INAUGURAL MEETING OF MEMBERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2600, 13 January 1904, Page 26

INAUGURAL MEETING OF MEMBERS.

THE VISITING DELEGATI^S WELCOMED BY THE GOVERNOR.

PROFESSOR DAVID'S PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. The inaugural meeting of the members of tho association took p'aee in the Garrison Hill on Wedn-esday ni^lit. and waa pie-oi'le-d over by his Exeellei.ey the Governor Tho groat interc-st attaching to the occasion naturally eni.urcd a larg-s atrend-ince of mc-mbers and their frienda, and tho belated annoimcsmenl that tho gidltry would be open to ;ho public at the cosr of a ilorin resulted in about 159 riOT-on--* availing them selves o£ tho prh ilrgo t ! iv& afToriWl of being present. Lord Tlanfurly, acciompanie-rl by Lord! Northland and Sir Jo-soph Waid, K.C.M.G., arrived a minute cr two before 8 o'clock, and wore rocfived by the chn.irm?p (Bishop Ivlciil!) and oth°r members of the local committee. After the usual exchange of cour-t^-sK-s. the pi-oc°cdmcrs at once commenced, oi. d. at the reou^st of lho tlia Governor took the rho'r IT is Excellc'ncy was "upporto-'l on the platform by Lord Xortb'ind (T.i<k-de-camp): Sir J. G Ward (!>linis | -or of "Riil'vavs), tho M.ivor of Dimrfiin (M" T. K.-ott). Bishop X^v^l (c-hairmans r.f tho Rrfiiifion f'omiiiittr j), T. W. E. Da-vif'. V,.\., F.R.S., F.G.S. (Rvdrev), Mr G. M Thomson. F.L.S.. FC S. (1 -j"i. =rc-retary for the DiiJicdm session), .r. S'nrla r Tl^om-on (lion, trrn =■■":"■:" for tho D"i!i"c 1 i - '> t -e-~-ion). Profi»s>or W. "B. Benkm, D.Sr.. and Dr J. "M Mason (Dnnaiirr.ont of Public Hcs'.th. Wellington). M- (i. "ST. Tbnmc.j; 1 , hon soerrtary. read tli" following tolrfjrn.ni fi'-m tho Ki^ht Hon. the "F'rotr'ipr to H-e p-Pi.iflo-.it: — -"I pordiallv t^'".dcL- vi^-tors to our oolonv a hearty wel(">Te. I fprl a o ci:rrxl t'lat tho rr-ult of thi I" i- oars of tlioso assembled will bo for the cf =ci;noe aivl of crjc?t publ'o bi-nefit T r^qivt o-xcerdinrr^v bring unaHio to bo in Dnii r tl'n durintj rh*» sitting of the oo^foronp°-, a id besr to ps'ur ll yon of tlio brartr co-on-rntion nnd cni.ic" desire of the, Hnvornment to cxtr'-d o\ery onrtcsy to rh" rciTO'-.'i. m ivr-s, ;i vl ro \mko the occasion n!oMir.r''" to nil — T?. J. Rr.onox.'' — lApnl.-uqo) r-MHn\ T 7 u r -'.nn. "he retiring r v^-irlr-,it. -\.-roro i= f >«»■ — " Plra^o apoloci=" to tho C^U'^' l of thn \i'strnU?ian AsbOr'nfion fc rr.v -- 1 rm" firm ti.o moetincr. I1I 1 j, j cjvoal r];~i-,po'iitii^nt to mo r.ofc ti h-> cMo to at'ojifi, but J am no' yefe s ifF.^.'- t\v rocc-icod frrm my List illnoss io «t»-id the- «fni'i "— (\i-n!-"=io ) The Mayor of Durerin invitc-d hh Excel1- nev" the, "Oovor,io- to r>iv<sick> p.t tho me©B* iir "-^(1 r>''-'t'T=! i ho au-licrce. Tl.'s! Er.c-cll'Micy. on vimii?. we 3 lcc-civeil

twfch hearty applause. He spoke as follows : Mr Mayor, Ladies and Gentleanen, — At this opening meeting of th© present session of tilo Australasian Association for tfo© Advancement of Science, I desire, on behalf of New Zealand, to offer a cordial welcome to the visiting delegates. This is the> tenth meeting, though I believe the association, has been founded some 15 years. The last meeting held in New Zealand was held under the- patronage and in the presence of one of my predecessors. Lord Onflow, who now holds a high position in his Majesty's Government. — (applause) — and this is- the second occasion of the society's meeting in New Zealand. On the former occasion the presidential chair was occupied by Sir James Hector, who has just retired from active ■work- after 4-0 years devoted to the cause of •science in this country.— Applause.) May I digress a moment to state some of his many services to the colony? For many year* he has been looked up to as one of the founders of our scientific knowledge of thi3 coamtry. Hia name is associated with those of Jiaast, Hoohstetter, Yon Mueller, Hutton, and others in settling the geological history, classifying the flora and fauna, and studying the fi»h which teem round our coasts. PouBibly further investigations may modify some of his conclusions, but this is the inevitable lot of all scientific pioneers. The foundations remain for others to build on or to correct a.9 the case m.»y l>e. I ctnnot conclude without mentioning hio great services in the further promotion of higher oduoation in New Ze<aland, and the share, he hos taken in the building up and establishment of our university system. May he, in his retirement, have many years ol wel4-ea.rnod rest. — (Applause.) Now may I welcome the visiting scientist, Professor David, of Sydney? — (Applause.) In his presence I oau only assure him that his name is well-known and honoured here in New Zealand, and that we .Are proud to have so distinguished a geologist presiding over the labours of this Congress. It must be patent to all that with Professor David in the chair the meetings can alone be swayed by the true spirit of scientific research. — (Applause.) This association is modelled en the same linos as the British Association, whose annual meetings in the different towns mark the jwogreso of science as milestones along a high road, and in the British Association New Zealanders have been worthily represented by o»e whom many of you. must know. I refer to Professor Rutherford, of Montreal.— (Applause.) Educated in this colony and a etudent in the New Zealand University, he now stands in the forefront of advanced physicists of the day. The British Association has not confined its work to British soil, and next year, I understand, Central Africa is likely to be ite meeting ground. I do not know if this kindred society has ..ever met in the wild and arid regions of Central Australia, but if not, mayhap this is not co far distant, and then perhaps Professor Baldwin Spencer may bo able to illustrate those practical studies of the aborigines for which he is so famous by personal presentation of many of those pictureo which he so graphically places before his audience by means of magic Jantern slides and the kinematogxaph. I mwi; mention the great work now being done by the Tropical School of Medicine, especially regarding the malarial mosquito. We in New Zealand are fortunate enough to be at present free from this species, but none the leas should we take an interest in it and its results, but we are negatively much interested in the an*tter that is, in the jjrevention of the introduction of this andother pests. IJany people are prone to send (often unknown to th«m) specimens of various insects to professors insecurely packed and by post, and there are. many instances of a paa-osl being -opened on arriving damaged in the various countries of tho world, and ils living conieote having taken unto themfi'eives wings and disappeared — years after possibly to turn out a virulent peet. Climate affects the ■generative powers and habite cf animals, and to us at Home the harmless rabbit has turned out a curse in Australasia, and one tbat is not even yet finally dealt with. 1 mention this fact simply to point out the dangers that may, aoid have, ensued after ■aid from the introduction of what at the time was considered a splendidly successful «>Kperiinent, and to warn people against euch attempts, of which the possible results have not been fully considered from every point of view. Since your last meeting in New Zealand plague has visited Australia, and there have no doubt been isolated eaees in New Zealand. The prevention of such a dire disease getting a footing in this colony caused me much anxiety at the time of the bad outbreak at Sydney. The Public Heelth Bill and the appointment of a Public Health Department, which wa-s much needed here, will show that from evil good has come. — (Applause.) Many towne had been oontent to go on from hamlets into large towns without considering the question of eewage and water supply, and at tbe>time I was filled with anxiety as. to the great danger should a case of plague arise among our Maori race. The strong ■preventive measures adopted by the Government, and the active an-d, as a rule, willing co-operation of the mayors and corporate bodies of the towns, have now effected such a change in the general sanitary state of the whole country that I think we have no need to fear even a reeurrer.os of this or other dire diseases. — (Applause.) Mush has been done by these bodies; much is still being done ; but there is more that can or should be done. London was not built in a day, and the progress in this respect in the past few years is most satisfactory. In conclusion, I desire to express my regret that the retiring president, Captain Hutton, is not among us to-day. — (Applause.) For some months he has been suffering from ill-health, but I am glad to say his health is now almost restored. — (Applause.) He has for nearly half a century been known for his scientific work. Beginning at the time of the Crimea, I believe he added considerably to the knowledge of the birds, etc., of that region; and for 57 years he has taken an active Dart in the geology and the zoology of this "colony. He is a personal friend of my own, and kindly accorr.naj.iied me to assist me when I went round the islands to the east of New Zealand to obtain specimens of tho" birds for the British Museum, the authorities of which had informed me that ±his colony was very poorly represented in thei" fine collections of natural history specimens. In that trip we were fortunate enough to obtain specimens of the Merganser austrolis, now supposed to be almost extinct, and also of a ph&lairocomx, which was entirely new to science, and which they did me the honour to call Ranfurlyi.— (Applause.) On this expedition Captain Hutton took the greatest interest in Diptera (flics), and I watched him one day land from the Hinemoa and walk alonac the

•with a fly net, the stick of which was about the thickness of that of a lady's parasol. A huge sea lion did not appreciate his near ! vicinity, and promptly made for him. The Captain started to run, but as the sea lion gafnod he stopped; so also did tho sea lion — 'about 3ft from him. Captain Hutton coolly hit him on the nose, when the enormcus animal, weighing certainly o\cr haJf a ton, turned round aud bolted for the sea. — (Laughter ) Captain Hutto 1 then pursued his researches lor flies as if nothing had happened, returning with filled bottles.' This incident I wa+ehed from the deck of the Hinemca, through the glass, with considerable, anxiety, but tho distance made assistance impossible. The result of his labours has been recently published in his paper on Diptera. To Captain Huttor., tli3 outgoing president, to his sueec&sor in office, and to the visiting members and de-legates to our shores, on behalf of the people of New Zealand I wish them one and all a cordial welcome. I trust they may find the atmosphere here congenial — climatically, scientifically, and socially, — and that the result of their labours may add much to further unfold the wonderful pages of tho book of ecience for the benefit and prcs- ; perifcy, not only of the poople of New j Zealand and Australia, but of the whole human race. — (Applause.) The Mayor, in welcoming the visiting mombors of th« a.ssoci&i.icn to Dnnodrn, eaid : Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentle- ' men,- — Allow me in a very few words to : extend a very heirty -welcome to the mem- ! bers of the Science Congress visiting ouv fair city. Although we are virtually a Scotoh community, we are not lacking in extending hospitality to those- Hdies and gentlemen now me-sting h?re in congress. I consider that Dunedin is highly honoured in having the Science Congress meeting in j our midst. — (Applause.) I have no doubt we will come to look back on this as a red-letter day in our history, and one of which we will have reason to be proud. , The peoplo of Dunedin will do their utmost \ to make the st«y of members in plessar.t ] and as profitable as possible. — (Ap- ; plause.) I can spe-ak on behalf of those associated with m« in the municipal government of the city when I say they will do everything in their power to make their efcay agreeable. I thiak there is no country in the world in which science will play a more important part than it will in New Zealand. — (" Hoar, hear.") We have almost every mineral that is known in some part or nnothor of this colony, and the time is not far distant when these minerals will be brousjht into use, and may poasibly be worked with great profit to the ■ colony. From this point of view a! one . great good may result from the meeting of this Congress in Dunedin. — ("Hear, hear.") j Allow me, then, again to welcome the '. members of the association to our city, and I trust their stay here will be of benefit to themselves and to us, and that they will never rearrc't their visit to Dunedin. — (Applause.) THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. His Excellency then called on Professor . David to deliver his presidential addrees ! en " The Aims end Ideals of Australasian Science." Professor David spoke as follows: — ] I. INTRODUCTORY. i The advancement of science, the great end for which our association exi-7t=i, ia a cause which has found favour in the past with peoples and rulers of peoplce. Fortyfour years ago the founder of science teaching in Great Britain, the Prince Consort, in hie presidential address to the i British Association, expressed th 3 hope that I the Srftto would alwayß recognise in eeience j one of its elements of strength and pros- | perity, and would conside-r itself bound by j dictates of eelf- interest to foster and pro- j tect science, and that the relations of tho State to ecienoo wou'kl ever be those of parent and child. The good tradition established by that enlightened, ruler h?.6 been followed now for many years by our viceregal Governors ; and I know that I am voicing the feelings of this assembly when | I cay that we rejoice that it has been fol- ' I lowed on this occasion by the j-^tron of this society, the Earl of Ranfurly, who honouro uts with hie pres?r.ce to-night, and to whom j we extend a. very h-earty welcome. His presence signifies not only his personal interest in ecienee, but also the recognition by him cf the fact that the me-cting of this society ia a matter of national importance. Thoeo of us who belong to Columbus'e category of " strange creatures from other lands 1 cast up by the sea " upon your stores would Kke to take thie occasion of exprtoping to the New Zealand Government gratitude for ite liberality, a liberality which we> hope will " bless both him that gives and him that takes." While we have much occasion for rejoicing, tiwro is one matter which cannot but i fill us with re<rret, and that is that the man whom, at our last meeting, we all delighted to honour — the man to whom Australasian science in general, and New Zealand science in particular, owes so muoh, — our good friend and late president. Captain F. W. Hutton, is unable through illness to be present with tie. It i^ gratifying to know that he is now out of danger and rapidly recovering his normal health. That he may yet be spared for many years of useful and happy life mus<t be the sincere wish of every one of uo here, as of scientific men generally throughout the world. This association has now been in existence since the year 1888, and this, its tenth meeting, eeejr.p to me a fitting occasion for reviewing briefly its pa&t work and suggesting what eeem to me ueeful lines on which it may work in the future. Before reviewing this work it may be as well to remind members of the objects for which our association was called into being. The objects of the association are defined for us in our volumes as follows: — 1. To give stronger impulse and a more systematic direction to scientific inquiry. 2. To promote tho intercourse of those who cultivate science in different parta of the British Empire with one another. 3. To obtain a greater degree of national attention to objects of scienoo, and a 4. Removal of any disadvantages of a public nature which impede its progress. I propose, first, to consider how far the association has fulfilled its task ; and, secondly, to review lines of work which would be good to follow, especially that of scientific eduoation- Before dealing with the all- important subject of edttcation a few lantern views will be shown to illustrats references in tho earlier part of this address. 11. PAST AIMS AND IDEALS. Thooe who have attended our meetings or who have inwardly digebted the volumes of our proceedings will, I think, admit that the association has justified by works the faith reposed in. it by its founder and; i»- .

defatigablo general secretary. Professor Llvorsidgo. Sydney, Melbourne, Eobart, Adelaide, Chrietehuroh, and Brisbane have in turn been visited, and now w-e are m-ct together once more in this beautiful lond, meet mrrse for the ecientific child, the land of tho Maori and moa, the land of smiling plains and frowning fiords, a land of ice and fire, a land of still lakes and ewiftflowing rivers. At every step w& take we 1 are re»niinded of what science haa done to bring theoe fair islands into the eervico of i man, how the road has been driven, the ford bridged, the riven harnessed, the land girdled with iron, its harbours filled with the shipping of all nations, and its shores gemmed with fair cities. What more inspiring place could have been chosen for our meeting than this city, girt with hills and bowered in gre«n, so full of life, nestling a7iiong ihe dc-ad volcanoes — this second Edinburgh, — d«ar to us as tha home of the patient mineralogist and untiring worker in the field of geology, the late Professor Ulrich; also the home of that world-famed and much-loved biologist, Parker ! Tho fame that these men won grows still, and may it continue to grow in the work of their worthy successors. One of the most important results of our gatherings has been tha-t we have travelled round, met our scientific neighbours, and learned to love them as ourselves. It would ! be difficult to overstate the benefit which : Australasian science has derived from this [ feeling of brotherhood which our association has done so much to foster. Have we not lccrned more from personal intercourse ! with master minds than we have ever gathered from reams of correspondence and piles of ponderous tomc-s? Have not currents of thought been induced and strengthened in us when, at these meetings, our ideas are revohed in tho magnetic field of some fellow scientist? Then, too, our association has done much to promote that concentration and co-ordination of effort which is s\ich a feature in the scientific life of to-day. In its early days science in Australia passed through its heroic age. Among the heroes who worked in the sad Eplendour of illation were Dunlop, the first Australian astronomer; Sir Thomas Brisbane, who founded the first scientific society in Australia; Strelecki, stout of heart and strong of limb; Clarke, tho father of Australian peology ; and Mueller, the father of Australian botany. Few countries can _ boast of more hardy .pioneers than Australia had in Flinders and Wentworth, Eyre and Leichhardt, Burke, and Wills, and our vote-ran past - president, A. C. Gregory, or more resolute science work-ers than New Zealand had in Dieffe-nbach, Hoohstetter, and Haast. Many names could be added to this list of early workers, but the few quoted stand as good types of the men of cur heroic o-ge. To the heroic age succeeded the scattered brotherhoods of workers associated in scientific societies, Government scientific depart-m-Mits, museums, and universities. These scattered brotherhoods are now united for more perfect co-ordination of work "and fellowship in the larger brotherhood of this association. The appointment of Research Committees has, perhaps, been the most important step t*ken by the association for the co-ordina-tion and systematising of scientific work. Committees have been appointed to report on the following subjects: — ■ The Mineral Census of Australia. [ The Polynesian, Papuan, and Australian Races. The Establishment of Biological Stations. ; Town Sanitation. The- Tides of South Australia and of Australia Generally. The Improvement of Museums as a Means of Popular Education. The Investigation of the Movements of lh» Now Zealand Glaciers. Earthquakes. Rust in Wheat. Glaciation, Past and Present. Protection of the Native Fauna. Mineral Waters of Australia. Record of Chipf Structural Features of the Australasian Land Surface. On Uniform Nomenclature of the Igneous Rooks of Australia. Photography in Geological Surveys. Marine Biological Research in the Neighbourhood of Hobart. Collecting of Name 3 and Making of "Recommendations ao to the Spelling of Nathc Names of Places. Education of Defective Children. Special reference should be made to the valuable work done for the Seismological Committee by the enterprising and persevering secretary, Mr G. Hogben. In establishing a systematic seismological observatory at Timaru he has set us an example which some of the Australasian States would do i well to follow. As an example of one good result of this co-ordination and co-operation of scientific workers resulting from the policy of this association may be mentioned the fact that it paved the way for the Horn Expedition. Science- owes much to the munificence of Horn, but, had it not been for the meeting of s-cieoitific workers at gatherings of this association the most important and successful natural history expedition ever made in Australia might never have been planned and executed. Tl'is association has also from time to time made important recommendations to the public in the interest of the people and of science. The following two were made at the last meeting: — "That the General Council of this pssooiation be asked to communicate with the' Government of New Zealand, and to urge respectfully that tho construction of the proposed biological station near Dunedin be proceeded with as a matter of colonial importance." " That in the opinion of this association the results of past experience demonstrate the urgent necessity for the observance throughout Australasia of certain principles for thf effective conservation of forests. " (a) That all forests be vested in permanent boards, and rendered inalienable, unless under exceptional conditions, and that no selections whatever bo permitted within their area. " (b) That other land, wholly or in part denuded of timber, be also vested in such boards for forest cultivation or natural regeneration, such lands being the natural habitat of the species of trees, other than exotics, proposed to be grown. " (c) That the boundaries should as far as possible bo natural boundaries. " (d) That the economic aspect of the 1 question requires that such land reserved for forest cultivation or natural regeneration be selected with due regard to their accessibility from towns or districts requiring the timber or from ports of shipment. " i&l TJaai, inrtra pxbaz. <w Hi* swrrvaa &&~

rivei"> and streams, even though not actually containing good timber, be reserved, as the only means of securing a clean watershed and a pure supply of water for cities and towns now existing or hereafter to bo built. And, furtacr, the obseivance of these principles 13 the only effective means of checking the enormous wa«te of timber that is now going on, the sy^ematic prevention of which would render the Foiestry Department immediately self-supporting, and m the i<ear future the source of large revenues."

Another useful ivoi'k of the association has bcon the mTwng of the New Zealand Government to secure reservations in New Zealand for the native fauna and flora. Resolution Island at Dusky Sound has been thus reserved. The Government has a'so reserved Little Barrier Island, off Auckland, at the instance of the Auckland Institute; and also several islands, including Stephen's Island in Ocok Strait, for the preservation of the. tuataro lizard. New Zealand has also set Australia a good example* in stopping the depasturing nf pheep upon the alpine flora of Mount Cook, while the New Zealand Acclimatisation Society has secured the piotection of the- native birds at some of the smaller lakes, such as Lake Ohau, on the way to Mount Cook. In addition to the nine volumes of its reports published by the. association, in which much of the best scientific work of Australasia has been gathered togfefchsr, the association has done useful work in popularising science by issuing handbooks a3 a guide to the scientific study of the neighbourhood where our meetings are held. Our thanks are specially due on this occasion to the authors of the handbook of Dunedin, just published. Science teacher? would do well if they availed themselves of these handbooks. Surely, if the association is to be known by its fruits, it has prov-d itself a good tree. The problem of how to make the good tree bung forth more fruit suggests irsejf next for our consideration. 111. FUTURE AIMS AND IDEALS. As I find it impossible in most case^ to consider those except in reference to the work already done by the association, I propose to deal with them under the headings of our vaiious sections. If I de\ote more space to the consideration of natural history subjects and education than to chemistry, physics, astronomy, mathematics, engineering, economics, etc., it as not because I underrate the importance of these great branches of science, but because I feel le=s competent lo deal with them. SECTION A. It may be noted that un important departure may shortly be made in Australian astronomy. Professor Hussoy, of the Lick Observatory, California, has recently been in New oouth Wales to ascertain the most suitable spot for establishing a branch of the Lick Observatory • there-. It is by no means certain as yet that the scheme will be carried through. If it is, we may be sure that our American cousins will so© that their obsorvatoiy is in every way well equipped. "We in New South Wales are prepared to welcome them with open arms if they decide to come, and I venture to think that th^ir welcome will be as wide as Australasia. Professor Hus=ey brought a small telescope with him, and during the veiy few clear nights available discovered 15 new double stars. The subject of observatories suggests that there is room for at least one really well-equipped astronomical observatory in New Zealand — an observatory where meteorology may be as far as possible dissociated, from pure astronomy. One of the great drawbackshitherto to astronomical work in New South Weles, as well as in other States, is that the double burden, of astronomical and meteorological observation is laid upon the earae staff; and the work of daily forecasting has exacted so much of the observers' time that little or no time has been left over for pui« astronomy. It is chiefly through pressure of public opinion thai some of our Australasian astronomers have had to follow meteorology rather than £>stroiiomy. It is a popular idea that any appiied pcier.ca paye, while a pure science doesn't. That is a pernicious fallacy, fatal to th<> true interests of national progress Pursuit of pure science means res" arch, research means discovery, and di covery lepds to important new applications of Fcience which make for a nation's prosperity.

Under Section A, in physics there arocertain line-s of research which are specially applicable to the Southern Hemisphere. For example, very little has been done to study the nature of the Aurora Australia. Professor Dewar has shown u-/"' what important conclusions may be drawn as to the composition of the upper layer;, of our atmosphere, from a study of the spectrum of the. Aiirora Boreahs. We should expect theoretically that the ga c es of our atmosphere would be arranged above the earth's surface in the order of their liquifying and freezing points. With regard to the distribution of ga.^es in the atmosphere, a gas like carbon dioxide, which needs much less cold to liquify and freeze it than does nitrogen or oxygen or hydrogen, cannot exist in the atmosphere to any appreciable extent above the zone of its liquifying point, which is — 78.2 C. On the other hand, hydrogen, which liquifies only at the very low temperaturo of — 252.5 G.,** theoretically, should exist to far greater heights in the atmosphere than the carbon dioxide. Profeo =or Dewar considers that at 37 miles above the earth's surface there would be very little carbon dioxide.f He considers it possible, however, that "<!'e clouds that have been seen at an elevation of 50 miles above the earth's surface aie probably formed of mist resulting from the condensation of carbon dioxide. "'+ In <)thcr words, if one could a-cend from the : nner the outer limits of the atmosphere one would pass first through a zone of water dust or mist, then through a zone of water crystals (the cirrus clouds), then (at between 35 and 50 miles) through i zone of carbon dioxide mist, then through a zone of carbon dioxide snow, then through a zone of

* Presidential address to British Association for Advancement of Science, Belfast, 19u2. * + The temperature of space is considered to be 273deg C.~ + Samples of atmosphere have been obtained fiom nine miles above the earth's surface which do not show any appreciable difference ">f the earth's atmosphere there as compared with that near the earth's surface; but it must be remembered that the anti-trades have a powerful mixing influence up to that level in the latitude where the samples were obtained. It would be very interesting if samples of air could be obtained from high regions of the atmosphere near the Poles, where the movements of the atmosphere are more sluggish. X Report of British Associat-on Advancement

nitrogen and oxygen mist, and t'irouglk respectnely nitrogen and oxygen snow, and fiaally through hydrogen mist and perhaps hydrogen snow.

Tho matter might ho otherwise stated thus: if tho earth's temperature were cooled down at the surface until all the sea was frozen solid to — 200deg C. a new ocean of liquid air would appear, covering the entire surface of tho globe about 35ft deep. The only atmosphere left in this case would be hydrogen and such other volatile, gases as neon, erypton, xenon, and helium. This theoretical airangement of gases in the earth's atmosphere recen os a beautiful confirmation from the study of the spectrum of tho Aurora Borealis. the rosy lint so characteristic of the streamers of auroras showing- lines which prove it to b° due to neon, while " ihe red ray of hydrogen and one red ray of erypton have been noticed once." All the rays of nitrogen aie absent from the Aurora BoreaJis. Trigonometrical measurements show that the base of the aurora is 34- miles above the earth's surface, and it has been proved experimentally thafe at a pi'essure su;>h as oxygen and nitrogen! would be subiected to at 34- miles (about cne-tcnth of a millimetre), neither of them would show \ - i-ib!e- rays, their rays fading long before this low pressure is reached, and being replaced by those of argon and ether volatile atmospheric gases.

I must refer members to Professor Dewar'3 acldrr-ss for a popular account of how it hai been demonstrated that " solar prominences are almost certainly solar auroras, and that the sun's coronal atmosphere is composed of the same substances as the earth's, and that it is rendered luminous in the same way — namely, b} 7 electric discharges." Professor Dewar adds: "This conclusion has plainly an important bearing on the explanation whic'.i should be given of the outburst of new stars and of tlie extraordinary and rapid changes in their spectra. Moreo\er, leaving on one side the question whether gases e\'er bt j eovne luminous by the direct action of heat, apart from such transfers of energy as occur in chemical change and electric disturbance, it demands a re\isioii of the theories which attribute more permanent differences between the spectra of different stars to differences of temperature, and a fuller consideration of the question whether they cannot with better ree.eon be explained by differences in the electric conditions w hich prevail in the stellar atmosphere '' . . .

" Arihenius points out that the frequent disturbances which we know to occur in the sun must cauvc electric discharges in the sun's atmosphere far exceeding any that occur in that of the ca-th. These will be attended with an ionisation of the gases, and the negative ions will stream away through the outer atmosphere of the sun into tho interplanetary space, becoming, as Wilson has shown, nuclei of aggregation of rondensable vapours -md cosmic dust. Th» liquid and solfd particles thus formed will be of various sizes : the larger will gravitate bark to the s\in, while those with diameters less than one ajul a-half thousandths of a millimetre, but nevertheless greater than a wave length of light, will, in accordance with Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory, be driven aw ay from the sun by the incidence of the eolar rays upon them, with velocities which may become enormous, until they meet other celestial bodies, or increase their dimensions by picking up more cosmic dusi? or diminish them by evaporation. The earth ■will catch its share of such particles on the side which is turned towards the sun, and its upper atmosphere will thereby become negatively electrified until the potential of the charge reaches such a point that a discharge occurs, which will be repeated as more charged particles reach the earth. This theory not only accounts for the auroral discharges, and the coincidence of their times of greatest frequency with those of the maxima of sunspots, but also for the minor maxima and minima."

I have quoted at some length from Professor Dcwar to show what extremely interesting problems are involved in the study of the Aurora Boreahs. Obviously equally interesting problems are involved also in the study of the Aurora Australis, and it is high time that v.-c commenced to study them.

The subject of local conditions of terestrial magnetifim in Australasia is also one of great interest and importance. A committee, with Mr Baraechi as secretary, has been appointed to report on this. It is gratifying to note that in Melbourne systematic magnetic observations are being recorded. Great credit is also due to a most active member of our association, Dr Farr, for establishing a magnetic observatory, the first of its kind, at Christchurch, in New Zealand, and he is to be congratulated on now having nearly completed the magnetic sur\ey of the whole of New Zealand. Australian science is much in need of more of these magnetic observatories An important paper on " Possible Cause- o£ Earth's Magnetism and the Theory of ita Variations" has been read before this society by Mr Sutherland.* Another work of great physical importance in the Southern Hemisphere is the making of gravity letermmations. Som-e yemts ago Prcfessoro f hrelfall and Pollock devised at the Physicc L?boiatory at Sydney University a delicate statio balance, depending on the torsion of a thread of fu«ed quartz for estimating tho force of gravity. This balance was accurate to one in 500,000. The determinations, however, made with it were carried out chiefly with a view to testing the working of the instrument. What is needed is a systematio gravity survey, combined with geodetic survey. Geodetic survey is another urgent reed of Australasia.'* From the map m the 1900 Report, of the O.S. Cca-st and Geode-tic Sur\ey will be scon at a g!ance the present state of the data on which an opinion ao to the figure of the earth can be .founded, in. so far as tiigoncmetrical survey can supply information. The great latitude aic across the U.S.. tho minor latitude arc, the two meridional arcs, and two other stretches, ono running north-westerly on the side and the other north-easterly on the oa;t r*ido of the U.S., afford splendid evidence of the figure of the ideal spheioid mest closely approximating to that continent. There are now, besides these, two great arcs of meridian in Europe [(1) England, France. Spain ; (2) the Conlial European aic], tlio great aic of latitude extending right acros* Europe into A^ia, the meridional and latitude ares of India, % very small latitude are in Algeria, and email meridional aic at tho (Jape, and the his* toric meridional arc in Peru.

Looking at the map ono recognises thai practically the whole of Australia, Afr.ca,

* Vol. VIII, pp. 203-203, cf ;t-e A«> t --.t.on. Kepoit-. Tt Rep. Austiahan AssciaUd' Au.aiiccmoxit of Science. -. 01. VIII, Melbourne m.ctinu. 190P

md Siberia in Asia are geodctically unknown. By comparing tihe spcaroids (ellip•oide of revolution^ which most closely agree with the measured arcs the extent of the uncertainty is indicated, and it would be Idle to formulate on such evidence any cninion as to the general figtiire of the aarth, except as approximately representing the northern hemisphere. To use the ipheroid which most closely agrees with the whole of this evidence as a basis foj tho reduction of surveys of the Southern Ho/jiioph&re would, of course, be satisfactory culy for very limited areas. If the continents of South America, Africa, and Australia are to be geodetically surveyed, their form must be independently investigated, as is done elsewhere ; in fact, if ever fchero is to be a satisfactory and comprehensive geodetic survey of Australia it will have to be reduced in conformity with local evidence. Mr G. H. Knibbs thinks that in oui present state of survey it would not be a serious matter to romplete an arc of meridian in New South Wales and Queensland, and an arc of parallel including the greater part of Victoria ; and he oonsiders that the reduction of tho geodetic survey will never be satisfactory without tni?. An able paper showing the present state of the geodetic survey of New Soiith Wales and Victoria was contributed to this ■ssociation by Mr Furber. SEISMOLOGY*. Except for the work done at the Timaru Observatory by Mr Hogben, and at the Melbourne Observatory, thi3 subject is being neglected in Australasia. It is particularly important that a seismological station ebould be established in Tasmania to record the shocks which emanate from the " rift valley" of Bass Strait. METEOBOLOGY. There- is great need in Australasia for highlevel meteorological stations. Through the enterprise of Mjt Wragge a high-level station •was established at Kcsciusko, at an altitude of about 7328 ft above the sea. A low-level station, where simultaneous readings- were taken, was at the same time formed at Nimytibelle. To our shame be it confessed this observatory is now abandoned for want jf funds. Whatever views may be held as to "the method of management, there oan be but one opinion as to the value and importance to meteorological science of the maintenance of a permanent high level station. It 13 just as reasonable to expect a meteorologist to make accurate forecasts of the weather and deny him acoecs to tho efcudy af the upper currents of air as to expect a chimney sweep to give you the exact 'reason why your chimney emokes and Foxbid him to examine your chimney pot. It is to be hoped that this association will exert its influence for the re-<jpening of the high-level observatory at Kcsciusko. We need more information about the downward limit of the anti-trade winds. We know that afc-XCosciTisfco in latitude 56deg S. in -cummer • time- their downward limit is eomewhat less .than 7000 ft, "whereas at Teneriffe, in the KToßthern Hemisphere, their downward limit is about 9000 ft. Seasonal variation of this downward limit" is also an important question. .The greatest problem of all seems to me .ow the air stream, -flowing from the belt of Antarctic calms (if such a belt exists), or flowing from the great permanent anfi-cyclane over the South Pole, forces its way across the belt of westerly winds, or ** Soaring .Forties," to the anti-cyclone highpressure belt, the mean position of which in Australia lies between the latitude of Sydney and Brisbane. The great jxpanse- of ocean in the Southern Hemisphere renders the Southern -Hemisphere favourable for such a study, as there is little land .here to complicate the problem, in order to secure position we'll south of the high-pressure belt, high-level meteorological stations would be needed in Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand. The origin of the circular dust-storms known in Australia us " Willy-Willy " or " Buxramugga," which raise such vast quantities >f .red dust into the higher regions of jut atmosphere and then distribute it far and wide -over Eastern Australia, is another problem awaiting investigation. DBOTJGHTS AST) THEIP. CAUSES. +Ur J- H. Maiden, in an important paper to the Uqyal Society of New South Wales, suggested many measures foi mitigating- the evil of droughts. The determination of the periodicity of droughts, with a view to jpredicting them, is work urgently needed. SECTION C— GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. The geological surveys of Australia and Tasmania are still working steadily; but in many cases, in deference to popular opinion, their chief efforts are directed to what is considered to be* the bread-and-butter side of geology, to the exclusion of the study of broad geological features. In New Zealand in the past the work of the survey, in deference to popular opinion, has been chiefly directed to mines, a little time in intervals being devoted to sketching in broad geological features. Surely the time has now come for a systematic and vigorous geological survey of New Zealand — a survey which will not neglect the mines or anything of economic importance, but which will make the reports on how best to develop the natural mineral reEOurcer of the country more thorough by studying them in relation to the broad conditions of their environment, so chat their mode of origin may be thoroughly understood. Among geological problems in Australia perhaps the phenomena of the three great .lacial ages through which Australia has passed in Cambrian, in Permo Carboniferous, and in late Cainozoic times, and the allied problem of what influence these ice ages have had upon the distribution of contemporaneous plants and animals, is still the most fascinating that Australian geology has to offer. No less interesting is the problem of the great glacier epoch of New Zealand^ — an epoch when the " united glaciers of Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri extended to Blackmount, a distance of 65 miles." (Op. pit. p. 174.) But of all the geological work in Australasia demanding earnest attention there is none more urgent than the need for the proper description of the extensive and valuable collection of fossils at the Wellington Museum. I do not know at the present moment of any greater service that New Zealand could render to science than that of efficiently carrying out this great work. There are more than 30,000 specimens in the museum cases -at Wellington, most of which are unnamed, and there are

I- " Some Lessons of the Drought," read belore Royal Society, N.S.W., Xo-'ember 4, 1803. t Trans. N.Z. lust., vol. XXXII, pit. 21. ''The Geo'ogical History of New Zealand," by Captain P. W. Hutton, F.R.S., read m 1899; op. 173-17 a

stated to bo 500 boxes still unpjolcsd fi.ll of uncle-scribed fossil specimens. Nowhere in the Southern Hemisphere, a, far a' I am aware, is there such a thorough and complete record of the succession of animal and plant life from tho close of Paleozoic time up to the present as in Ncv. r Zetland, and nowhere e-lse is there evidence of such a wonderful range of the .Spiriferidas high up into Mesozoic rocks. If this meeting of the. association can induce the Government of New Zealand to start this important work on a sound basis our meeting will not ha\e been in vain. What may be teimed the now geology, with whicli the name of Professor Davis, of Harvaid Unnertity, U.S.A., is specially associated — ■* z., the reading of the past geographical history of a country from a study of its surface features — has already found exponents in the Southern Hemisphere in Professor Gregory and Mr E. C. Andrews. New Zealand, c-pccially the South Island, affords a splendid field for the application of the principles enunciated by Davis. There is also great scope for research in the wonderfully developed alkaline «pries of eruptive rocks in Australia and New Zealand, such as those of Mount Mac-edon, Victoria (described by Professor Gregory). Port Cygnet, in Tasmania (described by Twelvetrees and Petteid), the Cambewarra series (described by Jacquet and Card), tho Mittagong series (described by Mawson and Taylor), and the sjwlescribe-d Woriunibungle and Nandewar Ran^-t* ;i; i New South Woles, the Glasshouse Mountains (described by Jensen), in Queenaland, and the wonderful series of lavas and tuffs (described by Ulrich and Dr Marshall) around Dunedin, the latter being one of the mo3t interesting groups of its kind in tho world. SECTION D.— BIOLOGY. A., ZOOLOGY. An important work, lately begun by Air C. Hedley, is tha investigation of th<> marine fauna in the ocean near the edge- of the con.tinental shelf of East Australia, a work the importance of which is 'hard to overrate. Many forms, previously boliov.cl to be extinct, are now found living off tho coast of New South Wales — e.g., numbers of the supposed extinct species of mollusca characteristic of the .muddy creek beds of Victoria have recently bean obtained living at depths of about 100 fathoms off the coast of New South "Wales. Mr Hed'.ey considers that the muddy creek bede of Victoria are not of littoral origin, but laid down in an ocean of moderate depth, and arc not of such geological antiquity as hai hitheito been supposed. It l-s satisfactory to note that the value of Mr Hedley's -work is being much enhinccd by a collateral series of obsor-\a-tiocs, made by Mr Gerald Halligan, on the trend of the prevalent ooean current, and .the density and temperature of the sea water where Mr liedloy's specimens are obtained.* The picsent is a key to the past, and if we are ever to arrive at a logical classification of our marine Camozoic deposits in Australasia wo must first got to know more about present marine fauna and flora m tho deeper water lying ofF the shore. A closely allied and important work is that of establishing marine biological stations along our coast: it is satisfactory to note that recently the Now Zealand Government has wisely established a fish hatchery and marine biological station at Porfcobeilo. near this city. The untiring and unselfish efforts of our secretary (Mr G. M. Thomson) are chiefly- responsible for bringing about this happy result. Again, tho Great Barrier Reef of Australia affords a most alluring fie'-d of research, and tho fauna and flora of the adjacent islands. We have not yet dono justice from a scientific point of view to that pare of our noble heritage. THE FAUNA ASD FLO2A OF ABTESIAX "WATERS. Professors Haswell and Chilton have already done some interesting w ork on the fauna of the artesian water of Christchurob, and "the former is now undertaking the investigation of life forms in the artesian waters of New South Wales The lake waters of Ne-w Zealand have recently tempted tw r o Cambridge men — Messrs K. Lucas and Godson — to s-ound and suivey them secure their fauna and flora. Thc«e enterprising explorers have wistly placed for description the whole of the ohgcolußto fauna obtained by them in the hands of Professor Benlram. W-e desire to know moro about all land forms of animals in Aus+ralasia from menotremes end marsupials downwards. The extreme interest which attaches to the exploitation of this field of research is shewn by the recent discoveries of Dr J. P. Hill, of Sidney University, that a true Allantoic placenta is present in the. bandicoot (Perameles), and by th« later discovery in collaboration with Professor Wilson that ormthorhynchus in the early developme-nt of the egg shows one most Finking evidence of .reptilian affinity. A biological examination of the southern part of West Australia, as ■well as of the north-west corner of New South Wales and the adjoining portion of Queensland, is much needed. Another useful type of work is the publication of lists of fauna and flora, such as the " Index Faunas Zealandise," edited by Captain Hutton, and published by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. The bringing together and publishing in well arranged form useful but scattered papers such as those of Captain T. Brown on the Coleoptera of New Zealand is also much needed. In Botany. Mr J. H. Maide-n has suggested several useful lines of work. 4 *~ He dwell' specially on the need for systematic botanical surveys of our country, for the conservation of forests and for the study of the physiographical ecology of plants, f Dr Cockayne's work on the Ecolcg3' of the Plants of the Chatham Islands, etc., and Ins studies in " recapitulation" in the evolution of rhp-ir seedlings is a highly suggestive line of research for palceo-geography. Maiden points out Australia's duty m regard to botanical investigation in Australia and Polynesia ; also that Germany, through the Royal Gardens in Berlin, subsidises botanists to work up the flora not only of its own oversea dependencies, but also that of Australia. For example, in 1900-1901 two German botam= f s worked for 14 months in Australia All honour to them and their country for their zeal im the cause of * The distribution of forms of marine life is immensely influenced by oceanic curionts. Pelagic larval forms, including larvre of invertebrates and fish, would be specially influenced by such currents, which may form, even more serious barriers to migrations of forms of life in the sea than do mountain ranges or deserts to forms on land. ** President's addiess Linnean Society of New South Wales, 1902, pt. 4, pp. 740-804. end Journ. Royal Society New South Wales, XXI, 62-6 S. + Dunedm has set us all a good exsmple in the conservation of native floia by leseiving around the city the Town Beit.

■ Eut cannot cr,r Governments in, 'Australasia do moro toward- defining ' the expenses of our own zealous but ! lmpreuniouj hciams's? j T..0 investigation oi the i elation be w-en the In ng flora of .* ustral a a.-irl tint of Cainozcio time v»i.s si ill yielding most mloicstinjr results in tlio hands of Mr Henry jDeane. Taer© is scopo ior Similar Kork in New Zealand. In the lowly order of bacteria Or K. Grei* Sm.th hrs cGiitu'-uted many important pap-r5 to tar Lii'iiean Society. His c i - co \ '-.•}• cf a rev bac ilu 5 . Bacillus le\an.fo:-m r ' .&. de-.elcpcd m tl a "gum fermentation of ii'^ai cmc juice," is of ejnv'dei able fciv aw a- well p3p 3 scientific interest. H" ha-, discovered it in sugar fiom widely di'tani land. 111 beet as well a- in can© sugar. Tlrs ba^Mus is re«pcii=ib[e for the deterioration ot ray and refned Fu^ar ia hulk, and may a^o ca"i"c acid fermentation of law FUf,ar cr} <uls. At la^i, tli r -rcto:e, we know the agent which cau-es such los in tho mgar indu-try, pi.J it i* a matter upon wh eh we may congratulate ourselves that thi-> disco veiy has be-ui made by a worker in the Southern Hemisphere. SECTION E.— GEOGRAPHY. The exploration of the Anraictic regions by the German. Suodish, Scotch, aiid English expeditions has a special interest. Ilia heroic noiic of cop orar.ou in tho rigour of jin Antarctic climate by Cninam Charles Scott and his brave companions is one of which the British Kvnnjr^ may be justly proud. 2\iost h< artily do wo wish thoai all God-sryecd and a safe? and qi'.'c't leturn. There i^> a ia-.t deal to be learned be-sides mere topography in Antarctica. The Ptud}j of the prc=ent and past Lora and. fauna of those regions has a ir,or-> tha - i romantic interest for the bi-poiar theoiy of life development, and for tho linking of life forms in Australasia with those of South Amciica: the question whether Antarctica was the home cf the G.ossouter.s flora of the Australian. African, and Indian coal mra=ure<! is not the leas, interesting of thee biological problem?. Antarctic explorations are necessarily more or less costly, but nevertheless in the near future it will be our duty to bear a worthy part in the exploration of tho-e region-. But geography, like charity, should begin at home : th 3 real sc.ontifio geography of the interior of Australia is at _proaent ahn-cst unknown. The- work now In course of publication, in which Piofes'or Gregory describes his recent explorauon with his Melbourne "Oniversity students of pa.'t of the L-ske Eyr© ba~iu, is being eagerly looked forward to, and we know that tiie author of '" Ihe b.rcat Rift Valley " will not disappoint v«. T!.e life history of the Xe-w Zeidand lakes 13 another ftisci'iatirg field of reseaich Oceoaography has as yet received very little atteaticn in Australas.a. Mention has already been made of ihe good wo:k that is being done in this direction by Mr G. i±. Ilalligan. We requir© infermation about the under as well as the iipper ocean currents. With regard to the sSidy of the tides, we have done as yet little for its advancement in Au-tra'as.a. The few automat'c tide g-auges -\ve have (about 11 on the whole of the Australian const) are in such positions as to be useful only for local purposes. The proposal to pace gauges on Ivlcatague and Solitary Islands, so as to record the true tide of the Pacific, undisturbed by local conditions of coast, has teen thrown out by every Government for the last 10 vear3 on the score of expense, but it is only by gauges in such positions that information inccAy to affect the t dal theory can be obtained. Mr Halhgan considers t:*at tidal records without con -arr-ent barograph and anemometer records are uaoiec-. For examnle, tho pressure of an inch of raerenry is equal to over «ight niches of tide. Wit'i the limited infovmition at our command r,e\oi'rtl efforts have been made* — notably, by Mr I\. V\". Chapman and Captain A. Ingiis. of Adelaide — T o trac 1 the coxirse of the tic'al w ave on the coa.st, but in Mr Halligan"? opinion the eorckmon-s cam be accepted only tentative'}", though they will bo most valuable to future workers. No complete theory of the tides can poseibly be evolved without co-ordinated tidal observations from all parts of the world : and this, too, is a work in which Australasia is called to do its part. The matter of determining the density and temperature of the sc-a off our coasts has engaged the attention of Mr T W. Fowler. M.C.E.* Boung the Bed of the Ocpan. — Mr Halligan and I think that it would be possible to put a bore down in the bed of tho cceroi at a depth of about 100 fa-thorns, and in such a way as to secure a core of the strata encountered. If the boring at these shallower depths was successful, attempts would be made to bore at greater depths. SECTION F.— AKTHEOPOLOGY AND PHILOLOGY. Not the least valuable contributions to our volumes have been those in this- 6ectior>. As regards the Australian aborigines, much excellent work has been done ty Mr A. "W. Howitt ancl the Rev. Lorimer Fison. The Royal Society of Sydney this year conferred its Clarke medal on Mr A. W. Howitt. By far the most important work on the aborigines that has ever been done is that accomplished by Professor Baldwin Spencer and Mr Gillen. Only these who have experienced the hardships, perils, and privations of travel in Central Australia can appreciate the splendid self-sacrifice and devotion to .science which inspired these men to persevere with the formidable task which they set themselves, and which enabled them to bring their labours at last to so successful an end. Of this work it may be said, "If it were clone, when 'tis done,, then "twere well it were clone quickly." In another few years the civilising of the aboriginal by the white man. would have made the work impossible. Baldwin Spencer and Gillen have saved for Australasian science a situation that would otherwise have, heen irrecoverably lost Professor Spencer, how r ever, would no doubt be the first to admit that, though much ii done, _nore remains unelone. This in a field of research where, as of yore, the harvest is plenteous and the labourers few. Australasia must aend foTth more labourers into this field. SECTION G2.— AGRICTLTURE. An important fact of late brought into prominence by Mr F. B. Guthne is that' the harren-looking red soils of the western plains of New South "Wales-, which in dry seasons look like leserts of finely-powdered brick dust, are formed of material which is

" Rep. Australian Association Advancement of Science, Sydney, 1898, vol. Til, " Australian Oceanography ■ Densities of Sea "Waters,, ' by T W. Fowler, M.C.&.

exceptionally ;!lli in mineral jyir.nt-fco ] . For example, these soils contain three tim s the amounts of Lmo and potash and tv. cc .'is much phosphoric uo.d as do the aver. ;c roils cf our fertile cci\s.lal plains in Eastc; n Australia. This, as has been pointed out by Smyth in his " Conquest oi the Ar.d We 1 -!," 16 largely to bo attributed to the small amount of the rainfall in tho=e regions, which is sufficient to decompose ro.lr n>atci il. and fi -M) ;'J«uil:i '111:1 other soluble niirorals, bu' 1-, <nmfi>o:v j i.t to rjnio'.e llifm whe-u formic 1 . * (iuthii" criiciuclc^ thu-.: — -"From rha clifi.'ical point of 'vie". di c ciSjed 111 1h 1= ir-^av. ihrue 1- no r^csu fcr c'ou'it that tl'j o c cu 1 a'ul distr.rt , are adn.'rably :ul.>ptcd for cultivation by mcins of ir-'ir..tion : a'lunc'auce o^ v.-nter. properly appnt-cl, 1 oi"g the only thing :;ete - sary to re-idcr thur fxtiaovdnarily fir.ik : mid it ig ai the cstabhslu.iei t of "co-opera-tive _ irrigatio'' col^es n'e'i as e\:=t in similar arid dfstr.ci- m otliT pprt* of tho world, notably ri the Western States of Amer.ca, that we ir:»y look f^vwaiV coriidctitly to an expai^-en of our agricultrr. 1 u-source-i luthTto , ndreamod of." What is tru' of New South Wales is doubtless true cf a very lai-ge 1 ortion cf the interior of Austral ; a. Tho i-'lt.iics:- in pknt-foo'l of ihcse semi-arid rcg.oiw cxiila-ns tiie fact that on the rar.. oc^a^ions when rom falls over them tie J'-ert blossoms like tlio rose and becomes tiuklenlj- a waging- rr^irie of grass and fiov.oic. Th ; -. is \ery encouraging for the futuie, ,-ond shows us that even aridity is not wiihou: its blessings. In New Zealand I eaippo o one of the irosfc important egrioultural probl-nis is how to replace the fixed nitrogen and phosphorus annually taken from the New Zealand soil in tho chape of wheat, wool, ancl cai'cases. This is a probl-m wh'ch will task the encrg.and ability of jour agricultural colleges and directo 1 -;, of agr:c\lture. Of Sections H and I respeclivd, — Engineering and Mining, Social Sc: >rcc? and Hygipne— l am not competent to ipiak. bat would just ofti two remarks. With r.gird to Engineering, the author of " Our Imperial Hentago" Las =hown that inasmuch as eh ct/icity is now becoming the great motive power in the world, rations which can geaierate v cheaply will have a gi-eat advantage over nations which cannot. Electricity is most cheaply generated by water power. The ewift flnv.-:ng rivers and waterfalls of New Zealand should 111 the future be made to generate electricity, increasing thereby the national wealth by supplying cheap power and light. With reference to hygiene. New Zealand is to be congratulated on being provided with a good sanatorium, run on the Norddrach principles. The cibcovery that tho Rontgen rays and Radium will quickly turo rodent ulcer is of va,st imporr ai!u>, and encourages the hope that, by radiations of th'« type whicli ha\p picved t"> bu so fat?l to bartcria, c\er. tho germ of career will eventually be dc-stroyec'. As regards section J.. mental science and echicatiori; the v.ork of our association io capable of a wido expansion, but before discussing it certain other ideals of Austialasian science may be roughly outlined. Much has been done already by cur association to promote co-orainntion among fccientiPc workers, but more remains. Tho forces of science must be thoroughly disciplined: the attack on the strong-hold of Nature must be a, concerted one, and rr.ust be pushed home ; there must be less of irregular skirmishing and filibuster .ng. Each worker must k^pp to his own sp^c'al work, and when it is known that a worker ! ias developed a s-pceial rptness for =cmc kind of work, as much of that work as possible should be given him. Or.c worker, for example, has made a spc-cnl =tudy of tho ioramuiiiera, another of eucalpts, another of diptora, and each has become eminent in hi.s special study. Let other workers fend to these n^n for determination their fcraminifcra, thp-'.r c-ucalypts. th^ir diptori A coilecior. if bo has acquired good material and is not qualified to describe it. si oulrl lu'-e no time in forwarding it to tho spe-eialist. Too often :in the past Austialasian science has suffered from the dog-i' I-the-manger policy of keeping geed stuff stored away n cellars because the owner of it could not. from want of time cr ab'lity, describe the material hirpsplf, and bncawe ho grudged to let anyone el^e do it for him Such action is wholly foreign to the true scientific spirit, which in its earnestness in the Advancement of Science should be prepared to make any sacrifice, so long as thereby the best intercuts of scicnoe are served. Then, too, we aim at better equipment for our laboratories'^" we long for increases.! votes for our museums ; we n-eed larger and better libraries, endowed in the liberal spritp rit of that prince of benefactors, Carnegie. But though puie science pays sooner or later, it does not necessarily pay at the time, and the bread-and-butter difficulty hi-* too often checked what otnerwi=e would have been the brilliant career of the young scientist. Too often io it the rate that this same bread-and-butter difficulty hao made thf. scientist a Jack-of-all-track= and a master of none. He-nee the need for more endowments of research, suob aa the Macleay Fellowships of Sydney afford. "What betteT use can men who have won wealth through wLat they have gained liy the app^c^ion ot science to nature make of that wealth than by endowing leseareh? Another way in which science may be advanced is by the subsidising of scientific expeditione. As local scientific societies seldom have funds for this purpose, science has had to rely on private donations. The handsome gifta for this purpose of Mr W. A. Horn (of South Australia), of Mies Eadith Walker (of Sydney), of the Hon. David Syme (of Melbourne), of Professor Baldwin Spenc r".i fatheT, one! of Professor A Agassiz, and quite recently the aesistance given by Captain E. G. Ra=on, R.N., for the exploration of the New Hebrides, have all been the moans of advancing science in Australasia or in ihe Pacifio Islands, and ehould en courage others to give. But science should not be left in the undignified position of continually crawling around with the hat. If only the public fully realised that science ir> the life of industry aid would be given cheerfully and ungrudgingly, as parent gives to child.

In refei.ring to the above possible lines of rosearoh and ideals no attempt has been made to review the whole of the valuable work done by our members. That would be a task entirely beyond the scope of one address. Much of the work already done had to be passed over in eilenc-e, because I wished to call attention specially to what has been left undone. The importance of science to national

** Jour, and Proc. Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. XXXTII. " The Chemical Nature "of the Soils of New South Wales, with Special Reference to Irrigation, ' by F. B. Gulhrie, F.LC. J .F.C.S.; pp. 57-53.

v>r ultii can s-carce- y be over-e^f-mited ; biA lao ad\:''ica of ouuc.itioa shond be our giar.tiC'Ft local, lac woids of Kuxley rr.Ufit hoc be ioieotton: "If t.ie v> ea th rotating iioni pio-p"rous industry v ro be bp'enc iiivn il.e c;rat]fl- ai.'in of t.r.v. -~rtl\y desires, ■i to- v.v easing prifi c"'-ct of re snuf. ctm11.g pioc^-sos is to oc ."-ccmyamed by an. DKr.a-ing a»bas_:ne:it 01 rho<=p who carry them 0:1. I do not i_ee the good 01 industry ; iia 111 1 ispcrity."" I'AKT IV.— DUTY OF THE ASSOCIAri"ioXr i"i0X TO SCIENCE TEACHING. T'.iii asb.oc.at. on lias not jet put out itg (l ici:"h to Eccur-s effieieafc teaching in =cir;:c-j for tho people of Australasia, and! yet ti>>.rc are few questions of more vit-all i:upo r iauoe. I have aav-ady spoken else\il:cie on this subject an cne of tli-e- minor prophets, but as a prophet ha 3 no honour .11 hh own country, I will lake th-o liberty of quoting somewhat cxtei.c>neiy from the greater prophets of older corntniG with regard to the national importaiico cf scicnoa leaching. The lmpcrtanco of science in. warfare finds expression in the eft-quoted! clici-um of Ton Moltkc, that Sod an was v.oa by the (schoolmaster. The Boor war- baa t? ught us a lesson ■nliich we mui=»t take to h-art or it will be th-s v. orso fcr vi= — zh& lesson that it is uscleos to oppose light field artilkry to tho " Ljng Toms " of Cruosot, u-cki.s to match mere physical strength, and courage against superior military 1 jcudc . Battlefield* arc no lenper ¥>on on ihc playing fields of Eton. Prussia cwake to tho importance of education afcor Jena, i''rancG after Sedan, and it is time tlia British Empiro awoke now. As regards tho importance of science teaching in times of peace. Sir Norman Lock} or in his .-ecrni: j.owcrful addre'-s to the British Association quoted tho following from Lhsraeii : — " ITow much has happened in tbeso 50 years — a period more remarkable than any. I venture to say, in the annale of mankind. 1 am not thinking of the rtoo and fall of empires, the change of dynasties, the establishment of governments. I am thinking; about tho^e revolution of science which ha-\e had much more effect than any political causes, which have changed tli© petition, and ihe prospects of mankind more tli.in all the conquests and ail the* codes and all the legislators that ever iiv-oti. t ii T C' ul-o quotes the >:a.> :nrnt of Mr Chambe-rlain in January, 1901: — "I do not think it is necessary for me to say acytiur.g as to the urgency and ncoaxity of scientific training. ... It is not too much to cay that the existence of this country as the great commercial nation depends upon it. ... It depends very much upon T.-hat we are doing now, at the beginning of the twentieth oentury, whether at ito enct we shall continue to maintain cur supremacy or even equality with our great commo-rcat aiid loanuft'cttiring rive's "^ Lovu Ros-e-bery hco gi*-en us the following wprnins; -of the danger of neglect of scie-ntifio me-thod : — "'T humbly think that in this country vre live a good deal too much from hand to mouth. We do not proceed by seic-ntiSo method. We go on tho principle that things hove carried ua so well so far; that we are a noble nation : that wo ai'e pretty numctcHO ; and that we have- aiwa j-s muddled eait right in the end. But 1 say this — that we ar& a people of enormous nuste: w«> waste simply by not pursuing scientific methods. Germany is infinitely more painstalcng and scientific than we are. In commerce, in education, and in v. ar v.t. are not abreast of the moie advanccxl nations of the day. And if we want to kceD our place we •shall have to ccn«id<?r the lessons v. r e have been taught m tiii^ respect. Depend upon it, however brill inn"" you may be, the tortoise of investigation, method, and preparation will always catch up to and overtake the hare which loaves everything to tii ■ inspiration of tho ricnuv- 1 .How G-orm;-.ny hao outstripped us by bc-ir.ef " infinitely more ppinatakmg and scientific" i=! forcibly stated ?.is follows hy Prrfessor Dewar§: — '"The consular report estimates that the whole value of German chemical industries is not less than 50 millions sterling per annum. Th-cs»e indu^tricc have sprung up withm the la^t TO year-, and have received enormous expansion during the last JO. They are, moreo\er, cry largely founded upon basic discov-erici= made by English chemists, but never propeily appreciated or scientifically developed in the land of their birth. [He is referring to tbe manufacture of aniline dyes, perfumes, etc.. from, ooal tar ] I 7/iu-it repeat that the fundamental discoveries upon v Inch thio giganr.c industry h built were made in this country, and were praet'cally de\ eloped to a certain extent by th&ir authors. But in spite of the abundance and cheapness of the raw material, and in spite of the evidence that it could be most remuneratively worked up, these men founded 110 nchool and had practicilly no successors. The colours they made were driven out of the fie>ld by newer and better colours made from their stuff by the development of their ideas, but these improved colours were made in Germany and not in England. Now -nhat is the explanation of this extraordinary and disastrous phenomenon? I give it in a word — ■ want of education. We had tho material m abundance when other nations had comparatively little. We had the capital and we had the brains, for we originated the whole thing. But we did not possess the diffused education without which the ideas of men of geoaius cannot fructify beyond the limited soope of an individual." In his address to the British Association, in 1903 Sir Norman Lockyer drew a -ompari~on between what Britain does for maintaining her sea power i.nd what she does for maintaining her brain-power. He points out that the British navy is yearly becoming: stronger, while the commerce it is designed to guard is yearly decreasing ; this involves a constant increase of taxation side by s'de with a constant decrease of wealth. The remedy he suggests is, not to build fewer battleships, but more universities, well equipped and manned, giving education in, the broadest and highest sense. He estimates that the building of a university and its upke-ep cost as much as those of a fir«rclass battleship — i.e., about £1.000,000 for building and £50,000 per annum for upkeep. * " Science and Culture and Other Essays," Prof. Huxley; p. 21. London Macmihan Co. 1882. ** Disraeli, in 1873, referring to the piogress up to that year. +'" Science," Sep. 25, 1903. British Ass. address. " The Influence of Bra-n Power on History." t " Science," Sept. 25, 1903, p 389. inaugural address by Sir Korinan Lockyer to Brit. Association. U Tech. Edit. Rep. Vie. Roy. Com , p 154 Lord Rosebery at Chatham, 22nd J anuary, 190 C § Adclre'3 to Belfast nac:Ung, Brit. Assouj.tion 4 1902.

Great Britain h?s only 13 universities, as cenparc^ with + .he 35 combined firstVass n i:vc-i3ito~. of l'C-rm ny and tho United States of A:v.trk\<. h r *we most formidable comn .roial riva'-. She would therefore need 22 ex^ra universities to bring her up to two-power standard in potential brainpower, as she is already up to two-power standard in naval power. But instead of asking for the 22 new universities, Sir Notxaan asks only for eight, and shows, according to the estimates already given, that £8,000,000 would be needed fpr the building of these universities, and £400,000 yearly for thoir upkeep. If, therefore, the yearly ■payments were capitalised at 2i per cent., a total vote of £24-^OOO,OOO would be needed, a sum only slightly in excess of the vote for new warships (£21,500,000) in 1888. The opinion has been expressed that Sir Norman lioctyer has overstated the caso, but h*> points out that in view of Sir Robert Giffen's estimate that, in 1901, the United Kingdom "as a going concern" was worth 16,000 jnillion pounds, ifc was not an exorbitant demand to ask £24,000,000 — i.e., l-166th— as a vote for higher education. He further points out that £24,000,000 is less than half the amount by which Germany is yearly enriched by having improved upon our chemical industries. It is not only in the older countries that the importance of science for national prosperity has received the recognition it deserves. Quite recently one of our own Australasian Governors, Sir Herbert Chermside, expressed himself as follows at the Technical College, Brisbane: — "It 13 not those indispensable members of civilised communities — however intellectual and high their functions — their judges, lawyers, priests, soldiers, and statesmen, who will have directly effected future developments, but their practical scientists. Hitherto in the Old World the direction cf national affairs has devolved mainly on exstudents from library, cloister, or law chambers, rather than on those frcm laboratory and lathe. But already such a Keie-ntist c,3 Lord Kelvin has enunciated that the making of accurate measurements is the high road to scientific discovery, and the day may well be- not far distant when the law of tho emergence of the fittest may transfer the direction of national interests to scientificallj r trained intellect, whioh would form a olass of higher moral ascendancy than any existing social or industrial one.'' " What is now to be done is to act, meaning thereby to e-nsuro a good foundation of genera] education for tho superstructure of a logically succeeding specialised one, to drastically reform dogmatic and didactic tuition with its sterilising effect on the imaginative faculties, to aim ?.t developing the highest qualities of tho human intelligeno» in contradistinction to such hereditary mechanical brains as those- of ants and bees. "IT The cry that Great Britain in matters of scientific education is behind Germany and America, and that we in Australia are behind Great Britain, has been taken up in Victoria in^ the excellent report on technical education lately furnished, as well as ill the fine report on primary education of the New South Wales Education Commissioners published a 'few weeks ago. That Great Britain is behind Germany is freely admitted by standard British publications. Thus, in "Nature," October 22, 1903, p. 602, we read : "In Britain the total number of students from 15 years and upwards taking complete day technological courses 33 3873 ; probably not more than 10 per cent, could pass the entrance examinations of Charlottenburg." The following shows ifchat while Great Britain is behind Germany an elementary science teaching, she is ahead of us m Australasia: — + "Exhibitions by London Stehool Board and Nature-study Exhibition Association indicate progress of practical work in science, especially in physics and biology. "The School Board has sought to encourage- the making of scientific apparatus by the science masters and their scholars out of ordinary and inexpensive materials, as more inetruetive than the mere manipulation of purchased articles-; and the exhibition of what has been thus produced in the schools during the last 12 months shows a Tery marked advance, both in quantity and Quality, over that of the preceding year. The exhibits — 651 in number — ranged over bot»ny, chemistry, heat, light, hygiene, magnetism amd electricity, mathematics, mechanics, natural history, physiography, physiology, sound, and steam. The board has also entered into arrangements with the custodians jf the Royal Parks for a weekly eupply of cut flowers, leaves, etc., to furjiish illustrations of the reading lesions, as veil as material for the scientific study of fcotany." "The Nature-study Exhibition Association has been organis*d for the purpose of creating an interest in biological studies, and of illustrating the most approved methods of arranging school museums and other appliances for teaching. The exhibition consisted of a lange collection of objects gathered by children in their own neighbourhood, and of drawings which they had made from the plants and animals themselves, and of M.S. notes as to their developancmt. These illustrations were generally given in their proper colours, and often .with the aid of a microscope." The general conclusion of the Education Commissioners for New South Wales is that •in that State there is practically no science teaching in the primary schools, that there is little science teaching in the secondary schools, and that, with a few bright excep.tions, of an inferior order. As regards the Heed for teaching science in primary schools, Mr Kmibbs reminds us of the statement of Mr Sydney Webb about England, "that it is in the classrooms of her primary schools that the battles of the Empire for commercial prosperity are being already lost."* Mr Knibba further states (Op. Cit., p. 20): — "In order x> profit by their opportunities, espeoially in our young country, at is requisite that the people- as a whole ■,liould have some idea of the significance of science for daily life and ordinary avocations. For example, a dairyman or agriculturist ought to know something of the meaning of botany, zoology, chemistry, t>acteriology, etc., in relation to his chances of success. Therefore he must get elementary instruction in the primary schools *bout such matters, and clearly the' only »persons competent to give it would be Jhe (persons who have at least been taught py specialists, and who have had opportunities

1T Sir Herbert Ohermsidia's speech at the annual distribution of prizes at the Teoknical College, Brisbane, Queensland. The Telegraph, Brisbane, May 4, 1903. •f British Association, Belfast, 1902. Beport ©f committee on "Teaching of Science m JEJementary. Schools." * Report of N.S. Wales Education Cgmmjfiaioners on Primars Educa-tion, ». 54,

of confirming and applying that knowledge by actual experiment, avid who, moreover, enlarge their experience through suitable rr.oa.ij. Here- it must be pointed out that the core-ensus cf opinion among persons competent to judge ia that mere literary attempts to leaim science are of smafl value." And again, p. 37: "Reference may be made to the recognition by Belgium of ihe value o_f scientific knowledge to the farming and dairying population and its influence on education. A.t the present time Belgium practically supplies her own needs im respect of dairy products, whereas a decade ago her imports were large. This is the result of a suitable education of her people. Scientific instruction in the primary schools is an essential basis for proper subsequent development, either in higher education, or in ediication for ordinary agricultural, commercial, industrial, or other pursuits. The. child properly taught the elements of science has a far more intelligent outlook upon the world and a better understanding of its present activity than he haa where the subject is neglected." If ever science is to diffuse itself through a peoplo it must be largely by means of tho primary school. Even in the most elementary stage of science teaching the great aim should be to make the child discover for himself, anel not merely commit to memory explanations given by teacher or text-book. Any science teaching which does not make the children think instead of allowing themselves to be filled like little pitchers is a fond thing vainly invented. Any science teaching, however elementary, which is not illustrated with experiments profits nothing. Children must be taught to experiment for themselves. Neither elaborate nor costly apparatus is needed for this purpose. The simpler the apparatus the bettor. Professor Gregory in 1113 admirable lecture lately on how to teach geography and in his school geographies for Victoria gives useful information on this subject. "Nature Studies in Australia" (by W. Gillies and R. Hall) and "Nature in Now Zealand" (by J. Drummond, edited by Captain Hutton) are both excellent books calculated to interest children in the natural history of their country and to cultivate healthy habits of observation. For encouraging observation and scientific collecting, and as an aid to experiments, every school should have its own museum. The museums should largely depend for their supply of specimens on those collected by the children. In the Continental schools ' of Europe the principals of the various industrial establishments make frequent gifts of materials for the school museums. No doubt similar establishments in these Austral lands, if properly approached, would do likewise. Tho value of excursions into the country cannot be overestimated. " Books in the Tunning brooks" are better than tho best of text-books^ and secure that realism which is to-day the great aim of teaching. Even mathematics lends itself to this, particularly the teaching of geometry, as Professor Chrslaw has recently shown u~. f

The New South Wales Education Commissioners also point cut that (or), cit., p. 33) Euclid's elements as a means of teaching geometry have for a long time been abandoned in the great majority of European countries, though the system is still retained in England, and quote. Professor Sylvester's remark + :—"I: — "I would rejoice to eee_ Euclid honourably shelved, or buried ' deeper than did plummet ever sound ' out of the schoolboy's reach. . . . The early study of Euclid made me a hater of geometry," and Mr Knibbs adds (op. cit., p. 34) : "French and German treatises on geometry of quite a moderate size teach a great deal more of the subject than can be gleaned from Euclid, and there is no doubt that the abandonment of Euclid's elements will not only make it possible to handle the subject more interestingly, but also to learn it more thoroughly and comprehensively." In view of the vast importance of mathematics to science, this association should use its best efforts to run the teaching of mathematics on modern lines, which are not such hard lines on children as the old lines, and are far more useful.

Then, in the matter of examinations, paper examinations in science, unaccompanied by practical tests, are as vain as teaching science without experiments, and are a direct discouragement to those heuristic methods, " the run and find out" for yourself methods of teaching, which Professors Armstrong and Perkin have so warmly advocated. Periodic inspections should largely take the place of examinations, a reform already adopted in conservative old England. While science teaching in primary schools must necessarily be of the character of Nature study, or Erdkunde, in the secondary schools distinct blanches of soience, like* chemistry, physics, biology, physiography, etc., can be taught. The same principles apply here as in the primary school teaching of science.

An excellent address on the methods of teaching chemistry in secondary schools was delivered as a university extension lecture by Mr A. H. S. Lucas to the teachers of New South Wales last year. §. He reviews the two methods of teaching chemistry — (1) the old method, in which a text-book is used epitomising up-to-date all the chemistry work done in the world, with the results described in their final finished form and logical order, usually not the historic order. (2) The heuristic method, in which the text-book is kept in the background, and the pupils are set problems which they have to work out for themselves. Professors Armstrong and Perry, in England, and Professor Masson, in Melbourne, are advooates of this latter system. Lucas concludes that the result >f the contest will be a compromise. He favours the reformers. What is true of the principles of science teaching in secondary schools applies equally to university teaching. The chief need of science teaching at -Australasian universities is better equipped laboratories. The amount which the Australian. States expend on their universities and laoratory equipment is small as compared with that expended by Germany and the United States under equal conditions of population. For example, in Germany the buildings of the new university of Strassburg have already cost more than a million, and the Government annual endowment is £49,000. In New South Wales, the population of which is 1,4-00,000, the statutory endowment and lecture votes, with votes for repairs, etc., amount to £13,000 a year; while for scientific, apparatus the vote this year 3s £1500;— total, £14,500. In California, with

+ Th<e Australian Journal of Education.VoL 1., No. 4. October 1, 1903. Brooks and Co., Sydney. t Address to Brit. Association, 1869. § The Australian Teacher, Vol, I, |j[o. 4. October 1, 1903, pp. H-lg.

I a population of 1,500,000, the annual income I of the university in 1898 was £42,000 from I the State Government, £7200 from the i United States Federal Government; — total, £49,200 from the Government, which is mere than threo times as nvnejhi as Sydney University receives. It might be mentioned that the California University, in 1898, had, in addition to the sum mentioned above, £50,&00 appropriated by the Government for building professional 6chools, and also an annual income of £24,000 from private endowments. "What is true of Sydney is more or less true of all the Australasian universities. Speaking of endowments suggests the case of Melbourne University. Is it not a disgrace not only to Victoria, but to the whole Commonwealth of Australia, that a teaching institution which has done so much for real education and for the advancement of science in this hemisphere should be allowed to be hampered by a debt of £32,000. Cannot this association do something to arouse public opinion as to the urgency of at once rehabilitating the Melbourne University. For a now racecourse the money would be at once forthcoming. Hotccs suggest the subject of sport. It should, I think, be one of the aims of thio association tc discover and destroy the xniorobe of sporting mania. Do not misunderstand me. "We should be the last to discourage any healthy sport. But when we worship in the cricket or football fields the wood and the leather, wo must remember that they are but idols, and must not let thorn occupy the chief shrine in our hearts. The following, told me lately by an American profceeor, will be recognised as not uncharacteristic of our people. He was approaohing the shores of Australia at a time when the fate of car "Empire hung in the balance. Like his fellow passengers he was eager to hear what the first news would be as he anp.roach.ed the chores of the great island continent. The pilot boat approached, and the pilot, through his speaking trumpet, roared these memorable words: "The Australians havo won the first test match." I calculated then, remarked the professor, that I had come to a great sporting country. It is not only in Australia that the love of sport has acquired 100 great an ascendency. The following speech, referring to sport, was made by England's Prime Minister, Balfour : " Boys of 17 or 18 who have to be educated in the secondary schools do not caa-e a farthing about the world they live in except in so far as it concerns the cricket field or the football field or the river." II If we go to America, we find the same sentiment expressed. In the "commencement" address at the Rose Polytechnic Institute aie these words If: — "But there is a noisy minority who have eucceeded apparently in convincing the public and, to a large extent, college authorities that one of the principal functions of an educational institution is the cultivation of muscle and the conduct of athletic sports. Along with the growth of this minority there has sprung up also a class of less strenuous men, who, taking advantage of the elective system, are pursuing courpes of aimless discontinuity involving a minimum of work and a maximum of play. They toil not, except to avoid hard labour; neither do they spin, except yarns of small talk over their pipes and bowls. I need not explain to you that these types of men are well known in natiual history. From time immemorial the gladiator and the Miss Nancy have received much of that fleecing attention which the careless crowd bestows on the gaudily-attired tumblers of the circus and on the transparent masks of pretenders. The sporting populace and the sporting alumni go wild with enthusiasm over inter-oc-llegiate contests, while the press, in a fashion similar to that followed in describing prize fights, devotes much more space to these ephemeral events than it does to all other educational affairs combined. It is no wonder then that the light-headed undergraduate attiree himself like a stableboy and affects the manners and vices of a cowboy without aspiring to the virtues of either. He may be excused also for entertaining the hypothesis that colleges are athletic clubs, and that his professors, as suggested by Mr Dooley, will proceed leisurely to take for him the requisite of formalities leading to a degree." The creation of a healthier state of public opinion is the chief remedy for excessive love of sport. In Germany, when "Virchow passed along the people were wont most reverently to raise their hats — an honour not accorded to /the greatest of athletes, amd yet Germany is not the least athletic of the nations ; but sh& is perhaps the best educated., and education gives true perspective to the world around us. If we are to create a healthier public opinion with regard to sport, politics, commerce, and all social matters, it nutst be by education. It is not the part of a patriot to hug himself in smug pessimism, comfortable in the belief that the country is being ruined. "We must gird up our loins and act. "We believe education, can avert the ruin, and that this association can directly help education. Sir Norman Loekyer has pointed out this: — "In Germany there is a Scientific National Council, of about a dozen members, consisting of representatives of the Ministry, the tmiversities, the industries, and agriculture. It reports direct to the Emperor. It does for industrial war what military and ?ocalled defence councils do for national armament. It considers everything relating to the use of brain power in peace — from alterations in school regulations and the organisation of the universities to railway rate 9 amd fiscal schemes, including the adjustment of' duties. What this council advises generally becomes law." He adds: "It should be pretty obvious that a nation so provided must have enormous chances in its favour. It is a question of drilled battalions against an undisciplined army, of the use of £he scientific spirit as opposed to the hope of ' muddling through.' " He suggests that in England a eciemtifio council might be appointed as & committee of the Privy Council. I beg to suggest that this association appoint an influential Research Committee to inquire into science teaching, and how to make it effective in primary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities. A committee might also approach the various Governments of Australasia on the subject of the formation of Scientific Boards of Advice. Suoh a work, if it can be successfully carried out, would be Avorthy of our best effort, and there is no reason why it should not succeed. The report of the British Association on the teaching of mathematics is beginning to work a great and good reform in England. We can but try. A lew words, in conclusion, about what seems to be the ideal of science. Science expects every man in this world to learn in the simple way that a child learns the great

II " Science/ 1 Sept. 25, 1903, p. 39' i, 51 " Science," Aueuat 7. lSfta.

lessons of the universe; she 1 wants him to be free as the air in his interpretation of what he sees and hears in the world of Nature around him, and she wants the simple child-habit of learning by experiment to follow him to boyhood^ from boyhood to manhood. She wants him to learn well that lie may live well ; to learn by experiment rather than wholly through the experience of others, so that he may be 1 selfreliant and think for himself. Thinking of this kind brings discovery, and the discoveries of science uplift humanity. Does not science uplift humanity? Has she not taught men to be fearless in the pursuit cf truth — taught them to sacrifice all for the truth? Year by year the devotees of science grow at a rate far faster than grows the population of the world. Science by her rigid and unswerving pursuit of truth is drawing to herself, not only her own votaries, but men of every shade of thought who lovs the truth. Such is the work of Science, and if she were doing no other work than this, would not her glory be greater than " glory of warrior, glory of orator, glory of song?"

A break was made at a suitable point in the President's address to place on view by means of the limelight a number of highly interesting pictures, concerning which explanatory remarks were made 1 by the President. At the conclusion of this exhibition the address was continued, and closed amidst loud apnlausa.

Bishop Nevill then ascended the steps loading to the platform, and said he must crave, permission to detain thos-o present for one or two minutes, but when he informed them the object he had in claiming their attention was to propose a vote of thanks to the much-admired Governor for his kindness in coming there they would pardon him for detaining them. — (Applause.) He only desiied to say that ho had learned from his Excellency that he had come all the way from Auckland to be present at the opening of the Congress. He sincerely trusted that his Excellency would reap some reward for his self-denial from the interesting address they had received from the President. He had alro to crave their permission to couple with the proposition of a voto of thanks the name of Sir Joseph Ward, who was present. He thought the thanks of the association were due to the Government for the way they had assisted them to carry out the great work they had engaged in in Dunedm on this occasion. — (Loud applause.) This closed the proceedings, and the large audience then dispersed.

Second Day. — Thi7bsd4t v Several lectures were giver on Thursday on different tubjocte. There were large audionoes at the majority of the meetings.

The Official Journal, which was issued early in the morning, at once placed before members and associates an outline of the day's proceedings, and thereafter everything woiked smoothly. The two plans of tho. building, contained in tho programme of airangements, are very serviceable to visitors, enabling them to make their way to the several meeting places without difficulty.