Dec., 1913. The Queensland Natuealist. 
267 
TRANSACTIONS. 
HEREDITY. 
By. R. Hiilsen. 
Presidential Address, Read at the Annual Meeting 
OF T.iE Field Naturalists' Club of Queensland, 
Januapv 26th, 1913. 
When you did me the honour of electing me as your 
President, I accepted this, the highest position you are able 
to bestow on any of your members, on the distinct under- 
standing, that you were not to expect work from me such as 
has been done for you in the past by my predecessors. These 
have all been active scientists, and were able to give you 
out of their font of knowledge, the results of practical 
application of science. But as you know, I am not an opera- 
tive, but rather a speculative “ scientist," if the term may 
be applied to such as I am; still, the very fact that I am 
not an experimental scientist may enable me to bring some 
things nearer to some of those members of our club which 
are in the same position as T am. 
There are some matters which have been subject of 
speculation for many years, because their very nature 
precluded the application of microscope or test tube. The 
problem of life is the mystery which is responsible for more 
speculation — vain, — -and is likely to remain so for some time. 
The problem of Heredity is scarcely less mysterious, but as 
there are now at least some tangible facts, it may possibly 
be nearer solution than the first. 
Heredity became a great problem when the idea of 
fixed species broke down. It could be demonstrated com- 
paratively easily that species were not fixed, but in a constant 
state of mutation, that the individuals of each species differed 
among themselves, that the offspring of each parent while 
retaining the features of the species were not the same in 
every detail. But why were they different from the parents, 
why not quite alike, why under some conditions were they 
not more unlike ? Are any acquired characteristics passed 
on directly to the offspring, or is the differentiation of the 
species due to environment acting on and preserving chance 
alteration in the offspring, which are favourable to its sur- 
roundings ? All these are problems which are still agitating 
the minds of the foremost scientists of to day. But they all 
centre around the problem of Heredity, and will find their 
solution with the solving of it. 
