’s motion 
regarding the press lapsed, owing to that gen- 
tleman not making his appearance till near the 
close of the meeting. The business of the 
meeting being disposed of, the Chairman called 
on Mr. Boyce to read the following paper 
ON COBAL ISLANDS. 
The subject I have chosen for my initiatory 
contribution to the society of which I have now 
the honour of being a member is the formation 
of coral islands. Without any pretension of 
treating the subject scientifically, I shall prin- 
cipally confine myself to personal observations. 
During my servitude in India I was attached to 
the surveying ship Benares, commanded by 
Captain Moresby, of the Indian navy, an officer 
to whom the world is greatly indebted for his 
surveys of the Red Sea, and also of the coral 
islands running parallel with the western coast 
of Hindostan, known as the Laccadive and 
Maidive Islands, and extending to the Chagos 
Archipelago. This talented officer, since dead, 
was a brother to Admiral Fairfax Moresby, of 
the Royal Navy, in which service the gallant 
admiral distinguished himself a3 an accom- 
plished surveyor. 
Before proceeding further I would remark 
upon the amount of admiration which is appa- 
rently bestowed upon works of art. How much 
is thought of those useless piles of stone, 
the Pyramids of Egypt! what praise is la- 
vished on the architectural beauty of some 
buildings and the magnificence of others ! 
what admiration on the engineering 
skill and ingenuity displayed in our 
modern bridges and railway works j but all 
these sink into insignificance when brought 
into comparison with the magnificent and stu- 
pendous works which have been for ages past, 
and are likely as long as the world lasts, to be 
carried on by those diminutive creatures, known 
as zoophytes. Through the agency of these 
