Some Account of the Work and Workers of the Tasmanian Society and the Royal Society of Tasmanla, from the Year 1840 to the Close
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Tasmania Open Access Repository 109 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WORK AND WORKERS OF THE TASMANIAN SOCIETY AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANLA., FROM THE YEAR 1840 TO THE CLOSE OF 1900. By Alex. Morton, Secretary Royal Society of Tasmania. When the Scientific History of Australasia shall come to be written, it will be seen how large a share Tasmania has taken in the world of Science, and how valuable have been her contributions to its knowledge. Very early in the history of the British Settlement in Tasmania, a systematic attempt was made to classify its Flora, with the special object of discovering what edible roots or fruits were to be obtained ; and this, though perhaps undertaken with a view rather to the utilitarian than the purely scientific results, was of ubc to the investigators who followed in the same line. The scattered work of individual observers was first focussed in a Society, founded by Sir John Franklin in 1841, which was called at first the Philosophical, and soon after- wards the Tasmanian Society. The meetings were held at Oovernment House, then the most central place in the city, and the roll of names on its list of members contained such names as Sturt, Leichhardt, Sir Thomas Mitchell, Captains Ross and Crozier, and many others well know^n to fame. In the first volume of proceedings I find the name of Dr. (now Sir) James Agnew, with Port Phillip as his address. Ever since then his name has been identified with the work of scientific societies in Hobart, and his liberality in connection with them is too well known for me to do more than allude to it here in passing. The four departments of Zoology, Botany, Geology, and Meteorology, were the first to receive the attention of the Society, while Geography, in the face of the new discoveries being maae daily, soon claimed a large share of attention. The first Journal, published in 1843, has compressed in its pages so much that has gone to the making of history, as to make one wonder if the times seemed as remarkable to those who lived in them, as they do to us now. John Gould, then in Sydney preparing for his great work on the " Birds of Australia," contributed a paper on the habits of the brush turkey, which had been studied, appa- rently to little effect, before he turned his attention to its classification. 110 ROYAL SOCIETY FROM THK YEAR 1840 TO 1900. An article by Dr. Hooker on the fossil wood found at Macquarie Plains reminds us tliut the eminent surgeon was even then preparing to fjive the world the results of his examination of the Flora of Tasmania. The catalogue of edible fruits and roots, compiled by Mr. James Backhouse, finds its place here, considerably added to by Mr. Ronald Grunn, whose work has left scarcely any- thing to be done in this direction. There are descriptions of the birds and some of the fish of Tasmania, an article or two on the advantages of irrigation in the colony, and a list of native words compiled from documents in the Colonial Secretary's office by that remarkable adventurer, Jorgen Jorgenson, the Convict King. A battle between the observers of the Ornithorhyncus as to whether that extraordinary specimen were to be classed as oviparous or viviparous was then at its height, and a careful paper in this jouru.il gives all the reasons for pre- ferring to believe it viviparous, but no dawn of belief that it might yet be found to have some of the characteristics of both seemed to have visited the mind of anyone. A legendary tale of the Australian Blacks, one of those collected by Mrs. Parker, shows that the Aborigines, untroubled by scientific considerations, had decided that it was a cross between the kangaroo rat and the duck, laying its eggs like the duck, and then caring for them like a kangaroo rat. Perhaps of even greater interest to us at the present time is the fact that the return of the ships Erebus and Terror from their expedition to the Antarctic regions is recorded in this volume, with a report of the work done by Captains Ross and Crozier and those associated witli them. Lieut. Kay, of the Terror, remained here in charge of the meteoiological station, and did a great deal of work in connection with the magnetic survey of Tasmania. Both subjects — that of Antarctic exploration and the magnetic survey of Tasmania—have been very much shelved subjects from that time until the last year or two. The late Mr. James Barnard was one of the earliest members of the Society, and though, perhaps not a specialist in any particular subject, was devoted to furthering the aims of all the workers, and continued his interest in this Society until its dissolution, and was a member of the Royal Society until his death. The Rev. T. J. Ewing early made a list of the birds of Tasmania, and was one of the most useful members. Dr. Richardson began the classification of the fishes in Tasmanian waters, which has since been carried on by other workers, and completed by Mr. E. M. Johnston. i ! BY ALEX. MORTON. Ill I'hat brilliant scholar and eminent divine, the Rev. Dr. Lillie, contributed an introductory paper to the first volume of the proceedings, and took a keen interest in the work of the various branches, into which the energies of members were directed. He was for a time Hon. Secretary of the Royal Society, and did much while in that position to further its highest aims. The famous geologist, Count Strzelecki, who walked a distance of 7,000 miles in investigating the geological con- ditions of Australia and Tasmania, gave some account of his journeyings to this Society, and described many little known parts of the island. The Count examined a natural mineral water found near Circular Head, and observes, among other things, that it is sufficiently nauseous to be of medicinal value ! Count Strzelecki, in 1845, published the fiist systematic sketch of the geology and general physical character of Australia and Tasmania. A series of very interesting articles, by Captain Cotton, on irrigation, and one on a newly discovered steam digging machine, remind us that then, as now, there were not wanting those who saw the advantages that would accrue to Tasmania if a more enterprising spirit were manifested by the residents. It is difficult, in looking over volumes in which every word is of historic interest, to leave out any item, but that would need so much more time than I have at my disposal that I must be content to make a selection, not perhaps the best that could be made, but one that is possible to compress into the limit of time available. For a like reason, while there are many names of useful workers left out of this short chronicle, it is not to be supposed that they were not worthy to be all on the roll of honour, but the inexorable demands of time forbid. The second volume contains a fuller account of the Antarctic Expedition, and of the landing in two places, and taking possession in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, of the whole Antarctic Continent. It has not yet become a summer resort We are reminded that in the time of Sir John Franklin the " Beagle," with Darwin on Board, called at Hobart, and the great man had opportunities of observing the many interesting things in so new a country. One of the things that filled him with surprise was, that the steamer in which he went to Kangaroo Point had been entirely built in the colony. A paper contributed by Dr. Agnew, on the poison of snakes, marks not his first membership, but his first — 112 ROYAL SOCIETY FROM THE YEAR 1840 Td 1900. active work for the society. His name appears in the first list of members, with residence : —Port Phillip. His first paper, was written from Saltwater River, Tasman PeDiiisula, where as medical :)ffieer to the government he had leisure to observe the poisonous apparatus of the venomous reptiles of that country retreat. Some very useful remarks on the nomenclature and classification of rocks in new couutries, by the English geologist, Mr. J. B. Jukes, set forth clearly the grouping on which geologists should found their method of classification. The Rev. T. J. Ewing, whose list of birds is contained in the first volume, is represented in the second bv a paper on the statistics of Tasmania, from which it may be of interest to make a few^ extracts. The three years under review are from 1838 to 1841. The revenue from the customs increased during the three yenrs from =£70,000 to dgSSjOOO, an increase of 21 per cent. The post office revenue rose from d£4,300 to ^6,500, or 25 per cent. The total revenue, including sales of Crown lands, rose from ^144,562 to ^£237,381. The average value for the three years of the imports was =£665, 535, for a population which, including convicts, only numbered 50,000 souls. The sheep in 1841 amounted to 1,167,737 ; the horses numbered 12,000; horned cattle, 90,000. There were 1287 marriages during the period. Th9lt,ev W. Colenso, an enthusiastic naturalist, contributed valuable notes of a trip in New Zealand, during which he collected more than 1000 specimens of natural history.