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THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 123 
Jap LeeLee ERUT Sea Toc Than Oh aR aaa Fear 
ing. and Mounting ” is included in the work, and should prove 
useful to students. The text is popularly written and free 
from severe technical details. 
AvsrraLian Musrum.—The contract for the extension of this 
Institution having been signed, building operations are now in 
active progress. The addition will contain two large galleries, 
additional offices, and an up-to-date lecture hall. The work i 8 
to be completed within a year. 
Linn#an Socrery.—The Annual Meeting of this Society was 
held on Wednesday, March 25th, when Mr. A. H. S. Iueas, 
M.A., B.Sc., was again elected to fill the presidential chair. In 
his annual address the learned President dealt with many sub- 
jects more or less familiar to the public. In respect ° of 
“ Relations of Science and Government,” Mr. Lucas said that 
the Government in its workings should ever have in mind the 
importance of the conditions imposed on its people, by their 
environment and being. ‘lo master Nature they must under- 
stand Nature. Man by his interference had upset the 
equilibrium among existing organisms, and incidentally by dis- 
turbing the balance of Nature he had introduced -foes into his 
own household, and among the organisms which he had taken 
under his protection. Having advanced so far into the province 
of Nature, to hold his own and to advance further, he must learn 
well the character of the country and the resources and dis- 
position of the opposing forces. This knowledge he could only 
obtain from the workers in science. The public had to’ pay for 
the mistakes of the Government, and the experts spoke on be- 
half of the public. It was the science of the expert which 
stayed the plague and checked diphtheria, and it alone could 
reduce the scourge of typhoid and those other curses of 
civilisation. It was only science that could teach men how to 
deal with droughts, profitably cultivate lands, improve stock, 
and best draw on the other supplies of Nature. 
Paytinc vor Ienorance.—In the course of his presidential 
address Mr. Lucas said:—‘ It was probable there was no 
ignorance for which man did not pay. Australians had to pay 
for the ignorance of one of the legislatures of the propagating 
powers of the rabbit, and the Victorian farmers were paying 
for the ignorance which allowed the introduction of the fox, 
and in a few years the farmers of New South Wales and South 
Australia would be similarly affected. How light-hearted] y the 
sparrow was admitted to the rights of Australian citizenship, 
and how much money was needed for the eradication of 
Bathurst burr, prickly pear, sweet briar,- codlin moth, waxy 
scale, and other pests to the producer. Fortunately those 
costly lessons had not been lost to the legislatures, and a watch 
was being kept against them. To avoid such penalties in the 
