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Sloyal Society of D7ismania.

ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS, APRIL, 1903

OPENING MEETING OF THE 1903 times what it is at -the south end." I am, etc. (Signed) W. V. LEGGE. Mem- SESSION. ber of the Council).'' Letters from Sir , Mr, E. The members of the Royal Socie(ty of M. Johnston, the Hon. N. J. Brown, Mr. held their opening meeting of Russell Young, and the Hon. Dr. Butler, the 1903 secisiou on Tuesday evening, the regretting, that, owing to their absence Kth April, the President, Hi'S Excellency from , they were unable to attend, Sir A. E. Havelock, G.C.S.I., G.C.M.G., were read. presiding. His Excellency was accom- panied by Lady Havelock, C.I., Captain THE ANNUAL ADDRESS. Sheppard, R.A., Private Secretary, and His Excellency then delivered the fol- Mr. E. Nor- Lady Havelock's brcrher, W. lowing opening addrei&s: — ris. There a large attendance of was Vice-presidents and Fellows of the friends present, including members and Royal Society, For the second time there and — His Lordship the Bishop of Tasmania devolves upon me the honourable and Mrs. Mercer, J. Bvarber, of Ceylon, Mr. H. agreeable duty of pre^siding at the first v.'ho judicial officer there during was a meeting of the annual session of the Royal the time that Sir Arthur Havelock was Society of Tasmania. On this occasion, as Governor; Sir Jno. Dodds, and the Rt. on that of the opening of the siession of Rev. Dr. Deiany, Bishop of La.randa. On last year, the Council have decided that preisented arrival, Ladj' Havelock was our formal proceedings shall be short, and with (with the Have- a handsome bouquet that our meeting this evening shall take lock colours), as wa^ also Mrs. Mercer. the pleasant form of a social reception, ra- Correspondence. ther than the more serious > haracter of a scientific conference. The agreeable recol- The Secretary (Mr. Alex. Morton) read lection of last year's first meeting will, I the following letters: — am confident, reconcile you '"o this pro- "Cullenswood House, Cullenswood, 7th gramme. April, 1903. Dear Sir,—I much regret, that owiug to my having to be present at Review of Last Session the opening of the St. Mary's produce I think it fitting that I should pass in re- show on Wednesday, the 15th inst., in my view, and I will do this as briefly as pas- capacity as president, I shall not be able sible, the work of the session of 1902. The to come to the opening meeting of the So- Charter of the Royal ;Society lays down ciety. I desire again to tender my as its leading objects the inves'tigation of thanks, as a member of Council, to His the physical character of Tasm^ania, ani Excellency for the keen inteirest he hag the illustration of its natural history and taken in the work of our Society, and to productions. The records of the socdeiT express the hope that His Excellency may show that a wide interpretation has been see his way to continue th'at injterest dur- given to this enactment. One of my pre- ing the coming session. I would like bo decessors, when opening the session of call attention to the very valuable acqui- 1887, in commenting on the extent of the sition to the Museum of the handsome range otf the subjects dealt with by .he so- and instructive series of coloured plates ciety, remarked that its operations aad of Japanese fishes. They add consider- investigations had covered so vast an area ably to the educational value of the insti- as to include such diverse subjects as iij6 tution, and wil'I be especially interesting occultation of Jupiter and the Drainage to visitors from the neighbouring States. of Hobart. The same distinguished pre- I may mention that Mr. H. C. Kingsmill, sident, when addressing the society, for Meteorological Observer, and myself the last time, in 1892, spoke as follows: — made a trip in March to the Great Lake. "The attention which is now being given The re.sult of our work will, I trust, add on all sides to social and economic sub- considerably to our knowledge of the jects has left its mark upon the work of physiography of Tasma,nia. We took ex- our society for 1892; and the papers upoji haustive soundings of the Lake, and mea- such subjects, and the discussions arising sured the inflow of the streams at the upon them, form a marked feature in this north end, we were there during two year's proceedings. While on the one heavy falls of rain, and 'wevQ enabled to hand, I myself should be very sorry to observe the very lajrge supply of water see the Royal Society ofTasmania so far coming in from the ranges round Dry's dc'part tfrom the original intention cf its Bluff. This supply is constantly renew- founders as to develop into more or less ed ovring to the wez climate at the north of a debating socie-ly on social and eco- end, the rainfall being three ©Jid a kalf nomic subjects, on the other, to exclude I

a discussion of such subjects, from a sci- are allied in respect of aim and oif method entific standpoint, would, in my view, be with our Royal Society. Their proceed- the greatest mistake this society could ings and achievements, followed by the make." busy and prolific programme of the Royal In my humble opinion, this is as Society itself, made of the year 1902 a it should be. I believe -the general views veritable jubilee of scientific festivity— of the Council of the society on this point might almost say an orgy of science. The are in accord with mine; and the prac- year 1903 may fall short of its predecessor tice of the society, from its earliest days, in brilliant and striking events, but I feel has given proof of its acceptance of those sure it will no-t fail to leave a record of views. Our proceedings during 'the session much work of interest, of value, and otf of 1902 give a conspicuous example of this usefulness. Varied and copious as have comprehensive scope of the operations of been the contributions to research of the our S'ociety. society, during its life of sixty years, so inexhaustible is the' scope of physical and PAPERS. natural science, in its multiform branches that there is no visible end to the task of We find that while in the 22 its investigation and study. papers presented to us, matters of more strictly scientific interest, such as Geo- OBITUARY. logy, Mineralogy, Astronomy, Botany, Ichfhyaogy, Conchology, and Eintomolcgy, During the past year, death has, to our were brought before us and discussed, sub- deep regret, removed Mr. Mault, a mem- jects of a miore practical business charac- ber of our council—an accomplished man ter, such as the capacity of Tasmania a3 and an earnest worker of the society. Mr. a manufacturing centre, the comparative Mault's place on the council has been fill- value of its timbers, the preservation oi ed by 'the appointmenT of the Bishop of forests, and drainage and sewerage, receiv- Tasmania. ed a large measure of attention The paper which was read before us on the advan- TASMANIAN MUSEUM AND ART tages posseisised by Tasmiania far manu- facturing industries brought into promi- GALLERY. nence and suggestive notice our meeting of the sessional vast available water power. The At the opening the recent additions the papers presented to us on Tasmanian year, to Museum Gallery were declared open. timbers illustrated and emphasise'd the and Art And thus the commodious room in which we value 'and vastneiS's of our yet met has become available for the imperfectly -worked reserves of timber. are now Royal Society, The papers on forestry which have been purposes of the and for the of its valuable library. These put before us, and the discussions upon reception them, have contributed much expert advantages are, I believe, much esteemed tlie members of the society. One of our knowledge on the subject, and also propo- by vice-presid&nts, Hon. Nichoia.s J. Brown, S'als of considerable practical importance the speech w"hich he niaide in welcoming for the organisation and working of a sys- me as President of the society, ca.ried at- tem of preservation and renewal of our teu'tion to the desirability, in the anticipa- forests. Our treatment of the pressing tion tha't Tasmania is destined to become matter of drainage and sewerage has, I an important manufacturing and distri- feel sure, helped to spread much informa- buting centre for , of the organi- tion, and to remove many misconceptions sation and equipment of a Technological on the subject. Under the heads I have Museum. I happy 'to be able to ob- mentioned the society has planted and am serve that a beginning has been made to- nurtured a tree of knowledge, which has, wards the establishment of such a Ave may flatter ourselves, already borne museum. ifruic, and which I am fain to believe will yet yield still richer crops. On 'the more Creneral Remarks. speciallj' scientific side of its work, the so- ciety has added considerably to its al- The operations of our Fisheries Commis- ready rich stores of intelligent research. sion cannot fail to be of great interest to I think we may regard with satisfaction the Royal Society. Mr. A. G. Webster, is also the results af the session oif 1902. one of our vice-presiden-ts, who President of the Fisheries Board, returned KINDRED SOCIETIES. last December from a visit to Europe and America, bringing with him nearly The early part of the last year was made 500,000 ova of the American Quinnat sal- memorable by the holding in Tasmania of mon, the gift of the United States the ninth meeting of the Australasian As- Fisheries Commisgion. It is gratifying to sociation for the Advancement of Science, know 'that this shipment of ova has been and by a session of the Australasian Medi- successful—nearly -100,000 young fry hav- cal Congress. These great scientific bodies ing been liberated. Ill

An honour has been conferred on the thanks to His Excellency for his presence Royal Society by the Executive Council otf and The address that had been delivered. the Australasian Association for the Ad- He wisheid to felicitate the Society upon vancement of Science, in their selection having His Exceillency as president, as of Colonel Legge and Mr. Twelvetrees, tivp they had reason to be proud of the real members of the Royal Society, >to be presi- interest Sir Arthur Havelock took in the dents, respectively, of the Biological and Society. It was gratifying to think that Geological secMons of the Association, Tasmania possessed such a Society. Their Tvhose next meeting will be held at Dune- library was, indeed, a magnificent on-,. din in January, 1904. He desired to return rhanks for having been elected ^a member of the Council, and gift Mr. Carnegie of The munificent by he would do his best in the interests of the the c«f the purposes of a sum i'7,500 for Society. With regard to the scope of the Public Library in the city of Ho- Tree Society, if it was to be tied down to its bart, cannot fail to be a matter of interest The original charter, the membership would and of rejoicing to -the Royal Society. be small indeed. It was, therefore, essen librar-r is a sub- ch'oice of a site for the tial to give a wide interpretation to the all ject of anxious consideration. We charter. It was his opinion that they made, trust that an early decision will be should be liberal in their interpreta- the new library and that the building of tion of the terms of the charter. One of hand. will then be at once taken in the objects of the Society should be to ad- vance the interests of Tasmania. In Tas- CENTENARY OF TASMANIA. mania there was everything that nature could endow the State with, and still 0^ the 12th September, 1803, the first there was oinly a handful of people here. settlement of our Island State was planted He hoped that in the study of social and by Lieutenant Bo wen, oif the Royal Navy. economic questions, consideration woull On the 14th October, 1843, the Royal So- also be given to the development of Tas- ciety came into being, iinder the auspices mania. of the then Governor, Sir J. E. Eardley- Bishop Delany seconded the motion. He Wilmot. Thus, during the present year, was de.iighted to hear euch encouraging the centennial jubilee of Tasmania and the words as Bishop Mercer had used, and of diamond jubilee of the Royal Society will his desiire to make the island pro- all but synchronise. The hundred years gressive. When he first came to of Tasmania's life have seen her people Tasmania, he had been struck with grow into a healthy and vigorous com- the need of more progress being munity, showing perhaps a less rapid rise made, but in response to all inquiries and achieving perha.ps a less brilliant posi- on the subject, he was simply told "it tion than her neighbours, bu-t attaining a could not be done." (Laughter.) How- happy and healthy state of social and in- ever, he hoped that the time had noTV ar- dustrial development, I believe that the rived when the State would progress, and Royal Society, working with the com- the removal of inter-State barriers would munity at large, along parallel and sound surely conduce to that end. He thanked lines of progress, has contributed in no His Excellency for the 'address delivered, small degree to this propitious end. May and hoped he would long take an interest Tasmania and her Royal Society ever con- in the Society. tinue to co-operate in. the promotion of the The motion -vVas carried by acclamation. welfare and enlightenment of the people of the this favoured land. On motion of Mr. A. G. Webster, a hearty vote of welcome was accorded Mr. W. E. Norris and Mr. J. H. Barber. DISCUSSION. His Excellency r&turned thanks for the ^Ir. T. Stephens said he had prepared a kind vote that had been accorded him. small paper on a purely b'usinesis subject, Light refreshments were then served in but the circums'tances of the evening im- the trophy room, which was nicely fitted pelled to ask Excellency to ex- him His up for the occasion, a suite having been cuse him from reading it on tJiat occasion. lent for the purpose by Messrs. T. White- The Bishop of Tas-mania &aid that his sides and Son. The other rooms of the pleasant duty wouI4 commend itseif to Museum and Art Gallery were also ligited all present. It was to propose a vote of up during the evening.