Canberra Meeting.—The biennial meeting of the A. and N.Z.A.A.S., held this year at Canberra, was attended by over twelve hundred members and associate-members. The surroundings of the Commonwealth Capital City, though not at their best owing to the long drought and the abnormally high temperatures prevailing, formed a picturesque, if somewhat inconvenient, setting for the meeting, which lasted from the 11th to the 18th of January. Many of the papers read at the meeting were of more than usual merit, and one or two of the symposia led to conclusions which should prove of value in connexion with future work. A full report of the meeting will be published in due course. Two features of interest to this Society were the success attending the geology section under the guidance of one of the Society's representatives, Professor R. Speight; and the selection, already referred to, of another representative, Dr. P. Marshall, as President-elect. The representatives of the Society at the meeting were greatly indebted to some of the residents of Canberra, and the staff of the Stromlo Observatory, for their kindness in providing cars when the general transport arrangements failed. I come now to the second section of my address; a section for which I have chosen a semi-historical subject—Two Royal Societies: those of London, and New Zealand; the former (christened “Royal” in 1662), not only the oldest but also by far the most renowned in the British Empire; the latter (christened in 1933), the youngest, and perhaps the least known of that small group to which the ancient title “Royal Society” has been granted. I propose to speak to you briefly, and perhaps for that reason baldly, of their origin, and their aims. Their origins, naturally enough, were similar. It is characteristic of man that so soon as he has mounted a hobby-horse he should desire to ride with others similarly mounted, so that he may bore them with his views regarding the particular hobby they are riding. In this way one or two Londoners interested in the experimental science of their day gathered to themselves others with like interests, and by 1645, “divers worthy persons inquisitive into natural philosophy, and other parts of human learning; and particularly of what hath been called the New Philosophy or Experimental Philosophy” held weekly meetings at one or another convenient house or tavern.* These meetings we held sometimes at Dr. Goddard's lodgings in Wood Street (or some convenient place near), on occasion of his keeping an operator for grinding glasses for telescopes and microscopes; some times at a convenient place (The Bull Head) in Cheapside, and at Gresham College …. and after the lecture ended, repaired …. to some other place not far distant.” (Wallis's “A Defence of the Royal Society,” 1078.) They certainly emptied their tankards of ale, but they were very much in earnest, and it is fairly evident that “The Invisible Colledge” of Boyle's letters is nothing but this ancient company of philosophers.