: a ee ee. a ee a ee yet te ge hae: lige JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, FOR 1897. (INCORPORATED 1881.) VOL oe EDITED BY THE HONORARY SECRETARIES. THE eae OF PAPERS ARE ALONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE STATEMENTS. DE AND THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED THEREIN PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY, 5 ELIZABETH STREET NORTH, SYDNEY. AGENTS : RGE ROBERTSON & Co. 17 Warwick ati PATERNOSTER Row, Lonpow, 35.C. 1897. Avid, Bot. Garde 3B QO ww, NOTICE. Tue Roya Society of New South Wales originated in 1821 as the “Philosophical Society of Australasia”; after an interval of inactivity, it was resuscita in , under the name of the Australian Philosophical Society,” by which title it was known 1856, when the name was changed to the “ Philosophical Sasiety of New South Wales ”; in 1866, by the sanction of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, it assumed its present title, and was incorporated by Act of the Parliament of New South Wales in 1881 NOTICE TO AUTHORS. The Honorary Secretaries request that authors of papers (to be read before the Royal Society of New South Wales) requiring illustrations by zinco-type or photo-lithographic process, will, before preparing drawings, make application to the Assistant Secreta for patterns of the standard sizes of diagrams etc. to suit the Society’s Journal. NOTICE. The Society’s Journal for 1897, Vol. xxx1., has been forwarded to the same Societies and Institutions as enumerated on the printed list in Vol. xxx. (viz. 400), with the addition of the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago. It is requested that the volume may be acknowledged by returning the Form of Receipt (to be found stitched i in the com- delay or mis.delivery may be brought to notice. ERRATA. Page 116, line 6, for “ side,”’ read “* sides,” » 141, line 7, for “ vigorous,” read ‘ rigorous.” » 158, line 19, for “ Dilbi’s,” read “ Dilbis.”’ » 170, line 28, for ‘* Murri,” read ‘ » 176, line 11, for “ atfached,” read attached.” » 212, Fig. 17, the rie t-hand By, from the top of the nearest pole is not shown in the zincotype. Abstract of cesarean xxix., line 2, for “and” read “ on.” PUBLICATIONS. 0 Transactions of the Philosophical Society, N.S. W., 1862-5, oes 374, out of print. Vol I. Transactions of the pai oe Ni Ss, Wj) dS86(appe 83, © ” Tf. ” ” ”? 1868, , 2 "120, ” ” ut ” oy ” ” ” 1869, ” 173, ” 2° ay ” ” 2” » ” 1870, bP] 106, ” 2 ¥ ” ” rE) ” ” 1871, ,, 72, »” ” Be ” ” ” ” ” 1872, ” 128, ” ” Vit 2? 2 ” 2? 2” 1873, ” 182, ” ” Vill ” 3 ” ” ” 1874, ” 116, bP ” ” ” ” 1875, ” 235, 2”? is X. Journal and Proceedings ‘si F 1876, ,, 333 i ” ” ” ” ” ” 877, , an XII. 5 $3 - na 1878, ,, "304, page 6d ” XITi. ” 3D ” 9 ” 1879, 9 255, ” 10s. 6d. ” XIV ”? ” ” ” ” 1880, ” 3 1, ” 10s 6d ” XV. ” 2” ” ” ” 1881, »» 440, ;, 10s. 6d ” XVI ” ” ” ” ” 1882, ” 3 7) ” 10s. 6d ” XVII ” ” ” ” ” 1883, ” 4, ” 10s. 6d ” XVIII ” ” ” ” ” 1884, ” 224, ” 10s, 6d ” XIX ” ” ” ” ” 1885, ” 240, ” 10s. 6d ” XX ” ” ” ” ” 1886, ” 396, ” 10s. 6d ” XXI ” ” ” ” ” 1887, ” 296, ” 10s. 6d ” XXII ” ” ” ” ” 1888, ” ” 0s. 6d *: SOREL, ‘i és hs re es 1889, ,, 534, ,, 10s. 6d ” XXIV. ” ” ” ” ” 1890, ” 38 0) Pe, 4 i 5 4 a SoS, 388, 55 106 OR ” XXXVI ” ” ” ” ” 1892, ” 426, ” ” XXVII ” ” ” ” ” 1893, ” 530, ” 10s. 6d 9X VITT. ” ” ” ” ” 1894, ” 368, ” ti ” XXIX. ” ” ” ” ” 1895 ” 9 10s. 6d ” x. ” ” ” ” ” 1896, ” 568, ” 10s. 6d ” XXXI ” ” ” ” ” 1897, ” 626, » 10s 6d CONTENTS, VOLUME XXXI. OFFICERS FOR 1897-98 ... ee List or Mempzrs, &c. Art. I—PresIpENt’s Aa DRESS. ae J. H. ite: F.L.S. Arr. II.—On the Crystalline Structure of Gold and Platinum Nuggets and Gold Ingots. By A. Liversidge, LL.D., F.R.8. (Plates i. — xvi. Arr. IIT.—A Contedbalion to the Study of Oxygen at Low Pree- sures. By R. Threlfall, m.a., and Flor e Martin Arr. IV.—Determination of the Orbit Macots of Comet f 1896 (Perrine). By C. J. Merfield, F.B.A.s. ArT. V. Phe onset a Ascertaining the Minute dieains wiskoh occur in Mate when Stressed within the Elastic Limit. y W. H. comer . Sc., M. Am. Soc. C.E., M, Inst. C. E. ART. vL —The Theory of the retin iad Extensometer a Prof. Martens. By G. H. Knibbs, F Art. VII.—The ili or jatuee: cmon of the Mae rumbidgee Tri By R. H. Mathews, t.s. Arr. VIII. ee Distainad of Australian Tribes. By R. i. Mathews, Arr. IX.—On a> 2 Inpex To Votume XXXI._... ioe des oe ess w+ (kxv.) Koval Society of Hey South ales. OFFICERS FOR 1897-98. orary Presiden HIS nycinaicey pac RIGHT one HENRY ROBERT VISCOUNT HAMPDEN President: HENRY DEANE, m.a., M. Inst. C.E. Vice-Presidents: CHARLES MOORE, v.t.s. Pror. THRELFALL, m.a. Pror. ANDERSON STU ART, m.p. | Pror. T. W. E. DAVID, 8.A., F.G.8. . Treasure HG. A, wide M.R.C.S. Sic ca Lond. Hon, Secretaries: G. H. KNIBBS, r.z.a.s. Ld ee MAIDEN, F.1u.s. Members of Council: Cc. W. DARLEY, M. Inst. C.E, H. A. LENEHAN, F.B.A.8. J. GRAHAM, .a., M.D., M.L.A. Prof. LIVERSIDGE,m.a.,Lu.D.,F.B.S. J. W. GRIMSHAW, M. Inst. C.E. F. H. QUAIFE, ™.a., M.D. W. M. HAMLET, r.c.s., F.1.c. H.C. RUSSELL, B.A.,0.M.G., F.B.8. S. T. KNAGGS, m.p. Pror. WARREN, M. Inst. C.E., Wh.Sc, Assistant Secretary : Ww ie NOTICE. Members are particularly requested to communicate any change of address to the Hon. Secretaries, for which purpose this slip is inserted. Correct ‘Address: Name Titles, &c \ Address........ Date....... | _ To the 4 Hon. Secretaries, q The Royal Society of N. S. Wales, 5 Elizabeth Street. Svdnevy. LIST OF THE MEMBERS OF THE Ropal sari of = South Wales, = peamhers ho h t h have been pub blished in the Society’s Transacti papers published in in the Transactions of the Philosophical Societs y are also included. "the numerals indicate the number of such contributions, me 1877 Abbott, The Hon. Sir Joseph Palmer, Knt., Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Castlereagh athedtsl 1877 | P 5| Abbott, W. E., ‘Abbotsford,’ Wingen. 1896 a Beckett, M M. E., ‘ Surbiton,’ Holden-street, Ashfield. 1864 Adams, P. F., ‘Casula,’ Liverpool. 1895 Adams, J. H. "M., eres Club, p.r. Signin Cottage, St. James’ Road, Waverley 1878 Kieuabs, Georg e M., Grosvenor Hotel, vemos gs Hill. 1890 | P 2 Allan, Pe ercy, Assoc. M. Ins m. Soc. C Engin Charge of Bridge Design, Public we orks Depact. eave 1885 Aiiwocth, Joseph Wit o grtremien Surveyor, East Maitland. 188) Amos, Rober t, Ee Kinneite ‘Bliz y: 1877 Anderson, H. C. L., m.a., a eaten 1890 Anderson, William. 1896 Archer, Samuel, s.z. Roy. Univ. Irel., Resident Engineer, Roads and Bridges Office, Mudgee 1878 Backhouse, Alfred eh, m.A., District Court Judge, ‘ Melita,’ se abeth Bay 1877 Baker, E. A 1894/P 3 Baker, ‘ichara fe gag F.L.s., Assistant Curator, Techno- 1894. staid Gaotenc ‘Sandymount, Dunedin, New Zealand. 1895 | P 3/ Bancroft, T. L., so -» Deception Bay, vid Burpengary, Bri sbane, Gisgony 1896 al 2 Be a , Registrar, Sydney pesriiage 1895 | P 4 bissasecus. s. io B.E., M.M.E., Lecturer in Mechani Engineering, Sydney University, p.r. banekowag 30 Bayswater ee. Darlinghurst. 1876 Bassett, W. F., s. Eng., George-street,, Bathurs' 894 Baxter, Wi iat | Howe: Chief eee Existing Tanai Office, Railway Department, p.r. ‘ Hawerby,’ Carrington Avenue, Strathfield. 1888 Bedford, Alfred Perceval, Manager Permanent Trustee Co. of N. S. Wales, 16 0’Connell-street. a ork Belfield, Algernon H., ‘ Eversleigh,’ Dumaresq. 1 75 lisario, John, M.D., ‘Lyons’ Terrace, Hyde Park. 876 Benbow, Clement A., 268 Elizabeth-street. (x.) 1869 | P 2| Bensusan, S. L., 14 O’Connell-street, Box 411 G.P 1895 Bensusan, A. J., A.R.8.M., F.c.8., Laboratory, 12 O°Connell-at: 1888 tBlaxland, Walter, F.R.c.s. Eng., L.R.c.P. Lond., Broken Hill. 1893 score Charles E., 3B.c.5. Melb., Wa ter fe ceceention nch, Public Works ik rebeergg preety 1879 oid, Aceh, 131 Bell’s Chambers 1897 Boucher, Arthur Sackville, mM. Inst. 7s E., “Mining Engineer, Equitable Buildings. 1895 waar ed James W., Superintendent of Public Watering laces and gy te i Boring, Department of Mines and A oviniibite 1891 Bowman, ween! ime c.E., 4 Barncleuth Square, Darlinghurst. 1893 Bowman, John, 1893 Bowishal ’ Regina ald, M. B.et Ch. M. Edin., Parramatta. 1876 Brady, Andrew John, Lic. K. & R. Coll. Phys. Jrel., Lic. R. Coll. Sur. Irel., 3 Lyons’ Terrace, Hyde Park. 1891 Brennand, Henry W., g.A., Bank of New South Wales, * a | Haymarket Branch, City. 1878 tBrooks, Joseph, F.R.G.8., F.R.A.S., ‘ Hope Bank,’ Nelson-street, Woollahra. 1896 Brown, Alexander, Newcas 1876 Brown, Henry Joseph, Solicitor, Newcastle. 1893 Bro La “ Hyde Pod Colling, ™.B., ch. 8B. Melb., 285 Elizabeth- street, e Par 1891 ag J ce tak Technical ero Sydney. 1877 Bundock, W. C., ‘ Wya Me. 1891 | P 2 Burge, Chasios Orms bi. on Prin nei pal reel oe nt Engineer, Rail- y Construction,‘ Fitz Johns,’ Alfred- _ Le Sinko Sydney. 1890. Burn x De: Alfred, oe, : ber di Ter e, Liv pool-st. 1880 Bush, Thomas James, Eng s Office, dae Gas-Light Company, 163 ae oateg 1876 Cadell, Alfred, Dalmort 1897 Callender, James Ormiston, Consulting Electrical Engineer, Equitable eae! 1894 Cameron, Alex. Mackensie, Walgett. 1889 Campbell, Geor 1891 Campbell, Jobin onlay tied Royal Mint, ie ane 1879 mas 2 ll, covhd begs eph, M.A., F.G.8., F.C.S Te Aroha, Auckland, 1891 ear Ww. “Dagala, Assoc, M. Inst. C.E., Assoc. King’s Coll. Lond., F.G.8., Cre e-street, South Perth, 1876 Cape ., M.A. Syd., ‘ Karoola,’ anager tee sir Cardew, John Haydon, Assoc, M. Inst. 8 Carleton, Henry K., m.1.c.2., ‘ Tarcoo 2 Metaonat Woollahra. utual i tt-street. 1879 | P 1|\{Chard, J. S., Licensed Surveyor, Armidale. § R.C 1878 Chisholm, Edwin Eng., u.8.a. Lo 1885 Chisholm, William L 139 quarie-street, North 1891 e, Gaius, c.z., Land Titles Office, Land fein Branch. 1888 Clubbe, C. P. B., u.8.c.p. Lond., m.R.0.8. Eng., 195 Macquarie- street. 1878 1885 1875 1894 1880 Pl Pi ie ge | Pill (xi.) Cook, W. E., m.c.z. Melb. Univ., M. mst.c.e., District Engineer, Water and Sewerage Departm rm North Sydney. Codrington, John Frederick, m Eng., .R.c.P. Lond., L.R.c P. Edin., ‘ Holmsdale,’ Ghisewond. Cohen, Algernon A., m.B., M.p. Aberd., M.x.c.8. Eng., 714 Dar- linghurst Ro par atten David, M.D. Lond., F.R.c.s. Eng., ‘ Airedale,’ Summer Hill. Colquhoun, psi Crown Solicitor, ‘ Rossdhu,’ Belmore urstvi Coljens t. UC; hoa Gas-Light Co., 163 Kent-street. Comrie, James, ‘ Northfield,’ Kurrajong Heights, vid Rich- mond. Soa Samuel, a gay Bourke-st., Waterloo. : = ‘Warminster,’ Canter- asa! oll George R., En: ngineer for Tramways, p.r. ‘ Glencoe,’ Tor —_— Road, Strathfield. Cox, James, M.p. Edin., c.M.z.8., F.L.S., 47 Pitt-street, Milson’s Point, N North hore. Cox, The Hon. bie Henry, m.u.c., Mudgee Crago, W. i ‘oi 8. Eng., L.R.C.P. ‘Lond. 34 College-street, Hyde P Creed, The H n. J. Mildred, m.t.c., m.R.c.s. Eng., u.8.c.P. Edin., 195 5 Blizabeth- street bton. Curran, Rev. J. Milne, Lecturer in Geology, Technical College, Sydney, p.r. 557 Wlisabeth-atreet, City. Dangar, Fred. H., c/o Messrs. Dangar, th ai & Co., Mer- ~ cantile Bank Chambers, Margaret-stree Dues, Henry Harvey, ™.£., Assoc. M. Inst. ae Duke anit Bridges Branch, Public Works Departmen Darley, Cecil West, M. Inst. C.E ” Hagincer-in-Chief, Public Works epartment. Darley, The Hon. Sir Frederick, x.c.m.a., B.A., Chief Justice, Supreme Court. David, T. W. Edgeworth, B.a., F Professor of Geology and Pena * baka epaday Vaiwoniae, Glebe. Vice- Davie: Soop M. Inst. C.E., Supervising _— Sewerage Branch, Department of Public Work Dean, Alexander, J.P., 42 Cas anal nierenat Box 409 G.P.O. ne, Henry, M.A., M. Inst. c.E., Engineer-in-Chief for Railways, Railway Construction Branch, Public os Lg oberg p.r. ‘ Blanerne,’ Wybalena Road, Hunter’s Hill. President. Deck, John Feild, m.p. Univ. St. And., L.R.C.P. beak M.R.C.8. Eng., Ashfield. De Salis, og tee hes: ‘Tharwa,’ Queanbeyan. : Dick, James Adam, 3.a. Syd., M.p., c.m. Edin., ‘ Catfoss, Balaton . Bandwieke . Dixson, Thomas, m.s. Edin., Mast. Surg. ee Me street, Hyde Park. (xii-) 1875 | P 12; Dixon, W..A., F.cS,, F.1.c., Fellow and Member Institute of 1879 1876 1873 1878 1876 | gna Chemistry of Saat Britain and Ireland, Lecturer on Chemistry, Sydne Sctker, Wilfred L., ‘ ‘Nyrambla, Darlinghurst Road Dookers rnest B., m.a. Syd., District Court, Judge, ‘ Car-) hu en? Granville. Du Faur, E., F.8.¢.8., ‘Exchange Buildings, Pitt-street. Edgell, Robert Gordon, Roads and Bridges Office, Wollombi. Edwards, George Rixon, Resident Engineer, Roads and ridges Elwell, Paul B., ™. hist. C. E.; M.LE.E., &., ‘Australian Club Ethe ative, Robert edi Curator, Australian Museum. Evans, George, Fitz n Chambers, Castlereagh-street. Evans, howe as, M gio "Eng, 2 211 Macquarie-street, North. Everett, W. Frank, Roads and Bridges Office, Muswellbrook. Fairfax, Charles aa S: M. Herald Office, Hunter-street. Fai t {Fairfax, Edward 8, S. M. Herald Office, Hunter-street. Fairfax, Geoffrey E., S M. Herald Office, Hunter - 2 s R., 8. M. Herald Office, Hunter-stre re R. L., m.p. New York oe Phys. & pane): L.B.C.P., . Lond., 18 Wylde-stree Far mE hua J., 5.P.,‘Cora Lynn,’ Addison Rd., Marrickville. Fell, "David, Public Leneuutant, "Eguitable Buildings, Gene. 8 Fiaschi, Thos. ., M.D., M. Ch. Univ. Pisa, 149 Macquarie-street. Firth, Saray Rhodes, M. Inst. C.E., Engineer-in-Chief, Existing Lin . moray eae og ne: Wiisparall Bobs rt D., Roads and Bridges Branch, Depa artment of Public Works, Sydney ; Pir. Alexander-st., Hunter’s Hill. Fitzhardinge, Grantly Hyde, m.a. Syd., District Court Judge, *Nunda,’ Birch Grove, Balmain. ae Nead, oa %. S.& A. Bank, Ltd., Walker-street, th S r Flint, Chavies Alfred, m.A., King’s School, Parramatta. {Foreman, Joseph, M.R.c.s a. Eng., L.B.C.P. Edin., 215 Macquarie- street. Foster, The Hon, Mr. W. J., a.c., Enmore Newtown Furber, T. F., Surveyor Gananate Office, 218 Victoria-street. Gale, Walter Frederick, F.8,4.8., Mem. 4.8.7. &B.4.4., Savings’ Bank of New South W ales, Newcastle. Gedye, ea ite Townsend, c/o Messrs. Dangar, Gedye & Co., Mercantile Bank Chambers, Margaret-street. George, a R., 318 George-street. (xiii.) 1879 Gerard, Francis, c/o Messrs. Du Faur & Gerard, Bo G.P. 896 Gibson, oe k teers District Court J nudge, . t Geacnias? Stanmore Road 1891 | Gill, Ribeet: a, Public Works Department, Moruya. 1875. Gilliat, Henry a, Australian: Club, ee 1876 | P4: Gipps, F. B., ¢.x., ‘ Elmly,’ Mordialloc, V: 3 | Goode, W. H., ™. .. Ch. iploma aia (i “State Medicine Dub. ; Surgeon Royal Navy; rig Mem. Royal Dublin pratt » Soci iety ; Mem. Brit. Med. ; Lecturer on Medical Ju urisprudence, Universi ty fre Sydney, 159 Macquarie-st. 1859 Goodlet, John H., terbury soar Ashfield. 1896. Gollin, Walter Winslow ae rete, ng Point. 1886 Graham, James, a .A., M.D . Edin., M.u.A., 183 Liver- pool-street. 1891 | P1 Geek Venue Walter, M. Inst. C.E., M. I. Mech. E., &., Australian Club, Sydne 1892 Gundlach, oui] Richard, A.m.1.c.z., Whistler-street, Manly. 1877 | Gurney, T. T., m.a. Cantab., Professor of Mathematics, Sydney Univ

Other Wor vee oor vee eee aoe a 2. Agriculture— 38 43 a. Green Manuring &e. ... ve Ah b. Some work of the Department of Agricutnre ws 46 ¢. Mr. W. Farrer’s work with Wheats ... OR. . d. a of Seeds ee ea a | Anatey 5 1897, coe 2 J. H. MAIDEN. 38. oe Sai Page, Ar ae ova OS ; oni of vlacatiaus satprior hile cae ee c. Industry of seed-collecting . Be ia oe d. Supply of ely timbers not daseniied er i ee e. Forest-thinnin ase oc f. Ringbarkin we ee i oe g. Noxious ‘whet and Prickly Pear nie ats ges OF 4. Australian Tim a. School “Timber Research ... ay oa 68 b. Wood-paving ghee ae pan i. 08 c. Special uses of a our iaavhere pee nee ave i OU 5. ists Teaching in New South Wales— a. The pr rns state of botanical instruction in the Colony b. An institution foe potanionl sidan: os we GE c. Education of Foresters 62 6. A 7 for a Botanical Survey suakdonil in its ‘polesital a . Pure Botany oa, OS .. Agriculture ves ae i ees és see OD: . Forestry we yes ae ws i we OE F Povibeaibars ae ve OS Part I. —History of the Society during the past year.— 1. Rott or Mempers—The number of members on the roll on the 30th of April, 1896, was four hundred and nine. Thirty new members were elected, but the Society lost by death seven members and by resignation twelve, leaving the total number on the roll on the 30th April, 1897, four hundred and twenty. 2. Osrruary.—The following isa list of the members who have died since the last Annual Meeting :— Honorary Member - Mueller, Baron Ferdinand von K.C.M.G., M.D., F.R.S., elected 1875. Ordinary Members : Chambers, Dr. Thomas ; elected 1882. Eldred, Capt. W. H.; elected 1876. Garvan, J. P., m.L.A.; elected 1877. Gill, Rev. W. Wyatt, B.a., Lu.D.; elected 1884. Nicholls, W. H.; elected 1895. Sahl, Carl L.; elected 1875. Styles, G. M. ; elected 1883. ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 3 I propose to make allusion to the life-work of Baron von Mueller under Part III. of my address. Dr. Tuomas CHAMBERS was sixty-seven years old at the time of his death, which took place on the 24th August. He wasa native of Yorkshire, and in the year 1858 became a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, England; in 1867 a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, and in 1875 a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh. He became Senior Physician in the Chelsea Hospital for Women, as he took a great interest in, and during his whole life made a study of, the diseases of women. In 1882 Dr. Chambers was compelled by ill-health to relinquish an extensive London practice and seek the more con- genial climate of New South Wales, and in his adopted country lived a highly useful and successful life. For some years he was lecturer on midwifery and the diseases of women at the Sydney University ; and he was recognised as one of the greatest gynx- cological authorities in Australasia. He was an Hon. Physician of Prince Alfred Hospital, and in 1892 was Hon. Treasurer of of the Intercolonial Medical Congress held in Sydney. The deceased gentleman had also occupied the position of President of the New South Wales Branch of the British Medical Association, &@ society in which he always showed considerable interest. The death of Captain Witt1am Henry Exprep, occurred on the 17th January. He was in his seventy-eighth year, and had ably fulfilled the duties incumbent upon him as Consul-General for Chili, though of late he had not figured very prominently in public. A genial and hospitable man, he will be chiefly remem- bered amongst us for the interest he took in acclimatisation matters, particularly referring to plants, spending much time and energy in the reciprocal introduction of plants of Chili and New South Wales. | By the death of J. P. Garvan on the 25th November, the Colony has lost a. good man and a distinguished citizen. Mr. Garvan was born at Cappa, County Limerick, on 2nd May, 1843, and while still a child was brought to Australia. He waseducated = 4 J. H. MAIDEN. at the Sydney Grammar School, and received systematic legal training, although he never became a solicitor. He had consider- able experience in the management of mining companies, and his organising ability was also shown in the City Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company, the Citizens’ Life Assurance Company, and other institutions founded and managed by him. He was a member of Parliament for many years and a Treasurer of the Colony. Of recent years no member more regularly attended our monthly meetings than did the Rev. W. Wyatt GILL, B.A., LL.D., a man of much charm of manner, and one whose depth of knowledge was only equalled by his willingness to impart it. He was one of the pioneer missionaries of the London Missionary Society in the South Seas, and died on the 11th November last. His experience of the South Sea mission field extended over about half a century, and his Lu.p. degree was conferred in recognition of his work of seeing through the press a translation of the Bible in the Rarotongan language. Rarotonga was for many years the field of his missionary labours, and Dr. Gill’s knowledge of the dialect was singularly accurate and ample. He was the author of several books on folk lore in the South Seas, and a contributor of numerous papers on ethnology and kindred subjects to many scientific and literary institutions. These led him into communion with several eminent students on the subject of ethnology, notably Professor Max Miiller. For several years Dr. Gill was associated with Dr. Chalmers in New Guinea, which was the last scene of his missionary labours. His long experience of the natives of the South Seas led him to be regarded as one of the highest authorities upon the languages, customs, and history of those peoples, and his contributions in this respect to the subject of ethnology are considered to be of unique value, in so far as they have rescued from oblivion what might otherwise have been now quite irrecover- able. Mr. ©. Silvester Horne, in his story of the London Miss- ionary Society, tells of Mr. Gill landing at Savage Island in 1846, after several futile attempts had been made by other missionaries, and inducing the natives to promise protection to a Samoan ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 5 teacher. ‘“ Dr. Gill can claim,” writes Mr. Horne, elsewhere, ‘‘to have taken out to the Pacific the first complete Bible issued by the Bible Society. He himself was responsible for a revised. reference Bible for Rarotonga.” Dr. Gill’s “ Myths and Songs from the South Pacific ” has especially had a very wide circulation. I have also to chronicle the death of another old member, Herr Cart Lupwieg Sanz, German Consul for New South Wales, who died in March last. Herr Sahl was an old resident of Sydney, having arrived here twenty-five years ago. He left Germany at the age of thirteen, and was for some years a resident of Fiji, where he owned considerable property, and he acquired an interest in some plantations on the islands. He was senior partner in the firm of Rabone, Feez, & Oo., general merchants, having risen from the position of clerk in the firm’s employ. He was one of the oldest members of the German Club, Phillip-street, and last year was elected president. Twelve months ago he was decorated by the German Government with the order of the Red Eagle, a decoration awarded for distinction in the Civil Service. Herr ‘Sahl was well known and highly esteemed by his countrymen in Sydney and by a wide circle of English acquaintances as a cultured and courteous gentleman. 3. PAPERS READ IN 1896.—During the past year the Society . held eight meetings at which the average attendance of members was thirty-six, and of visitors 4:5. The following papers were read : 1, President’s Address, by Prof. T. W. Edgeworth David, B.4., F.G.S. 2. On periodicity of good and bad seasons, by H. C. Russell, B.A., C.M.G., F.R.8. : 3. The ‘Mika’ or ‘Kulpi’ operation of the Australian Aboriginals by Prof. T. P. Anderson Stuart, M.D. Note on the absorption of water by the gluten of different wheats, by F. B. Gathrie, F F.C.S. On Aromadendrin or A ic acid from the turbid group of eucalyptus kinos, by H. G. Smith, F.c.s. - On the cellular kite, by Lawrence Hargrave. ee S Ss - < S pod @ J. H. MAIDEN. . Note on a method of separating colloids from crystalloids by filtration, by C. J. Martin, D.sSc., M.B. An explanation of the marked difference in the effects pro- duced by ‘subcutaneous and intravenous injection of the venom of Australian snakes, by C. J. Martin, D.sc., MB. On the occurrence of a submerged forest, with remains of the Dugong, at Shea’s Creek near Sydney, by R. Etheridge, Junr., Professor T.,W. Edgeworth David, B.a., F.a.s., and J. W. Grimshaw, M. Inst. C.E. Note on recent determinations of the viscosity of water by the efflux method, by G. H. Knibbs, F.r.4.s., Ls. . On the constituents of the ‘Silky Oak,’ Grevillea robusta, R.Br., and the presence of butyric acid therein, by Henry G. Smith, VCs . Current Papers, No. 2, by H. C. Russell, B.a., c.M.G., F.R.S- . Additional remarks concerning Aboriginal Bora held at Gundabloui in 1894, by R. H. Mathews, ts. . On the occurrence of precious stones in New South Wales and the deposits in which they are found, by Rev. J. Milne Curran. . Sill structure and fossils in eruptive rocks in New South Wales, by Professor T. W. Edgeworth David, B.A., F.G.8. . On the presence of a true manna on a ‘Blue Grass,’ Andro- pogon annulatus, Forsk., by R. T. Baker, F.u.s., and Henry G. Smith, F.c.s. . The rigorous theory of the determination of the meridian line by altazimuth solar observations, by G. H. Knibbs, F.R.A.S., 1.8. The notable hailstorm of 17 November, 1896, in parts of parish of Gordon, by E. Du Faur, F.n.a.s. 4, SecrionaL Meetines.—The Engineering Section held eight meetings at which the following papers were read and discussed :— 1. Annual Address to the Engineering Section, by Professor W. H. Warren, Wh. S8c., M. Inst. C.E. 2. The machinery employed for artificial refrigeration and ice making, by Norman Selfe, M. Inst. C,E., M.LM.E., &, ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 7 3. Water conservation surveys of New South Wales, by H. G. McKinney, mM. Inst. C.E. 4. Lift Bridge over the Murray at Swan Hill, by Percy Allan, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., Assoc. M. Am. Soc. C.E. 5. Centrifugal pump dredging in New South Wales, by A. B. Portus, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E. 6. The present position of the theory of the steam engine, by S. H. Barraclough, B.E., M.M.E. The average attendance of members and visitors was twenty- three. The Medical Section held a special general meeting in the Physics Lecture Room of the University of Sydney (by kind permission of the Senate) when Prof. Threlfall, m.a., gave a lecture-demonstration upon “The ‘x’ rays of Réntgen and their practical application.” Three ordinary bi-monthly meetings were also held in the Society’s Hall, when the following papers were read :— 1. Some experiences of Skull and Head injuries with their results during a lengthy practice in Sydney, by Dr. F. Milford. 2. Human Fallibility and its relation to accidents on Railway and by Sea, by Dr. S. T. Knaggs. 3. Osteitis Deformans, by Dr. 8. Jamieson. 4. Cardiac Thrombosis, by Drs. C. J. Martin and G. E. Rennie. 5. Reception.—A ‘Reception’ to the members of the Society was held at the Society’s House on the 18th June, 1896, at 8 p.m., as a house-warming on the occasion of the Society taking possess- ion of its recently enlarged and newly decorated premises. About three hundred guests were present, including the Honorary President, His Excellency the Governor, Lady Hampden, the Hon. Dorothy Brand and Capt. Ferguson, A.p.c., the Minister for Lands, and the Minister for Justice. 6. Fryanctan Posrrion.—From perusal ‘of the Hon. Treasurer's Financial Statement, it will be seen that the Society has paid its Way and has carried forward a balance of £14 6s. 11d. 8 J. H. MAIDEN. 7. Socrery’s Premises.—All expenses in connection with the purchase of fourteen feet of land, the*extension of and alterations to the Society’s premises, together with the necessary furniture and fittings have been met, but this has necessitated a loan on mortgage of £1,400 at 44%, and a further loan of £376 7s. 9d. from the Clarke Memorial Fund bearing interest at the current Savings Bank rates. It may interest members to learn the extent and arrangement of the accommodation which has been secured to us by the much needed alterations in the Society’s premises to which allusion has been made. Basement: Large room for meetings 40’ x 23’ 6’, book room 15’ 5” x 23’ 6”, pamphlet room 15’ x 23’ 5’, lavatory 15’ 9” x 12’ 7”, vestibule 26’ 6” x 12’ 7”, yard (including latrines, &e.) 34’ 9" x 13’ 5”. Ground Floor: Large hall 53’ 6” + gallery 8’ =61' 6” x 24’ 9”, library and reading room 15’ 3” x 24’ 10”, hat and cloak room 7’ 10” x 17’, office 18’ 4” x 13’. First Floor: Council room 24’ 10” x 15’ 7”, book room 18’ 4” x 13’. Second Floor : Housekeeper’s quarters. 8. Lisrary.—The amount expended upon the Library during the past year was £235 15s. 4d. viz.: for books and periodicals £199 16s. 4d. for binding £86 15s. 5d., and for new cedar book- case &c.y £35 19s. 9. Excnancres.—Last year we exchanged our Journal with four hundred kindred societies, receiving in return three hundred and seventy-three volumes, one thousand four hundred and five parts, fifty-nine reports, one hundred and eighty-two pamphlets, seven- teen hydrogiaphic charts, thirty-eight meteorological charts, and two engravings, a total of two thousand and seventy-six publica- tions. The following Institutions have been added to the exchange list :—Institution of Surveyors New South Wales, Sydney ; Royal Academy of Belles Lettres, History, and Antiquities, Stockholm. 10. OrieinaL ResEARCHES.—In response to the offer of the Society’s Medal and a grant of £25 for the best original paper on the following subjects :— ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS.. 9 Series XV.—To be sent in not later than Ist May, 1896. No. 49—On the origin of Multiple Hydatids in man. No. 50—On the occurrence of Precious Stones in New South Wales with a description of the deposits in which they are found. No. 51—On the effect of the Australian Climate on the Physical Development of the Australian-born Population. No paper was sent in on subject No. 49 ; two were sent in on No. 50, and four on No. 51. The Council resolved that no prize be awarded to any of the writers of the papers on subject No. 51. At the meeting held September 30, the Council awarded the prize of £25 and the Society’s medal to the writer of the following paper :—‘“ On the occurrence of Precious Stones in New South Wales with a description of the deposits in which they are found,” by “ Tourmaline ”—Rey. J. Milne Curran. The list of subjects now offered for prizes is as follows :— The Royal Society of New South Wales offers its Medal and £25 for the best communication (provided it be of sufficient merit) containing the results of original research or observation upon each of the subjects, Nos. 52 to 54 inclusive ; and for Nos. 55 and 56 the Society offers its Medal and £10 10s. Series X VI.—To be sent in not later than 1st May, 1897. No. 52—On the Embryology and Developmentof the Echidna or Platypus. No. 53—The Chemical Composition of the Products from the so-called Kerosene Shale of New South Walss. No. 54—On the Mode of Occurrence, Chemical Composition, and Origin of Artesian Water in N. S. Wales. Series X VII.—To be sent in not later than 1st May, 1898. No. 55—On the Iron-ore deposits of New South Wales. Series XVIII.—To be sent in not later thun Ist May, 1899. No. 56—On the life history of the Australasian Teredo, and of other species of Australasian wood-eating Marine Invertebrata, and on the means of pro- tecting timber from their attack. 10 J. H. MAIDEN. Part II.—Progress of Science in New South Wales dur- ing the past year.—Before proceeding to a review of work already done, let me draw attention to the forthcoming meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, to be held in Sydney in January next. It will be an event of high importance, particularly to Australian scientific men. The meeting will take place ten years after the first meeting of the Association in Sydney, which deserves strong support, if only for the reason that it has done so much to bring the scientific workers — of Australasia together for both intellectual and social intercourse. If our large centres of population were more numerous, and the distances between them not so great, there is no doubt that more frequent meetings of this character would be welcomed. The organization is in full working order for the forthcoming Sydney campaign, and Presidents and Secretaries of Sections have been appointed. I would recommend all of our members who are not yet in possession of information as to the preliminary details of the meeting to apply to Prof. Liversidge, LL.D., F.R.8., the Permanent Hon. Secretary, and now President elect, at the Sydney University. 1. PuystoLocy.—In the physiological laboratory of the Uni- versity of Sydney, in addition to various other works in progress, a new contrast phenomenon has been observed and worked out by Professor T. P. Anderson Stuart, and an account of the same will be published shortly. In this department of science, we in Sydney have to deplore the loss of a distinguished worker. Our loss is Melbourne’s gain, and I trust that Dr. C. J. Martin may occasionally favour us with the results of work carried out by him. During the past year Dr. Martin completed his investigation into the action of the well-known Darling pea (Swainsona galegifolia) on sheep. ‘The report is in the hands of the Department of Agriculture, and many of us look forward to perusal of it. The operation of the plant is slow, but it eventually, if consumed for over one month, occasions degeneration of nerve fibres near their destinations LSU aetna ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 11 (peripheral neuritis), and consequently interference with both sensation and movement. This effect Dr. Martin produced himself upon sheep fed under his direction. The same condition exists in - so called “ pea-eaters” and explains all their symptoms. Let me remind you of the wide field for research in regard to the physiological effects produced, or capable of being produced, by the active principles of Australian plants. Dr. Martin also completed and published last year an account of his molecular filter for filtering off large molecules from smaller ones,’ and a paper on the separation of the two poisonous proteids of snake venom by the apparatus.” 2. ZooLogy.—For an account of the work done in this domain in New South Wales one will naturally turn to the publications of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. At the same time, even at the risk of a little repetition, perhaps I may be permitted to invite attention to some points of local zoological research of interest. Australian Musewm.—The very serious discovery having been made that white ants had nearly destroyed the roof-framing of an entire hall and the floor of another, interfered greatly with the labours of the scientific staff. The Local Committee of the “Funa- futi Coral Reef Boring Expedition, of the Royal Society of London,” in charge of Professor Sollas, LL.D., F.R.S., having offered to allow one of the officers of the Museum to accompany the expedition, Mr. Charles Hedley was selected for the purpose, and left Sydney with the expedition in H.M.S. “Penguin,” Captain Mostyn Field, r.x., on Ist May, and after a residence on the island for two and a half months, returned to Sydney on 22nd August. During his stay on Funafuti he succeeded in amassing an interest- 1 A rapid method of separating colloids from crystalloids in solutions containing both.-—Journ. Physiol., Vol. xx., (Nos. 4 and 5, Oct. 19) 1896, P. 364; see also Journ. Roy. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. xxx., p. 147, (Aug. 1896). 2 An explanation of the marked difference in the effects produced by Subeutaneous and intravenous injection of the venom of Australian Snakes.— Journ. Roy. Soc. N.S.W. loc. cit. 12 J. H. MAIDEN. ing collection, particularly of invertebrate and ethnological objects, - together with much valuable scientific information, and although no other collecting expeditions have been organised, some of the members of the Museum staff have, at various times, been able to collect specimens, many of which are of value to the Museum. Fhe Curator, Mr. R. Etheridge, junr., had an opportunity of visiting the Wombeyan and Yaralumla Caves and other places in the interior, from which he procured much interesting material. The most important event of the year was the investigation by the staff, of Mr. Hedley’s collection, still going on. The publica- tion of their results form Memoir III.,’ of which parts i. and ii. have appeared, part iii. is printed, and part iv. well advanced in MS. Professor W. A. Haswell of the Sydney University has been chiefly engaged during the year in finishing his share of Parker and Haswell’s “Zoology” shortly to be published by Macmillan, and seeing it through the press. He has, however, been able to work out a portion of the material he has had by him for some time relating to the development of the Port Jackson shark, and has a paper ready for publication giving an account of the stages prior to the formation of the mesoderm and notochord. The work on zoology already alluded to will be of considerable impor- tance to students of the subject, and particularly to Australasian students, because of the special local knowledge and experience of the authors. In this work, in each of the major divisions or phyla of the animal kingdom one or several examples are fully described and illustrated. Then follows a brief statement of the general characteristics of the phylum, with a sketch of its classification and an indication of the systematic position of the example. The description of the latter, is in this way, brought into relation with what follows—viz., an account of the general organisation, embry- ology, ethology, distribution and affinities of the whole group. A general account. of the structure and physiology of animals forms an introductory chapter, and chapters on the history of zoology, 1 The Atoll of Funafuti, Ellice Group: its Zoology, Botany, Ethnology and general structure, based on collections made by Mr. Charles Hedley- ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 13 the philosophy of zoology, and the distribution of animals close the book. About three hundred of the illustrations are from original drawings by the authors. Mr.J. P. Hill, Demonstrator of Biology in the Sydney University has, since the middle of the past year, been engaged in working up the details of the placentation of the bandicoot. The fortunate acquisition of important earlier and later stages since the announce- ment of the occurrence of an allantoic placenta in this marsupial, has enabled him to work out the main details of its development, and to give a fairly complete acccount of the entire placentation phenomena. Interesting facts have been brought to light regard- ing the mode of parturition, and a detailed examination has been made of the female urino-genital organs. These results are now almost ready for publication. Important material has also been collected for a further study of the development of the platypus, and also of the wallaby. He has reported on the collection of enteropneusta brought back by Mr. Charles Hedley from the Atoll of Funafuti, in the Memoirs now in course of publication by the Australian Museum. During the first half of 1896 Professor J. T. Wilson was con- Stantly engaged with Mr. J. P. Hill in writing up the results of their joint investigations upon the development of the marsupial dentition. These results have just now appeared in the Q. J. of Micros. Sci. For the rest of 1896 his time was mainly occupied with departmental work. Mr. A. H.'S. Lucas, M.A., B.Sc, Head-Master of Newington College, has found time for some important work, the results of which are mainly published outside the Colony. The titles of his papers are :—(In conjunction with C. Frost, r..s.) 1. Description of a new species of Ablepharus from Victoria, with critical notes on two other Australian lizards.—/( Proc. L.S., V.S.W., Vol. xxi, Part ili.); 2, Description of two new species of lizards from Central Australia, (includes a new genus of snake-like lizard).— (Proc. &.S., Vie., Vol. 1x., New Series) ; 3. The lizards of New Zealand.—Trans. N. Z. Inst., to be published this year, read last 14 a. He MAIDEN. July). 4, On some facts in the geographical distribution of land and freshwater vertebrates in Victoria.—( Proc. R.S., Vic., Vol. 1x., New Series). My predecessor announced, in his presidential address, the death of Mr. A. S. Olliff, a leading New South Wales entomologist, and now I have to chronicle the death of Mr. F. A. A. Skuse, cut off in early manhood like Mr. Olliff, whom he succeeded at the Australian Museum, and like him, a trained entomologist, one who had done excellent work, and one who, it was hoped, had a life of usefulness before him. Our scientific men are too few in number for us not to feel deeply the loss of two able men, so full of promise. The work of Mr. W. W. Froggatt, our Government Entomolo- gist, for the past year has been mainly published in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, viz., papers entitled “On the bag-shelters of Lepidopterous larve of the genus Teara”; “The entomology of Grass-Trees( Xanthorrhea)”; and “Australian Termitide, part ii.” Mr. Froggatt also published an important paper on honey ants.’ , Marine Biological Laboratory and Public Aquarium.—A scheme which was discussed some years ago for the establishment of a Public Aquarium in Port Jackson, with, in association with it, tanks for experiments on fish culture, and a Biological Station or laboratory for investigations in marine biology, has lain dormant of late. But when the Fisheries Bill, now before Parliament, becomes law, the conditions ought to be more favourable for the establishment of such an institution. The Director of Fisheries, for whose appointment the bill provides, will assuredly demand that facilities such as would be provided in the way suggested, should be afforded, in order to enable him to make any sound improvements in the state of the fisheries of the Colony. Such a composite institution as that suggested, if placed inaconveniently eaccessible position, say in the Domain, would undoubtedly be a 1 Report (Zoology) of the rege Expedition to Central Australia, 1896, pp. 385 - 92, pl. 27, figs. 1- Aeon ah pct haart ay Eset eta Aid 9 ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 15 highly popular one, and at the same time might be expected to prove of substantial value both to science and to the fishing industries. Coral-bores.—The subject of coral reefs has been prominent during the past year. A brief visit was paid to the Great Aus- tralian Barrier Reef by Prof. Agassiz last winter, and though his work was brought to an abrupt termination through unfavourable weather, Australian students will await with interest the observa- tion and conclusions of one so profoundly versed in the coral deposits of another hemisphere. More closely connected with ourselves was an expedition, first announced to you in the Presidential Address of 1895, the departure of which was described by my predecessor at our last anniversary. Professor Sollas, the leader appointed by the Royal Society Committee for investigating coral reefs by boring and sounding, was with his party safely con- veyed to the atoll of Funafuti by H.M.S. “Penguin.” The’ tale of his repeated efforts and ill success in penetrating the atoll by means of the diamond drill is told by himself in a report to the Royal Society.!. It appears that the substance of an atoll had been assumed to be compact and homogeneous rock, whereas the diamond drill revealed it as chambered with subterraneous caverns full of loose foraminiferal sand. The mechanism in the hands of the expedition not having been selected for such a contingency, was unable to reach to any considerable depth, and the boring was of necessity abandoned. So successful however, was the alternate method of inquiry— by sounding,—that, although not allowing a demonstration as absolute as a handful of ash in a boring tube would afford, it has _ yet given us a probable clue to the structure of an atoll. Uncon- nected with other members of the Archipelago, springing alone from the abyssal floor of the Pacific, Funafuti towers upwards in % cone, from a base thirty miles in diameter to a height of 12,000 feet. Such a cone cannot be mistaken for aught but a volcano, and its outlines accord with those of giants like Mount Etna or 1 Nature, Feb. 18, 1897. 16 J. H. MAIDEN. Mauna Loa. At about one hundred and forty fathoms from the surface, an abrupt change in the declivity of the slope occurs, for at this point a wall-like rampart rises on all sides of the atoll. Tt is difficult,” says Prof. Sollas, ‘‘ to resist the impression that it is the upper one hundred and forty fathoms which represents the true coral reef.” It will of course be obvious to you that Prof. Sollas’ interpretation of the contour of Funafuti as a volcanic cone crowned with a coral cap some eight hundred feet thick (less if the reef advanced on a coral talus), calls for no great amount of subsidence. During the stay of the boring party the fauna, flora, and ethnology of Funafuti were studied by Mr. Hedley, who accom- panied Prof. Sollas as naturalist. Mr. Hedley made excellent use of his time, and the results of his personal observations, and. of his own work and that of other specialists on his collections, form the subjects of several parts of a memoir which have already - been issued by the Australian Museum. Though unfruitful in the principal object, the voyage of the “Penguin” has advanced the study of the subject along other lines. Her surveys have suggested to Admiral Wharton an original and brilliant hypothesis on the origin of atolls! The fact that all atolls stood on the same level was advanced by Darwin as a convincing proof of his theory of subsidence. A satisfactory explanation of the uniformity of level without invok- ing subsidence is offered by the Hydrographer, who points out that submarine volcanoes void chiefly ash and such loose matter, that at the close of an eruption such a pile is first denuded by aerial agencies to the sea level, and then by marine forces to whatever depth wave action extends. Proofs are advanced to show that submarine erosion cuts deeper than is generally sup- posed. The flat top of the volcanic peak thus ground down he considers as the lagoon floor of the future atoll around whose rim the coral ring grows up. 1 Nature, Feb. 25, 1897. ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. LT 3. GeoLoay.—In the Geological Department and School of Mines at the University of Sydney, research work has during the past year been directed chiefly to the radiolarian jaspers, cherts, and claystones of the Bingara, Barraba, Tamworth, and Jenolan Caves Districts. The results of these investigations by Professor David and the third year University students have already been communicated to the Linnean Society of New South Wales, and they prove that a large proportion of the Devonian rocks of New South Wales are composed of shells of Radiolaria. An examination with Mr. W. E. Abbott of the “ Burning Mountain” near Wingen, showed that there was conclusive evidence that the coal seam in which the fire is seated belongs to the Greta coal measures. There is proof that it has been burning for probably about one thousand years. The results of the study of the “Submerged Forest” at Shea’s Creek, and of the Sills at. Tamworth have already been communicated to this Society. A recent examination of a considerable area in South Australia, classed previously as Pre-Cambrian, has convinced Professor David and Mr. Walter Howchin that the rocks are of Lower Cambrian Age, as remains of Archceocyathine are abundant in a certain bed of limestone in this group. This will necessitate a complete re- classification of the older rocks of South Australia. ; In connection with the School of Mines’ students (or perhaps, to speak more correctly, students of the Department of Mining Engineering), at the University, it is a matter for congratulation both to Professor David and to Professor Warren, that Mr. J. A. Watt, ma. B.sc., has lately been appointed Geological Surveyor on the Staff of the Department of Mines in this Colony; Mr. T. Blatchford, .a., has obtained a similar appointment in West Aus- tralia, and Mr. E. S. Simpson, B.x., has received the position of Assayer and Analyst to the Geological Survey of the same colony. During 1896 a large amount of routine work was done by the Officers of the Geological Survey of New South Wales. Mr. Pittman, the Government Geologist, made an examination of the gold and diamond bearing deposit at Kangaloon ; what appears. B—May 5, 1897, 18 J. H. MAIDEN. to be a voleanic neck occurs there, but no diamonds have as yet been found in the volcanic breccia. The examination of the _ Triassic artesian basin was continued. In company with Prof. David, several examinations were made of portions of the southern coalfields. The presence of mud springs and Lower Cretaceous rocks at Coolibah was noted. A considerable portion of Mr. Pittman’s time was also taken up in connection with the work of the Royal Commission (of which he was a member), on the heating of coal cargoes. Mr. J. E. Carne, Geological Surveyor, examined the country between Port Macquarie and Cape Hawke, and added Triassic to the formations formerly mapped in that district. During the greater part of the year Mr. Carne was engaged in an examination of the country along the Victorian border. He has added con- siderably to our knowledge of those parts, and has succeeded in obtaining paleontological evidence to prove that both the Lower Silurian and Devonian series occur there, a fact that was not known before. He has also made a long report on the Pambula goldfield, where there is a large development of felsites, in some places nodular, and rhyolites. Mr. J. B. Jaquet, Geological Surveyor, made many examina- tions of mines, and reports of great economic value. In the Kosciusko region he was unable to discover any traces of glacial action. Under the active supervision of Mr. Card, Mineralogist and Curator of the Geological and Mining Museum, great progress has been made in the arrangement, etc. of the Departmental Museum, which contains a unique collection of the colony's minerals, rocks, and fossils. Large collections of Upper Silurian and Siluro-Devonian fossils from the Yass-Murrumbidgee districts have been made. These contain much new and valuable material, and have been worked at by Mr. W. 8. Dun, Librarian and Assistant Paleontologist of the Survey. ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 19 The Rev. J. M. Curran was engaged during the early part of the year on the gems and precious stones of the colony, and the results of his observations will appear in the coming volume of this Society. Mr. Curran has also continued his observations on the Mount Kosciusko Plateau, and notes additional evidence to support his conclusion (already made known through the Linnean Society), that (1) there is no evidence of glacial action in the valleys at the base of Mount Kosciusko ; (2) there is absolutely no evidence of any extensive Post-Tertiary glaciation on the Kosciusko Plateau. During a tour in the Cretaceous area of the north-west of the colony, the same gentleman found evidence to show that in the north-west, as well as at Coonamble, the artesian water is derived from Triassic rather than from Cretaceous beds. Mr. Curran was by good fortune on Salisbury Downs in September last, when an artesian supply was tapped at a depth of 1,700 feet, and amongst the debris brought to the surface by the first rush of water was a well preserved specimen of J’aeniopteris, together with a number of fragmentary impressions of the same fern, and this may be taken as conclusive evidence of the water-bearing beds being Triassic and not Cretaceous. This discovery is an important contribution to Australian geology. 4, CuEemistry anp Meratturcy.—The work done by Mr. W. M. Hamlet, the Government Analyst, although essentially of a Scientific nature, largely consists of routine work; it embraces Such items as the following which were analysed, examined, and Teported on during the past year :—drugs, chemicals, articles of food and drink, condiments, cosmetics, antiseptics, disinfectants, textile fabrics. such as cloth, silix, cotton, blanketing, paints, fuels, dyes, soap, sealing wax, patent medicines, sewage effluents, bitumen and building materials. Investigations have also been made on the subjects of air-pollution, water supply and sewage disposal. Mr. Hamlet’s opportunities for research during the past year have been seriously diminished through having to remove his laboratory to other premises pending the erection of the Board of Health building, a floor of which will be set apart for hisimpor- * 20 J. H. MAIDEN. tant investigations. His accommodation promises to be so improved that I hope his taking possession of his new laboratory will be synchronous with the commencement of a long period of important research work. The work of Mr. F. B. Guthrie, Chemist to the Department of Agriculture, has progressed during the past year, and there is no doubt that, under his direction, the new chemical research labora- tory at the Bathurst Experiment Farm will produce results highly important to agriculturists. The establishment of laboratories at the different experiment farms will enable researches to be con- ducted where suitable material and conditions are available, and must result in great benefit to the colony. Mr. Guthrie’s routine work has included advice on all matters connected with agricul- tural chemistry, the best methods of treatment of soils and most suitable crops, based on chemical examination of the different soils ; analyses of fertilizers, feeding-stuffs, beet roots, and farm and dairy produce generally. The routine work occupies the time of the laboratory staff pretty fully, and special investigations have to be carried out when time permits, and as during the year, in addition to the departmental work, Mr. Guthrie undertook the duties of Acting Professor of Chemistry at the University during Professor Liversidge’s absence on leave, this spare time was necessarily reduced to a minimum. In addition, towards the end of the year, arrangements had to be made for removing the laboratory to new premises, and work was consequently entirely suspended for a time. : : The investigations in wheat, commenced in 1895, were continued during the year, a large number of additional wheats being ex- — amined, and particularly a number of carefully selected cross-bred wheats grown with the special object of improving the class of grain grown in the colony.. An investigation was undertaken with the object of determining the cause of the different power of absorbing water which is possessed by the flour from different — wheats, the result of which was communicated in a paper read — before our Society during the past year. The work done in this : ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 21 connection has been largely instrumental in modifying the views previously held as to the suitability or otherwise for milling of different wheats, and enabled. the Rust in Wheat Conference which met in Melbourne in 1896, and to whom Mr. Guthrie com- municated his results, to recommend as good milling wheats certain varieties of grain which have been found to be rust-resis- tant. These wheats were formerly considered less suitable for milling than those usually grown, but the result of the above investigation has been to clear away a great deal of previously existing prejudice, and, as a matter of fact, these wheats are now being more extensively grown and with most encouraging results. The examination of the wines and timbers of the colony has also been continued. Further results on the first of these subjects have been published during the year in the Agricultural Gazette, and the results of the examination of a number of New South Wales timbers, which has proved a more lengthy task than was anticipated, are now being revised ready for publication. Another investigation, the results of which should shortly be ready for publication, is one into the chemical action of lime upon the soil, undertaken with the view of ascertaining exactly what chemical changes in the state of the plant food are brought about by the addition of lime. In the laboratory for agricultural chemistry at Bathurst it is Proposed to undertake almost purely research work, Amongst the more important lines of work which will be there taken in hand are :—First, investigations into the nitrifying organisms of the soil, with special reference to conditions prevailing in New South Wales. Secondly, examination by means of pot-experi- ments, of the action of fertilizers on different crops. The chemical investigations undertaken during the year by Mr. H. G. Smith, Mineralogist of the Technological Museum, have been of an important character. The chemistry of the new substance “ Aromadendrin,” isolated from a kino belonging to the turbid group of Eucalyptus kinos, was brought under the notice of this Society in a paper read in August. A paper - « 23 : J. H. MAIDEN. was also submitted to the Society of Chemical Industry, and read before the Yorkshire Section of that Society, on the Dyeing — Properties of Aromadendrin and of Eucalyptus kinos ; by subse- quent investigation aromadendrin has been found to be a true mordant dyestuff like quercetin or maclurin, thus differentiating it from catechin, which is not a true colouring matter. The chemistry of our Eucalyptus trees has thus been considerably advanced during the year. The investigation of the sap of Grevillea robusta has probably determined the origin of the deposit of succinate of aluminium (as far as the acid is concerned), pre- viously described from this tree before the Society. The investi- gation of a manna on grass from Northern Queensland, containing a large quantity of mannite, was undertaken ; this is the first record of material of this character thus occurring, and the results have been presented to this Society. The recent establishment of the Government Metallurgical Works at Clyde, near Parramatta, is of considerable practical and _ Scientific importance. The works are under the direction of Mr. James Taylor, the Government Metallurgist. They are regularly working, and a steady stream of ores from all parts of the colony is being received. As the works are for experimental purposes as _ well as educational, Mr. Taylor does not expect to reach finality in regard to them, At present he is not yet running the cyanide and chlorination processes, but the necessary plant is being erected and it will be shortly in operation. Mr. J. C. H. Mingaye, Analyst and Assayer, is also at work in his new laboratory at Clyde, and has made a large number of assays and analyses of New South Wales minerals during the past year, in addition to some original research. 5. Astronomy AnD MrrroroLocy.—The past year has not been a favourable one for astronomical work at the Sydney Observatory owing to the dry weather, which always brings a hazy sky, un- favourable to telescope work. The regular observations have been kept up with the transit instrument and the large equatorial; the latter is now devoted to a re-examination of double stars discovered . ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 28 in this observatory ; all double star measures up to end of 1896 have been published, and the next volume of meridian observations is now ready for the printer. Photographic work suffers more from drought haze than ordinary telescope work, because the hazy sky reflects the city light and produces fog on the plates. Mr. Russell has, however, obtained three hundred and sixty-eight star photo- graphs, with exposures of from thirty to forty-five minutes ; these are for the chart of the heavens, and the comparatively long exposures limit the number of plates which can be taken. As regards Meteorological work, the volume for 1895 has been published and that for 1896 is ready for the printer. It contains a series of six outline maps of New South Wales, (1890 to 1895 inclusive), in which the rainfalls of all parts of the colony are com- pared with the average, and the result given as a percentage ; this proves to be the best method yet tried for estimating the value of the annual rainfall. The series has been carried back to 1880 for publication in the 1896 volume. Another series of diagrams, shewing the monthly distribution of rain with special reference to agriculture, in the various parts of the colony, is in course of preparation ; some of them are ready for the 1896 volume. The number of volunteer observers in the country is rapidly increasing, and every square degree of the colony now contains three or more observers, some as many as ten. Amongst the recording instruments at the Observatory a long felt want has been supplied, viz., an extremely sensitive recording thermometer, which shows every ripple of change in the temperature wave even to a quarter of a degree, and shows very clearly that the atmo- sphere, even when there is not a cloud in the sky, is often made up of portions which are not equally heated. Ifa large cloud passes over the sun, or a shower of rain comes, the fact is wey recorded by the new thermometer. Besides the work of the Sydney Observatory, Mr. John Tebbutt has a record of important work during the year, carried on at his — Observatory, the Peninsula, Windsor, New South Wales. The work which Mr. Tebbutt has done since the close of last May 24 J. H. MAIDEN. comprises the usual routine work for determining the local time, and determinations of the positions of Perrine’s Comet of November 1896, together with observations of occultations of stars by the moon, and of the phenomena of Jupiter’s satellites. Mr. Tebbutt has during the same period published a number of papers on astronomical subjects in the Royal Astronomical Society’s Monthly Notices, the Journal of the British Astronomical Association, and the Astronomische Nachrichten. We have also a band of astronomical observers who form the New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association, _the following particulars concerning which may be acceptable :— The inaugural meeting of the branch was held in Sydney on 30th January, 1895, and at the second annual meeting held in March last, seventy-five members were reported on the roll, and the finances in a flourishing condition. The objects of the association ~ are (1) the association of observers, especially the possessors of small telescopes, for mutual help, and their organisation in the work of astronomical observation ; (2) the circulation of current astronomical information ; and (3) the encouragement of a popular interest in astronomy. During the past two years Mr. John Tebbutt, F.n.a.s., was president, and during the present session Mr. G. H. Knibbs, F.r.4.s., occupies that position. The section to determine the colours of the southern stars finished during the past year their survey of all stars to the fifth magnitude, situated between 20° south and the southern celestial pole. Several inter- esting drawings of Mars and Jupiter were made, and paths of many meteors noted by various members. Monthly meetings are held at which papers by the members are read and discussed, and photographs of the most characteristic celestial objects obtained at the leading observatories are projected on a screen and explained. ' 6. Paysics.—Professor Threlfall has during the year 1896-97 been wholly engaged in the Physical Laboratory of the Sydney University in an experimental study of the losses of electric energy which ensue when a dielectric is carried round a cycle of electrifi- cation. The investigation was extended to a great many dielectrics. eh 7 5 i RN CT EE RS ES SRE Ee ee Me, Ce ae Se RE EY eee Sh OR aN hire mE Ee ere eRe a z Ea Sn ay Ded eee Sec Re RT Bay AOS ER Be oes 2 A je ee ee PR DAIS Cae? Toe ee ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 25 The general result was to show that real hysteresial losses always occur, and that the properties of a particular sample are perfectly definite in this respect, though different samples of the same dielectric may have widely different properties. Since the com- mencement of the year he has had the advantage of Miss Martin’s assistance, and an investigation similar to the foregoing, but referring to the magnetic properties of substances like sulphur, bismuth, etc., is nearly completed. Professor Threlfall has also devoted much time to the phenomenon of the electrolytic deposition of metals, with the object of ascertaining the cause of the differ- ence in the nature of the deposits which occur under varying circumstances, So far the results of this investigation have been entirely negative. In hydrodynamics Mr. G. H. Knibbs, Lecturer in Surveying in the Sydney University, has continued, in the Engineering Laboratory, his examination of the determination of the viscosity — constant for water. He has shewn that the corrections for end Conditions used in even the most recent evaluations require amendment. The very extended results available have now been entirely re-reduced from the original data, and exhaustively com- pared, the more rigorous corrections being applied throughout. Mr. Knibbs concludes that the discrepancies between the results of different investigators are not satisfactorily accounted for by merely dimensional differences in the apparatus used, and if a higher order of precision is sought, it will be necessary to consider the sources of the discrepancies. In geodetical astronomy Mr. Knibbs has fully discussed the method of determining the direction of the astronomical meridian by means of solar observations, and has obtained expressions for the errors of the methods usually employed. The series of tables supplied in his paper greatly facilitate the discussion and reduction of such observations. - _ 1. Eneteerine anp Pusric Works.—Our Engineering Section 18 One of which we as a Society are justly proud, and the papers of the Section published in our Journal by no means represent _ the whole of the scientific work dealt with at the monthly meet- 26 J. H. MAIDEN. ings of the Section. Following are some notes on recent work accomplished, or in progress, by some of our local engineers. In the Engineering Laboratory of the University of Sydney, Professor Warren has been engaged in investigations on the strength and elasticity of materials. He has devised an apparatus for testing the strength and elasticity of metals at various tem- peratures, =a 1s ee ieee using this apparatus for testing copper. Al ts have been made to test the strength of thie’ various siethvods used for staying locomotive fireboxes. A special machine is in course of construction for testing the vibrat- ing strength of materials in which the stresses alternate between tension and an equal compression. This is considered to be an improvement on the Wohler and Bauschinger machines, as it enables ordinary bars, prepared as in tension specimens, to be rotated in the machine under stresses produced with a constant bending movement. It is also proposed to use the machine for investigating the change in the so called elastic limit, when sub- jected to alternating stresses. A series of experiments is also in progress on the strength and elasticity of beams, and columns of brickwork and concrete. Numerous appliances have been added for making minute measurements of strains and for draw- ing autographic diagrams, while experiments are also in progress to ascertain the flow of water through orifices and canals. Railway Survey and Construction Work since May 1896.— Following is a brief outline of the work carried out by Mr. Henry Deane, Engineer-in-Chief for Railways, our in-coming President, during the past year :—Trial survey work done has been as under—Condobolin to Broken Hill, completed during the year two hundred and ninety-four miles out of a total of three hundred and seventy-three and a-half miles ; Woolabra to Collarendabri, completed eighty and three-quarter miles ; Singleton to Jerry's Plains, completed twenty-three miles ; Galong to Burrowa, com- pleted seventeen and three-quarter miles; Moree to Inverell, south route, completed thirty-three and a-half miles ; Belmore to Liverpool with alternative junction at Cabramatta, completed WN Fi hoe Bo ae ae Fs eri gD a agen Oe Oh al el a ee cM ds) 2 ak ok Cen let a rl Si eee i Gao) Sas cite ae ee ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS, 27 fourteen miles; Coolamon to Ariah, completed forty-one and three-quarter miles ; Grong Grong to Ariah, completed twenty- four and a-quarter miles. The following are in progress: Glen Innes to South Grafton (amended route), Liverpool to Mulgoa and Koorawatha to Wyalong. The following lines have been permanently staked for construction: Tamworth to Manilla, twenty- eight and three-quarter miles ; Nevertire to Warren, twelve and a-quarter miles; Railway connection with Darling Island ; devia- tions between Hill Top and Mittagong, Great Southern Railway, seven and a-quarter miles ; Berrigan to Finley, thirteen and three- quarter miles. The construction of the following lines has been completed during the year, and they have been opened for traffic: Jerilderie to Berrigan twenty-one and three-quarter miles ; Parkes to Bogan Gate twenty-three and a-half miles; Narrabri to Moree sixty-three miles; Locksley deviation,! G.W.R. three and a-quarter miles ; Dargan’s Creek deviation, G.W.R. three miles ; line now under construction, Bogan Gate to Condobolin, forty miles. The following additional deviations have been executed under the direction of the Railway Commissioners, deviations between Faulconbridge and Wentworth Falls,! G.W.R. three miles ; Moss Vale and Exeter deviation,' G.S.R., one and three-quarter miles ; Katoomba deviation,’ G.W.R., one and three-quarter miles; Blackheath and Mount Victoria deviation,! G.W.R., one mile. Tramways.—The following is a statement of work done in con- nection with tramways. The construction of the permanent way of the Mosman’s Bay Electric Tramway, Sydney, was commenced in June 1896, and the line was completed and opened for traffic on the 1st March, 1897. The length of line is one and a-half mniles, with sharp curves and steep grades, and since being opened for traffic has worked satisfactorily. The generator is placed in the power-house at Ridge-street, North Sydney, being driven by belts off the main cable engines. An accumulator-house is situated at Spit Road, which contains two hundred and fifteen cells, 1 Toi Improve grades and curves on ra lines; information supplied by Mr. Firth, Engineer for Existing Lines 28 J. H. MAIDEN. together with a motor-booster ; the line is worked on the overhead | trolley system, in the design of which simplicity and unobtrusive- ness were specially considered. No trouble has been experienced in working, although, owing to the sharp curves, great care had to be exercised in carrying out the overhead work. Approval for the construction of the Willoughby (Sydney) Electric Tramway was given on the 16th December, 1896, when it was decided to convert that portion of the Cable Tramway beyond the Power House at Ridge-street, North Sydney to electric traction, a dis- tance of sixty chains, thence to Victoria Avenue, Willoughby; length of line two miles forty-five chains. This work is at present being carried out. The generator will be driven off the main engines in the power house at Ridge-street, and an accumulator house containing two hundred and fifteen cells erected on a piece of land situated about midway between the power house and the terminus of the line. The overhead work will be of the same type as that used on the Mosman’s Bay Electric Sch Wen and which has worked so successfully. Approval for the construction of an Electric Tramway from the terminus of the Ocean-street (Sydney) Cable Tramway to Rose Bay was given on 19th January 1897; the length of the line is one mile twenty chains, Preparations are now being made for the carrying out of the work. The generators, of which there are two, will be driven off the main cable engines at Rushcutter’s Bay, as a means of using some of the surplus power, these engines having proved to be even more economical in working than was expected. The overhead construction will be similar to that which will be used on the George-street Tramway with the exception of the poles, which will be of tallow-wood. A battery of storage cells will be erected in the engine room at Rushcutter’s Bay, and advantage will be taken of lighting the power and car house at Rushcutter’s Bay by electricity. Arrangements have also been made by which the pumps in connection with the Double Bay low-level sewerage will be worked by electric motors driven off the Rose Bay Tramway. ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 29 Instructions have been given for the construction of the George- street and Harris-street Electric Tramway, recommended by the Standing Committee for Public Works on May 8th, 1896, and assented to by Parliament on the 14th September, 1896. The length of the line from the eastern side of the Circular Quay to Harris-street, Pyrmont, near the intersection of John-street, is three miles twenty chains of double track. Several contracts have already been let, and the site for the power and car house fixed, which will eventually become the Central Station when the ~ conversion scheme in connection with existing steam tramways is carried out. The overhead construction will be of neat appear- ance, embodying all the Jatest improvements, the wires being carried on ornamental poles. Special attention has been paid to the permanent way, a new type of rail having been specially designed, and which has since been adopted as the standard rail for all future tramway work. The rails will be bonded with the Edison-Brown Plastic Bond, which has proved to be the best preventitive of electrolysis. The rails throughout will be laid on concrete, ahd the entire surface of the streets wood-blocked. The power and car house arrangements will be very complete and economical in working. The site chosen, which is between Mary Ann and William Henry-streets, Ultimo, and adjoining the rail- Way, is a very convenient one. Considerable attention has been given to a scheme to connect the tramway systems of Sydney and North Sydney by means of a sub-aqueous tunnel. The length of the line, double track, would be one mile thirty-two chains, of which one and a quarter miles are in tunnel. This, with other Schemes, was subsequently the subject of enquiry by a Select Committee. Harbours and Rivers.—Tweed River.—On the Tweed River _ about five and a quarter miles of stone walls for the training of the river have been constructed, and the channel deepened by means of sand pump dredging, the material raised being discharged on shore at the back of the walls, thus reclaiming land and pee ing the channel by the same operation. 30 J. H. MAIDEN. Richmond River.—The internal works at the Richmond River, consisting of training walls along the northern and southern shores, and the walls for regulating and guiding the waters of North Creek, are now completed, and the two breakwaters partially constructed, there remaining to be done about one hundred and thirty feet and eight hundred and forty feet respectively to arrive at the points to which it is proposed to carry them in the first instance. The whole of the stone now being used in these works is obtained from Riley’s Hill, about eighteen miles distant, whence it is conveyed to the entrance in punts. A canal, about sixty feet wide, two and a quarter miles long, and carrying from six to eight feet of water at low tide, has been excavated along the course of Fishery Creek, and through the low lying land at the back of the town of Ballina to North Creek. Clarence River.—The principal work carried out on the Clarence River has been the construction of the southern and part of the northern training walls. The former is a half tide wall over two and a half miles long, extending from the eastern end of Freeburn Island to the Heads, the greater length of which has been con-_ structed with stone tipped from a timber staging on piles ; the northern wall extending across the North Spit, is about half a mile long. These walls were completed in 1896 and have been very effective in deepening the channel, there being from thirty to fifty feet of water at low tide. Preparations are now being made for the construction of a wall about 7,600 feet long, extend- ing down stream from the eastern end of Goodwood Island ; also the continuation of the northern training wall along the shore line at Ballina. The stone for these walls will be obtained at Green Point quarry, about four miles distant, whence it will be brought by rail to Freeburn Island and punted across to the works. Bellinger River, &c.—Training walls are also in course of con- struction at the Bellinger and Nambucca River entrances, the lengths completed being 4,010 feet and eight hundred and fifty feet respectively. Tenders have also been invited for a similar wall at the Hastings River. ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 31 Macleay River.—In 1893 a flood having broken through the narrow strip of land between Spencer’s Creek and the Ocean, at a point about one and three-quarter miles north of the South West Rocks, thereby forming a navigable channel, a scheme was pre- pared for fixing the entrance at this place instead of at the Heads some five miles distant. The work done up to the present consists in straightening up the channel by dredging, protecting the slopes of bank with stone, and constructing a portion of the southern training wall. Trial Bay.—The breakwater at Trial Bay, which when com- ‘pleted will enclose an area of about five hundred and fifty acres to form a harbour of refuge, has now been extended from the shore to a distance of five hundred and eighty-three feet, the apparently slow progress being due to the great depth of water in which the breakwater is being constructed, and to the height above water which, owing to the exposed position, it was found necessary to raise the top. Blocks of granite up to thirty tons in weight are being used in the construction of this breakwater. Manning River.—The work done at the Manning River has been the construction of portion of the wall on the northern and - horth-western side of the entrance, the total length constructed being 2,070 feet. As the scouring action at the tip head was causing a considerable deepening of the water, thereby necessitat- ing the use of a much larger quantity of stone in the wall, the bottom was coated with a layer of stone deposited from a punt, and extending to about 200 feet in advance of the tip, which has effectually prevented any further deepening. Newcastle Harbour.—Owing to the necessity for an increased depth of water at the entrance to Newcastle Harbour, it was determined to extend the northern breakwater and construct a Suide wall at the southern side of the entrance, commencing near the eastern end of Newcastle Wharf. Most of the preliminary work in connection with the construction of these works, such as the opening up of quarry, constructing railway lines, gantries, 32 J. H. MAIDEN. cranes, etc., has now been done, and the depositing of stone will shortly be commenced. The dredging plant in use by the department consists of fourteen dredges, fourteen grab bucket dredges, eight suction dredges, five combined grab and suction dredges, twenty-one tugs, and ninety punts, employment being found on these for about three hundred and fifty men, and the cost of working amounting to about £75,000 per annum. The use of sand pump or suction dredges some six or seven years ago had had the effect of reducing, by about half, the aver- age cost per ton of material raised, and of increasing very largely the total yearly output. Indeed, so successful and economical have they proved, that it was considered advisable to convert a number of the grab dredges into combined grab and suction dredges. Five of these have already been altered, and two others will shortly be ready for work. The grab has been retained on these dredges for dealing with stiff material which could not be pumped, lifting snags, etc., but most of the material met with, where these dredges are worked, is of a soft nature and easily lifted and discharged by the pump. In reclamation works, at the heads of bays, behind river training walls, etc., the suction dredges have been found very economical, for not only the material at the © site but that raised by ladder and grab dredges working in the neighbourhood is utilised for reclaiming, the latter being brought alongside in punts, dumped and pumped ashore through flexible © jointed pipes to where required, up to a distance of from 2,509 to 3,000 feet, at a cost of about a quarter of the older system. The following shows the areas in Sydney Harbour which have been wholly or partially reclaimed in this way :—Rozelle Bay (Johnstone’s Creek), forty-eight acres, partly reclaimed ; Rozelle Bay (White’s Creek), twenty-seven acres ; White Bay, twelve and a half acres, complete ; Snail’s Bay, five and a half acres, com- plete ; Neutral Bay, seven and a half acres, complete ; Careening Cove, three and three quarter acres, complete; Callan Park, five and a half acres, complete ; Long Cove, fifty-eight acres, partly ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 33 reclaimed ; Homebush Bay, three hundred and sixty-one acres, partly reclaimed ; Tarban Creek, eight acres, complete ; Sewerage Farm, Parramatta, forty-one acres, partly reclaimed. Sydney Water Supply.—Following are some notes on the service reservoir in the Centennial Park, Sydney :—Length five hundred and eighteen feet, breadth three hundred and twenty feet, depth of water twenty-one feet ; capacity 18,000,000 gallons. Site, soft sandstone, much fissured and traversed by clay bands, overlain by blown sand. Walls, brickwork in cement mortar faced with double pressed bricks. Floor, concrete rendered with cement mortar. Roof, coke concrete, groined arches six inches thick at crown, supported by brick columns twenty feet by twenty feet apart, capped with cast iron skewbacks. As it is intended that the roof of this reservoir shall be used as a recreation ground, and will, therefore, be subjected to unequal loading, the columns will be connected throughout to each other, and to the walls, with Wrought iron tie-rods, which will be protected from rust by a thick asphaltic covering. The roof will be covered witha layer of sand. and turfed. It will be surrounded by a dwarf stone wall and ornamental cast iron railing with hollow cast iron pillars at intervals. At the centre will be a pavilion forming an entrance shaft and ventilation tower. The air will be taken in through the hollow railing pillars and escape at the central tower, causing @ thorough circulation throughout the reservoir. Roof lights are Provided for inspection and cleansing purposes. The reservoir will be divided by a central concrete wall, and each compartment. provided with inlet, outlet, and scour pipes. Alternative designs. Were prepared for roofing the reservoir with Monier arches, and with coke concrete groined arches, and when tested in the open: market, the latter proved the more economical. Bridges.—Tenders were received during 1896 for one hundred and forty works, comprising high and low level timber beam bridges, truss bridges, concrete and stone bridges, punts, and mis- cellaneous works, A considerable item in the expenditure of the Branch consists in the renewal of old timber bridges which are — C—May 5, 1897, ee 34 J. H. MAIDEN. reported from time to time to be decayed beyond repair. Many of these structures have been in existence from twenty-five to thirty years, and some even longer still, a fact which speaks well for the lasting qualities of our hardwood timbers ; and it is antici- pated, with the modern type of structures which are now being erected, and with the increased care now bestowed on the selection of the timber employed, that even better results will be obtained in the future. Among the old bridges which are now in process of being renewed are the Berrima bridge, an old truss bridge on masonry piers (built thirty-six years back), the superstructure of which is now being replaced by truss spans of the latest standard type, and the old truss bridge over the Kangaroo River, on the road Moss Vale to Nowra, in place of which a new suspension bridge is being built in one span of two hundred and fifty-two feet, with steel wire rope cables, and a timber stiffening truss. During the year new bridges were completed at Inverell and Wallis Creek, Maitland, in place of the old structures at those places. The former consists of three one hundred and ten feet truss spans ofa similar type to those recently designed for the new Wagga Wagga bridge, and this type is also being employed in the large timber truss bridges at Morpeth and Albury, which -are now in course of construction. Wallis Creek bridge is a substantial structure on the road between East and West Maitland, formed of steel girders carrying a tarred metal deck. The Swan Hill bridge over the Murray River, was also opened for traffic during the year, being the third of the steel lift bridges "which have been erected over that river within the past seven years at the joint expense of the two colonies of Victoria and New South Wales, the work having been designed and carried out in -each case by the Public Works Department of New South Wales. ‘Swan Hill bridge consists of two ninety feet timber truss spans, with timber beam approaches and a steel lift span of fifty-eight feet four inches, centres of piers giving fifty feet five inches clear waterway, and thirty feet seven inches clear headway above the highest known flood-level when the span is raised to its full height. ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 35 The lift span is formed of two steel Warren girders, carrying a timber deck, the total weight of the span being about thirty-four tons. This is counterbalanced by four cast iron balance boxes filled with lead, which are connected to the span at each corner, and work over large rope wheels fixed in the top of wrought iron braced towers. The lift span differs from its predecessors in that the span is worked from the deck level instead of from a platform at the top of the towers ; and with the new arrangement of the shafting and gearing one man can open the span in five and a half minutes, through the full height of the lift, which is twenty- five feet in this case, as against twenty-one feet in previous bridges of the same type. The metal work for Swan Hill bridge was manufactured in Melbourne, and the whole of the timber, with trifling exceptions, obtained from the northern rivers of New South Wales. Among the miscellaneous works carried out during the year was the wood blocking of portions of the Circular Quay near the P. & O. Wharf, in which blackbutt, tallow-wood and red mahogany blocks were used, laid in sections, to allow of the relative wear Under traffic being observed and compared. At the present time the Branch is engaged upon a number of important works, includ- ing new bridges over the Tweed River at Murwillumbah, Paterson River at Dunmore, Queanbeyan River at Queanbeyan, Stone Quarry Creek at Picton, and the Macleay River at Kempsey. The design for Kempsey bridge includes four one hundred and fifty-three feet timber truss spans of a new design; these will be the largest Spans in the colony constructed wholly of timber. For the above information (other than that referring to railway and tramway matters), I am indebted to Mr. R. R. P. Hickson, | MInst.c.z., Under Secretary for Public Works and Commissioner for Roads, and to Mr. Cecil Darley, M. Inst. c.E., Engineer-in-Chief for Public Works, _ 8. Pustic Hearru.—In giving some account of the work of the Board of Health and of its scientific staff, during the past Year, it is only proper for me to point out that duties connected . 36 J. H. MAIDEN. with the re-organisation of his department have prevented Dr. Ashburton Thompson, the new President, from giving the same attention, during the past year, to original investigation in matters pertaining to Public Health, that he has undertaken in past years. The most important event connected with the public health during the past year was the successful passage of a Public Health Act. Such a measure had for many years been demanded by the public, and formally advocated by successive premiers ; the late Sir Henry Parkes indeed went a step further than that, and actually introduced a measure in 1886, which, however, was never debated; and it remained for the present premier, the Hon. George Reid to place a new and short Public Health Act on the statute book. The act is framed to allow the fullest measure of local self- government in this respect, and at the same time gives the Board of Health effective powers of control ; it provides for appointment of medical officers of health, for the notification of infectious diseases, for controlling the adulteration of food, and for dealing with unwholesome dwellings, which may be either condemned or put into habitable condition as may be possible; it requires registrars of deaths to enter the cause of death in their registers, and to distinguish between uncertified and certified deaths—points which have been carefully attended to for many years past by departmental arrangement but which are now for the first time directed by law; it furnishes what is expected to prove a direct and speedy means of dealing with nuisances ; and it amends one or two existing acts in rather important respects. At the same time, while the constitution of the Board of Health remained — unchanged in quality its numbers were reduced, and it was decided that for the future the President should be a civil servant, wholly employed in discharge of his functions in that capacity, and also as the Chief Medical Officer of the Government. During the year foundations of a new building for use of the — . Health Department were laid ; this is now rapidly approaching completion, and it will afford accommodation for the clerical and a professional staff of the Health Department on the ground floor; SM eee Pee te UA yn Re ee ee ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 37 the first floor will be entirely occupied with the laboratories of the Government Analyst; the second floor will be occupied with a commodious and well equipped bacteriological laboratory ; while in the basement, which, owing to conformation of the site is at the ground-level at the rear of the building, will be conducted business connected with hospital accommodation for the sick poor, public vaccination, and some other matters administered by the Chief Medical Officer. At the same time the staff is gradually being improved and added to in important respects ; and in the course of a year or two there is every reason to hope that the colony will at length be found furnished with a Public Health Department capable of safeguarding the prosperity of the people in important respects, and competent to perform its proper functions. During the year the usual routine examinations of specimens from diseased animals were continued in the Biological Laboratory of the Board of Health, by Dr. Frank Tidswell, bacteriologist to the department, being mostly diagnostic examinations for anthrax, tuberculosis, ete. Some preliminary observations were made on the disease of pigs known to butchers as “pig quinsy,” which tend to show that the malady in question is a form of septicemia. This diagnosis is provisional only, pending the elucidation of details. Observations made on a form of ulceration of the cornea of the eye in cattle suggest that in most instances the affliction is of traumatic origin. The examinations of bovine tumours were Continued, the growths specially examined being from the orbit of bullocks. The results show that the tumours are sometimes true Cancer of the form known as epithelioma. Occasional bacterio- logical examinations of the water supplied to Sydney furnished further evidence of its microbic purity. Samples of water from Wells yielded abundant crops of bacteria, not always of a harmless The most important work undertaken in the laboratory Was the histo-pathological examination of the organs of lepers deceased during the year. Detailed descriptions were published In the report of the Health Department on Leprosy in New South Wales, for the year 1895. The report is illustrated by co: 38 J. H. MAIDEN. some beautifully executed photomicrographs, and forms a very © valuable contribution tu the study of leprosy. Part I1I.—Some Botanical Matters.— 1. BorantcAL WorkeErs.—a. The late Baron von Mueller.— My year of presidential office has been sadly memorable through the death of Baron von Mueller. For nearly half a century this distinguished man had continued to elucidate the structure and classification of Australian plants. In 1897, with our luxurious steamships and express-trains, our stores, and well-furnished larders under hospitable roofs extending over the greater part of the continent, our Flora Australiensis, Fragmenta, and Census, not to mention piles of botanical literature less frequently referred to, it is difficult to entirely enter into the circumstances of the young German botanist who stepped forth into the wilds, bent on con- quest far more glorious than that of Napoleon, whom we style “the Great,”—just fifty years ago. Mueller was a member of the most distinguished trio of explorer-botanists who have made Australia the principal field of their labours, and association with Robert Brown and Allan Cunningham is high honour indeed. These three men were practically contemporaneous with the century which is fast drawing toa close; they are the three bright stars around which the lesser lights revolve. Geographical and botanical exploration have gone hand in hand on this continent, all modern expeditions having had botanical collectors attached to them; moreover, the pioneers of pastoral and mining settlement have ever shown their willingness to send specimens to elucidate the plants of their districts. There are now but few tracts of Australian soil which have not been geo- graphically explored ; the result is that there does not appear to be scope for another explorer-botanist of the first rank. Inother words, present and future botanists must win their spurs in @ different way. But in hinting that Australia has been well explored botanically, I do not wish to be misunderstood. There : are plenty of imperfectly explored regions awaiting attention. I a RR STE a Et ee NO Malle rears ae rer ar ae ee | ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 39 can conceive few ways in which the public funds could be better applied than by defraying or subsidising, the cost of journeys of Australian botanists to regions that could be readily indicated. And while such explorations could not result in such abundance of new material as Mueller and his predecessors obtained on their journeys, yet many plants still remain to be discovered, and many problems pertaining to variation and geographical distribution, and even more important botanical matters, remain to be solved. Just as in the early gold-digging days alluvial very frequently gave valuable results with comparatively little labour, so now claims are reduced in area and worked deeper. And in this laborious working of small areas many prizes have been won, and remain to be won. I do not wish to push my comparison too far, certainly not so far as to let it be inferred for a moment that the labours of Mueller have been anything but arduous., Only his earlier contemporaries can recount the troubles and dangers the Baron passed through in his early days. Days, weeks, and even months has he passed alone in the wilds of Australia—in the inhospitable ranges of the Victorian-New South Wales Alps, to wit. He took a slender Supply of poor food, and his only companion was a pack-horse. I Suppose his insatiable fondness for a cup of tea dates from the time he used to boil his billy in the fastnesses of the Southern Alps. Loneliness I am sure he did not feel, for how can a man feel lonely when new plants present themselves every where to his delighted gaze. On one occasion one of these mountain streams Tose rapidly, Mueller’s scanty supply of food was washed away, and he himself climbed into a tree to pass the night and to await events. He also went on very short commons on some of his other trips. His Victorian explorations in the early days were as follows: In 1853 he explored the Australian Alps from the Victorian side, See his First General Report on the Vegetation of the Colony, _ dated September 1853. During 1854 he examined the Grampians and the adjacent ranges ; thence to the Darling, and along ban oe 40 J. H. MAIDEN. Murray. During this year he made a more extended exploration of the Australian Alps, as detailed in his Second General Report dated October 1854. His other explorations were under the leadership of A. C. Gregory in 1856 to explore North-western and Northern Australia for traces of Leichhardt, journeying from the Victorian River overland to the Dawson, and botanical expeditions of an exploratory character to Western Australia in 1867 and 1877 respectively, the former trip being from King George’s Sound to the Stirling Range, and the latter to the Shark’s Bay district. The mere recounting of the Baron’s works would take up more time than can be allowed on the present occasion, but I may invite attention to some of the principal ones. His share in the preparation of the Plora Australiensis is gracefully told by the great Bentham in the Preface to Volume I. of that work. ‘The fragmenta Phytographie Australie, consisting of eleven octavo volumes of say, two hundred pages each, written in Latin, forms an invaluable supplement to the Flora, while the Systematic Census of Australian Plants, of which two editions have appeared, is indispensable to the student, being a cyclopeedia of notes on geographical distribution, references to descriptions of species, etc. “ Eucalyptographia ” with descriptions and illustrations of one hundred species of Eucalypts, is sufficient of itself to make the reputation of any man, and is the standard work on the subject. It is one of a series of valuable quartos dealing with various natural orders, each work containing carefully drawn figures, with abundant detail. Such companion works (differing only from “ Eucalyptographia” in the absence of descriptive accounts of each plant), are the “lconography of Acacias and Cognate Genera,” *‘Tconography of Australian Salsolaceous Plants,” ‘‘ Descriptions and Illustrations of the Myoporinous Plants of Australia,” and “Tconography of Candolleaceous Plants” (only one decade issued). The “Plants indigenous to Victoria,” in two folio volumes, with beautiful lithograph illustrations, was issued in the sixties, and forms his principal work devoted exclusively to plants of the Y ATS gn FR cs Ue aaa | Naw Sq By ci maid Ps MPS a eS A Ras ak eee Lt ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 4] colony from which he obtained his official position. It forms the basis, (at all events as far as the illustrations are concerned), of certain of his minor works on Victorian plants. Then we have the “Select Extra-tropical Plants,” a compendium of information in regard to plants (chiefly economic) worth cultivating, and one which has been translated into several languages. The Baron did not by any means strictly confine himself to the vegetation of Australia and Tasmania. Plants from New Zealand and adjacent islands, from the New Hebrides, Samoa, and other Polynesian islands, and particularly New Guinea, all engaged his attention, and form the subjects of valuable papers. I believe that no complete list of Mueller’s works exists, and I have on another occasion made the suggestion that such a list (with bibliographic annotations), would form a very appropriate memorial of him. The list should be in strict chronological order, with a botanically classified supplement. Such a list would find a place on the work-table of every student of Australian plants, and would go far to keep his memory green. The value of such a publication would be greatly enhanced if there were added to it reprints of some of his papers in obscure or rare serials ; at present they are lost to most of us. Tt has been suggested that a memorial of the Baron should be the publication of an eighth or supplementary volume of the Flora Australiensis. The work could contain a steel engraving of the Baron’s portrait, and some account of his life. Other suggestions for perpetuation of the memory of the Baron have been made, and are doubtless under consideration of the Victorian scientific Societies. Those of us in New South Wales who are interested in a memorial of the great man await the decision of Melbourne, —the city in which he practically spent the whole of his Australian life, Of honours he received many. His Fellowship of the Royal Society of London dates from 1861 ; a year or two ago he was” elected a Corresponding Member of the Institute of France. The King of Wurtemburg created him a Baron in 1871 in recognition 42 J. H. MAIDEN. of his eminence as a scientific man, and in 1879 Her Majesty made him a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. His lesser distinctions (many of them — honour- able), form a very long catalogue. The story of the Baron’s life has already been outlined in several publications, and I may refer you to those noted at foot.’ I may mention that he was born at Rostock in Northern Germany in 1825, and emigrated to South Australia in 1847. Already a trained pharmacist, he obtained employment of this nature in Adelaide, but very shortly made his way to Victoria, of which colony he was made Government Botanist in 1852. This office was conjoined with the Directorship of the Botanic Gardens of Melbourne in 1857, and the offices were again separated in 1873, the Baron remaining Government Botanist of Victoria until his death on the 10th October last. No man knew the Baron more intimately than Mr. J. G. Luehmann, his assistant for twenty-eight years and now his suc- cessor. I lately asked Mr. Luehmann what he considered the Baron’s strongest or most evident point as a botanist. He at once replied, —‘“‘ His marvellous memory for the forms of plants.” The Baron had a remarkable power of “spotting” a new plant, and hence, when large parcels came to him, he could rapidly run through them and lay on one side, with an almost unerring instinct, the new forms; and having made this preliminary selection, his descriptions of new species were rapidly proceeded with. I have given a few notes on his personal characteristics in the Agricultural Gazette for November last, and most accounts of his life work refer to such matters. I enjoyed the personal friendship of the Baron for fifteen years. Sometimes I criticised his nomenclature, and other botanical 1 Victorian Naturalist, Oct. 1896; Chemist and Druggist of Australasia, Nov. 1896; Melbourne Argus, 12th Oct., 1896; Sydney Mail, 17th Oct., 1896; Brisbane Observer, age Oct., 1896 ; Agricultural Journal of Cape Colony, 26th Nov., 1896; Gardeners’ Chronicle, Pharm. Journ., and Chemist and Druggist, all of 17th ei; 1896. potion 22nd October, 1896. he ‘ ? i ie See if i No eo hiaiae sata hia acl Suet ae i FPR ae SE Ge Ee RE ae eR Par NN De | een OD at he a ey Aras Cee EEE tee ee MPR OE BIA A fg ewe Be ype ere tae a at en One ee SeeeerS ee Tee eS i Ueremen ee Serer NORGE eye aoe epee . Pit oe cia gees eS ‘a 4 ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS, 43 matters to his face, but always respectfully, for I never lost sight of the intellectual greatness of the man. At the recent com- memoration of the University of Sydney, I was struck with a quotation by. His Excellency the Governor, from Burke, who, referring to George Townshend, said, “ He had no failings which were not owing to a noble cause ; to an ardent, generous, perhaps an immoderate passion for fame—a passion which is the instinct of all great souls.” I would apply these eloquent words to the memory of Ferdinand von Mueller. b. Other Workers.—Mr. J. G. Luehmann has been definitely placed in charge of the National Herbarium of Melbourne with the title of Curator. It is a matter for congratulation that a man so familiar with this fine herbarium should have been appointed to succeed Baron von Mueller in charge of it. This National Herbarium comes under the ministerial control of the Chief Secretary of Victoria, and it is also a matter of congratula- tion that Mr. O. A. Topp, M.A., the Under Secretary of that department, is also a botanist, and takes a keen interest in the welfare of the herbarium. Besides the plants of his own colony, Mr. Luehmann has been giving special attention to those of Western Australia, of which he has already described several new species. Professor Ralph Tate’s absence in Europe during the past year has of necessity caused his botanical work to be temporarily laid aside, Mr. F. M. Bailey, the veteran Colonial Botanist of Queensland, has been as actively as ever engaged in the work of his depart- ment. In addition to the valuable botany bulletins bearing his name, he is far advanced in the preparation of a Flora of Queens- land, which cannot but enhance his already high reputation. During the year the Botany Bulletins he published for the Queensland Department of Agriculture were Nos. 13 and 14; he also published a paper on Queensland grasses for a pamphlet on dairying, for distribution in England. He has nowin the press 4 Bulletin on Fresh-water Alge, which will be larger than either 44 J. H. MAIDEN. of the two former ones, and also a second and enlarged edition of his ‘“‘ Companion to Queensland Student of Plant Life and Botany Abridged.” Steady work has been carried on at the Technological Museum of Sydney during the year. Mr. R. T. Baker has published in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of N. 8. Wales a flora of the Rylstone and Goulburn River districts, a part of the colony hitherto but little known to botanists. ‘The geographica] range of many species has been extended, and several new species have been discovered, seven of which have already been described, viz.: Acacia Muelleriana, Helichrysum tesselatum, H. brevidecurrens, Daviesia recurvata, [sopogon Dawsoni, Prostanthera discolor, P. stricta. Mr. R. T. Baker is an indefatigable worker, and he and his colleague, Mr. H. G. Smith, have collaborated in a paper read before this Society on the occurrence of a true Manna on a grass, Andropogon annulatus. 2. AGRicuLTURE.—a. Green Manuring and cognate matters.— Let me allude, if only for a few moments, to the especial necessity for nitrogen in our soils, and to the room for experiment and research, in this direction, in New South Wales. In many parts of our colony we have not the advantage, (from an agricultural point of view), of severe frosts, which break up the soil to a fine tilth. On the other hand, our sub-tropical rains beat down the surface and render it comparatively impervious. Such consoli- dated soils do not properly perform their functions, an open soil being necessary, amongst other things, to ensure free access of atmospheric nitrogen, which may be fixed by the tubercle-bacteria of leguminous plants. Free access of air is also of importance in providing the conditions favourable to the growth of the nitrifying organisms of the soil, The consolidation of the soil referred to is, however, to some extent counteracted by the roots of Leguminose, for many of them are deep-rooted, and their ramifications cause zeration of the soil, while their decomposition adds humus to it. We cannot entirely follow the precedents of other countries in regard to the particular plants to be selected as nitrifying agents, ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 45 but must experiment for ourselves. In the first place, as far as T know, but little has been done in regard to the examination of indigenous Australian leguminous plants for root-tubercles. Dr. T. L. Bancroft has published a note’ on the subject. We require bulky growing plants of rapid growth which are capable of assimilating large quantities of nitrogen from the air, and mene rapidly disintegrate when ploughed under as “green manure.’ In this respect, also, we are at a disadvantage in comparison with northern climes; our vegetation is, as a rule, more fibrous, and our soil is less continuously moist, and thus rapid disintegration ishindered. The subject in its many bearings is of great practical importance, and perhaps our various experiment farms may take up the matter on an even larger scale than they have hitherto done. Nor must we lose sight of the great value of many leguminous plants as fodders ; they are thus of double utility. While testing our native species we require to experiment with as large a variety as possible of exotic Leguminosx, not forgetting that we have numerous climates, so that if one species will not flourish in a district, it is possible it may do so in another. In addition to work in this direction undertaken in Government establishments IT must not omit reference to the researches of Mr. W. Farrer of Queanbeyan, who has, at his own expense, introduced many Leguminose for his experimental plots. The colony is extensive, and there is room for many more experimenters. I would invite attention to a recent paper by Dr. Bernard Dyer,” on this subject, which gives an excellent resumé of work in this field, particularly that of Dr. Schultz of Lupitz, Saxony, who has, in the course of forty years, converted an estate of poor soil (manured with dung procured elsewhere), into one producing valuable crops. “The basis of this transformation has been the culture of leguminous Steen crops, notably lupines, with the aid of mineral manures—lime, 2. OE A ME 1 “ Note on bacterial diseases of the roots of the Leguminosw.” roe. bape Soc., N.S.W., [2] vitt., 51, (1893). “Green Manuring.”—Journ. Roy. Agric. Soc., ViI., 778, ante 46 J. H. MAIDEN. potash, and phosphates—without the use of nitrogen; the min neral manures being usually applied, not to the leguminous crops themselves, but to the non-leguminous crops with which they were alternated. To , what are the best catch crops or green crops to be used for this of green manuring, and to trace out the causes of their good effects, ig 6 been the life work of this celebrated agriculturist.”—(Op. cit.) Incidentally, one might suggest experiments with lupins as a manurial crop in this colony. In the excellent article on “‘ Manures and Manuring,” by Mr. F. B. Guthrie, Chemist to the Department of Agriculture which is published in the “Farmer's and Fruit Growers’ Guide,” recently issued by the Department, will be found a resumé of work con- nected with the inoculation of the soil by pure cultures of nitrogen- fixing organisms. Hellriegel and Wilfarth’s work in this direction reads like a romance, and I only wish that time and the occasion permitted me to dwell longer upon the subject. b. Some work of the Department of Agriculture.—I would like to invite your attention, for a few moments, to some of the work which has been undertaken by our Department of Agriculture, for I have not time to enumerate all its agencies. Among these are Experiment Farms for sub-tropical products at Wollongbar, Richmond River, at Bathurst for miscellaneous farming, at Bomen near Wagga Wagga, where wheat and fruit growing are the specialties, and at Richmond where the Hawkesbury Agricultural College hasits headquarters. The last institution is presided over by Mr. J. L. Thompson as Principal, and it is of considerable magnitude. I will proceed to give some account of it and also of its aims and objects, The college opened in March 1891 with twenty-five students, there now being ninety in residence, whilst more than three hundred have already availed themselves of the facilities offered. Commencing with 3,500 acres of poor bush land, 2,000 acres have been cleared ; there are fifty acres under orchard and vine- yard, four hundred acres under general crops, and ten acres devoted to experimental work. Every branch of a farmer’s life is taught. Young men are trained in general farming and all the operations ae at i aieg ta Se Ra ea a ulna. ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 47 necessary to the sowing, cultivating and harvesting of crops, orchard work in all branches, drying of fruit, wine making, treat- ment for insect pests and disease, growing of vegetables, and packing of fruit; general dairy, pig, bee, and poultry work; engine-driving, carpentering and blacksmithing. The aim of the institution is to give a thorough grounding in all matters likely to be of use to the agriculturist of the future ; it is clearly recognised that methods must be improved, and that practical farming to be successful must be carried out on scientific lines. Lectures are given, these with practical work occupying alternate days, on principles of agriculture, chemistry, botany, and vegetable pathology, insect pests of the farm, and numerous other subjects calculated to help the students to a thorough knowledge of the scientific principles underlying their work. The regular course lasts two years, after which special courses may be taken by the student. The college is in the seventh year of its existence, and there is no doubt that it will become more and more useful as time goes on. If anything is necessary to prove its utility, it may be noted that growers are becoming more and More interested in its work, and that results abundantly testify in favour of careful and thorough, as opposed to careless, work. Time will not allow of full details as to the past year’s work, but it must suffice to say that by means of ensilage cows are kept in milk all the year round, while the ordinary products, fruit, cheese, ete., have brought the highest market prices when any surplus has been disposed of. By means of careful rotation the two main Seasons give eachitscrop. The experimental work becomes more and more conclusive that proper rotation, constant cultivation, careful selection of seed, application of appropriate manures, atten- tion to insect and fungus pests, and strict attention to details, pays handsomely for the extra cost, the crops being better, heavier, and cleaner, whilst cultivation properly carried out tends ‘to Minimise the drawbacks experienced in our variable climate. Students at the college benefit by the accumulated knowledge of the world in farming matters. Everything is done that can 48 J. H. MAIDEN. be thought of to improve the methods of work and the information conveyed to students. The opportunity is there; it rests with the young men themselves whether the country isto benefit or otherwise. A new departure has been recently made; the senior student of 1896 has been selected to undertake a course of study at one of the leading American colleges ; on his return the information gained will be made use of in a practical way. Such travelling scholarships are highly to be commended, and, provided the scholar is capable and receptive, he should be able to impart much that is valuable on his return. I had the pleasure, a few months ago, of carefully examining the work at the Murrumbidgee Experiment Farm at Bomen near Wagga Wagga, an institution second only in importance to the Hawkesbury Agricultural College. It is not necessary for me to enter into detail in regard to the farm, as such particulars will be found in the Agricultural Gazette, but I think it is only right that, addressing as I am a body of scientific men, I should draw your attention to the highly scientific work in regard to the selection of wheats proceeding at Bomen. This work is carried on jointly by Dr. Cobb, the Vegetable Pathologist to the Department, and Mr. George Valder, the manager of the farm. Much pioneer work in this direction has been already done. Hundreds of kinds. of wheats have been planted under varying methods of cultivation, have been harvested, and the grain subjected to milling and other tests, and while still in the ear observations have been systemati- cally carried on in regard to the period of ripening, tendency to — shell etc. In fine, the question of wheat cultivation and examin- ation of the grain has been attacked in hil a. ment Farmers have been shown that the heavier followed by the heavier crop, even when Other conditions are identical. The claims of various kinds of wheats to certain reputed characteristics have been investigated, and the wheats are classified in regard to yield per acre, weight per bushel, earli- ness or the reverse, capability of resisting rust, and so on. This farm is distributing “stud wheats” in limited quantities to farmers | | | ; ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 49 at fixed prices, and the demand for these is so great that it is expected that in a few years the institution will be almost self- supporting. If the distribution of improved wheats raises the yield of the colony but one bushel per acre, what a grand achiev- ment that would be! And the quality of the wheat is being improved at the same time, becoming more rust resistant, and of improved value for milling purposes. I am afraid I must leave this fascinating subject, as further discussion of it is perhaps more appropriate to an Agricultural Society than to a Royal Society for the promotion of science in general. I would, however, that agricultural societies would not entirely devote their energies to displays of stock, products and manufactures ; it might be advan- tageous to their members to discuss agricultural matters, intro- duced by lectures or papers, and important subject-matter for many a meeting could be supplied by recounting the aims, ‘Mmethods,.and results of the various agencies for the advancement of rural pursuits by the Department of Agriculture of New South ‘Wales. c. Mr. W. Farrer’s work with Wheats.—Besides this wheat- selection work of the Department of Agriculture, Mr. W. Farrer of Lambrigg, Tharwa, continues his work with this cereal ; this he has carried on at his own expense for many years. The system Mr. Farrer is following is that of cross-breeding between selected distinct varieties, followed by selection from the resulting numer- ous types, of such as appear to possess, in the highest degree, the qualities which are valuable, not only to the farmer, but to the miller, baker, and consumer as well, —to the two latter especially. Mr. Farrer is paying attention more particularly to the nutritive _ Value of the grain, and resistance to rust, in his experiments, Without neglecting such important matters as productiveness, earliness of maturity and strength of straw. He is ‘aiming to make the good qualities of his wheats normal and stable qualities. of new varieties. Such new varieties as he makes in this manner ~ he is in the habit of distributing, before they are quite firmly fixed, to the Agricultural Departments of the different colonies, _ D—May 5, 1897. pes oo Mo. Bot. Garden, 1898. 50 J. H. MAIDEN. in order that further selection may allow strains to be fixed in their new homes, and suitable for their special conditions. d. Testing of Seeds.—This is a subject upon which I again propose to touch, but the matter is worthy of special emphasis in connection with agriculture. I hope that, before the lapse of many years, we shall have a Seed-control Station in connection with our Department of Agriculture, where agricultural seeds may be tested as to name, germinating power and purity. The germinating power of seeds is of course of paramount importance to the farmer. Not only do seeds vary considerably in the length of time they may be safely kept before sowing, but there is often much variability in seeds in the same parcel through admixture, and other causes, I cannot do justice to this subject on the present occasion, but I venture to refer members to two excellent papers, which will well repay perusal.'_ Hardy less valuable is a paper by another author’ belonging to the same department, where homely appliances for the testing of seeds are described. It has long beeen a matter of surprise to me that seed-testing is so little practised by farmers. Of course, as regards the more difficult points that present themselves in these investigations, the farmer would do well to appeal to the Department of Agriculture for help, but, as a rule, with very little practice, and with appli- ances to be found in every household, he can test the germinating power of most seeds as wellas anybody. And if the citizen whose purchases of seeds are limited to those required for the horticulture of a suburban garden, were to adopt a similar plan, much heart- burning would be saved, and the precautions of seedsmen for the supply and distribution of good seed would be promptly increased. 1 (1) “Seed Control: its aims, methods and benefits,” by Gilbert H. Hicks.— (U.S Br art. of Agriculture) —Read before Massachu _—s Hort. Feb. 8. 1896. Boston, apes and Churchill; pp. z8. And (2) “« Pure sod eh. by the same author, URL arson from the rtmen aut sion ny of the s — ‘Standards of the purity and vitality of dgticnitas ral Seeds.” A. J. Pieters—* Testing Seeds at Home,” Reprinted from Year-book U. . ge of Agriculture, 1895. Big GG ee saa seat ates ood te as pete cance Fae ir aie near en ise Sit ieee Le aca A aie age Cush SS Bn a ok NE ae Saas la ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 51 3. Foresrry, erc.—a. Arboretwm.—tThe colony does not at the present time possess a single arboretum of the first class. Our climates and soils are so numerous that it would be desirable to have arboretums in several districts, but even one arboretum in a suitable situation could be made of high educational value. We possess a number of collections of trees (the Botanic Gardens in Sydney being especially rich in species), but no real garden of trees. To possess its maximum value for the people of this colony an arboretum would require to be at no great distance from Sydney, but, in such a case, it would be almost necessary to have a small branch establishment in one of the colder regions of the colony. The present time is inopportune to suggest fresh expenditure, but perhaps it might be possible to set apart a considerable area (say two hundred acres), of Crown Lands in a suitable situation within forty or fifty miles of Sydney. It might be possible to establish within this area a Forestry School, where young men might receive education in forestry matters under conditions as they exist in the colony, and if the site of the arboretum were at no great distance from a natural forest, the educational advantages would be greater still. b. Danger of planting inferior species.—Whether plantations are made by the Government or by private persons, the importance of planting only useful species cannot be overestimated. I have Seen plantations in Australia which should now be revenue-pro- ducing, but the timber has no known use, and forms inferior fuel. It is, in fact, unsaleable. In re-afforestation operations, by means of our indigenous trees, it is necessary to emphasise this point very distinctly. This brings me to the seed-question. The selection of suitable seed is not by any means a matter resting solely with the seedsmen. Customers (official bodies and individuals), ask distinctly for seed of species which we know to be inferior. The reason of this is in some cases owing to the fact that through the | confusion of botanical writers in regard to the merits of trees of the especially difficult genus Eucalyptus, species have received praise which is really not due to them, and planters, observing these 52 J. H. MAIDEN, — favourable remarks, have placed their orders accordingly. The lesson to be learnt is that grave responsibility attaches to the man who, through imperfect information, praises the virtues of a tree. The tendency to speak in superlatives as to the excellencies of our native vegetation is growing, and should be restrained, as a man who is deceived by glowing accounts of our trees is apt to under- rate them when the reaction takes place. I think I am right in asserting that very few of our land- owners have cultivated any considerable number of trees for timber. In the northern hemisphere this practice is well estab- lished, and it is a matter well worthy of consideration, by many of our country people, to what extent the planting of trees will afford profitable employment for capital and land. c. Industry of Seed-collecting.—Most of the forest seeds collected in this colony are those of Eucalypts, trees difficult to discriminate. But that does not in any way justify collectors in supplying mixed seed, or seed with misleading names. I feel indignant as evidence is furnished to me of the carelessness of suppliers of indigenous seeds. If a man desires to learn the names of his seeds, dozens of botanists will help him without fee or reward. So that ignorance can be no man’s excuse in this matter, and a man who supplies named seed of whose origin he is ignorant or careless, is a delin- quent of a peculiarly despicable kind, one whose wickedness can only be found out after the lapse of years, when perhaps reason- able hopes have been blasted. I would like to see the purveyors of false seed subjected to the penalties of a draconian law. Human nature is much the same everywhere, and our people are not greater delinquents in this respect than are those of other lands, but I have personal experience in these matters when I say that the disastrous effects of the distribution of ill-named or bad seed are comparable, as regards agriculture, forestry, and horticulture, to droughts and pests. Planters of all kinds have quite’ enough ‘discouragements of an unavoidable character without being saddled with others absolutely within human control, i a de Gc aa alec ’ i : : | : ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 53 For my own part I am doing all [ can to establish a seed-control station, at all events for indigenous seeds. I am the officially appointed buyer of Australian seeds for two countries, and have many opportunities of influencing purchases by public bodies and private citizens, I am doing all I can to encourage technical education in seed-collecting, and shall not rest until a buyer is able to procure his seeds under some reasonable guarantee. I have used plain language, but I feel strongly in the matter, and -feel that I am doing right in addressing a body of men the extent of whose influence in educating the community cannot readily be exaggerated. d. Supply of good timbers not unlimited.—The demand for our ' timbers has been so active during the last few years, and fashion has set in almost exclusively for a very few species, that a word of caution is necessary, particularly in regard to the timbers referred to. We have large quantities of excellent timber,—there is no doubt of that, but not so much that we can afford to cut recklessly, and neglect conservation of young growths. We must not forget that the giant trees, the monarchs of our forests, which have yielded large quantities of high-class timber, are being rapidly cut out. They have been maturing their timber through the ages, practically uninterfered with by the aboriginal lord of the soil, and are no more to be replaced than can the nuggets which man can do nothing to produce ; he simply reaps a harvest Which he has not sown. The cutting out of forest without ne or conservation of young forest growths is simply living upon capital, and, continuing the metaphor, we should Seriously ask ourselves if we are establishing an adequate sinking nd. e. Fe orest-thinning.—This is a matter of considerable practical — importance to us in this colony. It isa subject which requires to be approached with a spirit of respect and caution, as it involves Pitfalls. Because a man can thin out lettuces or verbenas it does not follow that he can undertake forest thinning successfully, And the greater caution is required because the effects requis? 54 J. H. MAIDEN. time for development; we might possibly pay a man for work of this kind when it would have been sounder policy to pay him the same sum for inaction. I hardly know a forestry operation requiring greater skill on the part of the overseer than that of thinning. Work of this kind can with difficulty be directed from a distance, and empiricism in dealing with a natural forest must be done away with as far as possible. If we had a natural forest on an absolutely level plain, with conditions of drainage every- where similar, soil and subsoil alike in every respect, the winds and moisture precisely similar in their effects over the entire area, then we could decree that the ultimate thinnings should leave the trees so many feet apart, which result could be attained either at once, or by so many intermediate thinnings. But such con- ditions nowhere exist, and each patch’ of forest requires the individual consideration of the operator. The local conditions require careful study in every instance, for the too abrupt alteration of the conditions under which a tree is living, by ill-advised clearing in its immediate vicinity, may do a tree harm rather than good, may retard its growth even if it does not induce actual disease. Oareless thinning may cause trees to be bark- bound, to send out lateral branches, instead of forming a straight bole free from knots, and may have injurious effects in other ways. Iam quite aware that it is difficult to secure the services of men who are capable of carrying out such work satisfactorily. Men should remember that the taking down of a number of trees in thinning operations is different in character to the removal of a number of stone or iron columns, and those entrusted with such operations must have a knowledge of the physiology of plant growth, and shrewd common sense to decide, under all the vary- ing conditions of a specific locality, what is the best action to take, —how to vary; in different parts of the same forest, the degree of thinning. One rule in forest-thinning should be borne in mind (i.¢., where merchantable timber and not merely aalaepe effects are in view) viz.,the necessity for keeping the g d shad h as possible, ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 55 as exposure to the direct rays of the sun and the beating effects of the rain, alike diminish the productivity of the forest. Some valuable correspondence (although written with European and Indian conditions in view), on “ What constitutes a thinning,” has, during the last few months, appeared in the ‘‘Indian Forester” a journal which is not so well known in these colonies as its merits deserve. . J. Ringbarking.—There is a vast field for enquiry into the best methods of destroying tree-growth. It is a matter of everyday knowledge that trees are sacrificed unnecessarily, but, when it is decided what trees are to be destroyed, there is frequently serious trouble owing to the suckering of certain species, (or the ground being taken possession of by others whose seeds have been lying dormant in the ground). The result, from whatever cause, is that ground is taken possession of by scrubby growths which have frequently become well nigh impenetrable, and instead of ring- barking having resulted in an increased growth of grass, the reverse has been the case. So diverse are local conditions that it is impossible to prescribe with exactness the time for destroying trees in every district. If it be thoroughly understood that trees of different species do not perform their various functions connected with rest and growth, simultaneously, and that our seasons are exceedingly irregular compared with those of Europe, on the recorded experience of which many of us rely, perhaps too much, we shall have learned & good deal. And let it be further noted that we have a good deal of pioneer investigation to do yet,—in other words, that when a man asks us the best time to ringbark a certain tree, we have frequently no precedent to offer him. Because Stringbark was successfully ringbarked at Bandaloo in September 1889, it does not follow that Box may be successfully ringbarked at the Same or any other place in September 1897. If we could prepare ® column of statistics in this way, just as we record physical con- } Mussoorie, India.—Official Organ of the Forest School, Dehra Dun. 15 rupees per annum. 56 J. H. MAIDEN. stants, what a boon it would be! No, we must approach this subject, the importance of which is still of such magnitude to New South Wales, that outsiders can scarcely understand, in another way. We must consider the tree as a living organism, and give some attention to the physiology of tree-growth. The first thing is to ascertain when the sap is “up” (to use a rather loose phrase the meaning of which is, however, well under- stood), evidence of which is shown by the facility with which the. bark strips, and also by the formation of leaves, to be noted at a distance by their greater greenness. (In Australia we have of course mainly to deal with non-deciduous trees, but nevertheless "it is usually an easy matter for a careful observer to note the extent to which the formation of a new growth of leaves has extended, or whether the tree is at rest). For an account of the physiology of the processes connected with sap-movement I must refer to the text-beoks. But I may remind you that starch is contained in the sap of trees, or a substance from which starch is obtained. This starch is separated from the sap and is stored up, during the period of active growth, in the wood, and especially in the root wood, ready for the formation of buds, (usually leaf-buds), which buds usually burst in the spring, but the season of bursting forth is exceedingly variable in this colony with various trees, a8 T have already hinted. Every forester, every man concerned in | the procuring of timber, and every pastoralist, should make and preserve records of the periods of “ flushes ” of leaves on each of the various kinds of trees in his own district. Now many trees, if the bark be injured, or ringbarked, have the power of developing the latent buds which exist under the _ bark, which buds are developed by means of the store of starchy — matter which we have already referred to as existing in the root- wood (and in the stump). In other words we have “suckers,” those curses of the forester and pastoralist. If information be desired as to the relative degrees of suckering of our forest trees attention may be invited to an article’ dealing with the subject. ‘“* Notes on Ringbarking and Sapping,” noes on foresters’ reports): siete Gazette of N.S.W., v., 14, (January 1894). ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 57 The liability of Box (Zucalyptus hemiphloia, etc.) to sucker has passed into a bye-word. So here, as pointed out by Farrer and others, many years ago, we have, I think, the key to the problem of ringbarking. Ifa tree is to be rung, see that the work is done properly, right through the cambium layer all round. Then see that it is cut at a period when the particular kind of tree operated upon has little or no starch or bud-sustaining material left in its roots. In other words, see that it is cut off from its base of supplies. Consequently, it may be bad practice to set a man to indiscriminately ringbark an area. Ringbarking is, in fact, an operation requiring scientific direction, and no land-owner should turn a number of axe-men into his property to ring-bark without very cautiously directing their operations. It isa pity that the operation of ringbarking should be more difficult than is usually supposed, but we cannot contravene nature’s laws without taking the consequences. A favourite say- ing of Sir Andrew Clark to a patient, was ‘‘ Remember that Nature never forgives.” If a land-owner will pay no heed to the science of ringbarking, his pocket will suffer; if a public official directs or sanctions ringbarking at an improper season, I would endeavour to teach him better, and if he proved incapable or unwilling to learn, I would replace him. If ring- barking were conducted on proper lines, that alone would justify the existence of a forestry department, for it would result in *normous saving to private citizens, and to that great land-owner, —the State. Here we have another potent reason for the tech- nical education of the forestry staff. 9- Noxious Scrub and Prickly-pear.—I believe that the key to _ The effective destruction of noxious scrub, such as the Brigalow Scrub, which devastates thousands of acres, and the Prickly-pear, (Opuntia ), the eradication (or rather partial or non-eradication), of which has given rise to a permanent colonial industry, will be found in what I have said on the subject of ringbarking. Wein fact take a mean advantage of plant-life. We cut the plant’s : head off at a period, carefully ascertained by the study of local a 58 J. H. MAIDEN. conditions, when it is unable to grow a new one. I would like to see measured areas of brigalow scrub cut on the principles I have indicated, and compared with scrub on adjacent land. I have no fear of the result, but scrub-cutting carried out carelessly or indiscriminately is just another name for pruning, and will prob- ably result in a fine healthy crop of suckers which will require treatment at a greatly enhanced cost. Did time permit, I would like to dwell on the subject of ‘‘weed- killers,” a matter to us in Australia of national importance, how- ever strange it may sound to European ears. TI look upon weed- killers as only of very partial application, as they often merely scotch the weed, leaving its vitality practically unimpaired. With some weeds, under special circumstances, some (very few) weed- killers may be made to do useful work in the hands of carefully directed men. In any case weed-killers ought only to be paid for by bills having a currency of one, two or three years, provision being made to return the bills to drawer in the very probable event of the weed-killer not doing its work. I think that weed-killers, where large weeds, such as prickly- pear, sweet-briar, etc., are concerned, should be placed in the same category as mattocks and picks; they are simply to be used as @ means for destroying the plant at a period when it can no longer draw upon its accumulated nutritive store, its starchy capital in fact. 4, AUSTRALIAN TIMBERS.—a. School of Timber-research.—There is a vast field for research in the histology of colonial timbers. Very little has been done in this direction, and the work is inter- esting and full of promise of valuable results. How to get the work done is the difficulty, and it is not easy to make suggestions. Some of us have been spasmodically engaged in the work for @ number of years, but it is work unsuited to the attention of mea with many other claims on their time, and endeavour might perhaps be made to interest young University graduates in the matter. Students of biology should be well grounded in histology if they ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 59 make use of their opportunities, and no doubt Professor Haswell would help his old students who might seek his advice. Many fine illustrations of the microscopic structure of exotic woods have been published, and the student could give his first attention to these, many of the timbers to which they refer being readily available. As regards colonial timbers, the fine collection of the Technological Museum would be available. Material inducements to enter on the study might perhaps be made by recognising it in some way by the University (say as part of a post-graduate course), or perhaps the medal of our Society might be awarded for good work in this direction. b. Wood-paving.—A good deal of attention has been recently devoted in the press to the evergreen subject of wood-paving. And it is pleasant to observe that every epidemic of letter-writing to the newspapers on this matter, shows that the writers have become better informed on the subject. At present it does not appear to be necessary that those who lay down paving of this character should possess much acquaintance with the timbers themselves, which is a matter for regret, although the diagnosis of Eucalyptus timbers is admittedly difficult. At present, even in Australia we see roadways made of timbers which have been felled Practically all the year round, and timbers of different kinds mixed in the same stretch of roadway. The matter is already receiving the attention of the Engineering Section of this Society, and it is well worthy the attention of scientific men. Our health and our pockets are alike concerned, for the sanitary character of a road- way depends not only upon the nature of the material, but upon the way it is laid, and our pockets suffer in the improper depletion of certain kinds of timber, and through anything which ee the maximum life of the roadway being obtained. ¢. Special Uses of Australian Timbers.—This is a field in regard to which practical men may benefit themselves and the community at the same time. Many of our native cheer _ been recom-— mended for specific uses. Can those be endorsed? The great majority of our native timbers have been Lame to no 60 J. H. MAIDEN. other use than as fuel. It isin the highest degree improbable that our timbers, so varied in texture, colour and properties are unsuitable for many purposes. If not, what are those special purposes? The uses of wood are infinite, and this enquiry, while not of a high scientific character, is certainly work of great importance. 5. Borantcan Treacuing in New Sovutn Wates.—a. The | present state of Botanical Instruction in this Colony.—I think I am correct in saying that there are few institutions in the colony in which botany is practically taught. As regards schools, whether the subject is taken up or not depends upon the inclination of the individual teacher. It is recognised in the local examinations of the University as an optional subject. In the University itself, it is taught as part of the Biology course. The great objection with which one is met in advocating wider teaching in botany is the already (in the opinion of some), overcrowded list of subjects taught in many schools. But, bearing in mind the primary mean- ing and object of education,—the “leading out” of the faculties, it does seem a matter for regret that a place is not found for 4 subject like botany, which is so well adapted for securing the end in view. In country schools the plants of the district may be made of never-ending interest to the scholars, and they could be taught to observe, with objects ever at hand. In towns there need rarely be insurmountable difficulty in obtaining a fresh supply of leaves and flowers to illustrate a practical discourse. I would not press on children, at too early a stage, anything in the shape of a course of structural and systematic botany. Rather, I would take a few well-known plants, bring out a few points of structure, and illustrate their uses wherever possible. In like manner, 1D © . teaching a child chemistry, [ would show him a series of experi ments, in order that he might see the kind of apparatus employed and the class of effects produced, that he might, in short feel him- self in an atmosphere of chemistry, and so imbibe a love of it, before being put to the more serious work of systematic study of the science. But where shall we get the teachers? Well, it does ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 61 not require that a teacher shall have a very profound knowledge of the subject before he can give a very interesting (and sound) practical lesson to children in botany. If teachers would not mistrust their own powers in this respect, they would find their own knowledge would grow, for by a kind of inductive action between teachers and taught, teachers would find their own knowledge develop, and they could proceed to broader views of the subject. As intellectual discipline, the science of botany possesses merit of a high order, while it has the advantage of causing its votaries to wander in the fresh, pure air of the fields and woods, never without companions although apparently alone, and last, though surely not least, the refining effect of a love of plant-life must never be overlooked. And if the subject be encouraged in the elementary schools, its more ample recognition in higher schools and colleges, and by the University, will follow as a matter of course, | b. AnInstitution for Botanical Research.—We lack an institution to do for the botanical student what the chemical laboratory does for the chemical student, By use of the term laboratory, I do not wish to be misunderstood ; I mean an institution where the student may pursue botanical enquiries with facilities for reference to abundant fresh and growing material. The need of such an institution has been felt in London, and I would refer to an inter- esting scheme recently propounded by Mr. W. Martindale.’ As far as New South Wales is concerned, an institution of this character must obviously be in close touch with the Botanic Gardens at Sydney, for no scheme of botanical instruction can be complete without practical demonstrations with living plants. I 8m not prepared with a working scheme, and will content myself of Present with a few suggestions. A house in the vicinity of the Gardens could be set apart for students. None of them would vai Ss the desirability of establishing an institute for the testing of Pp “at rolireg Royal Botanic Gardens” (London), by W. Martindale.— urn. [4] rv., 208, (6th March, 1897). 4 62 J. H. MAIDEN. be in residence, and the rooms could be fitted up with the appli- ances usually found in a herbarium and botanical museum, special apparatus and fittings for special work being of course provided as required. Intending students would require to give evidence of their fitness to conduct research, and a room, or part of a room, would be put at the disposal of each for a period, such period being capable of extension if found desirable. Students might be nominated by the University,—special students who, having graduated, desire to take up a special line of botanical research ; medical and pharmaceutical students could be nominated by the Medical School of the University and by the Pharmaceutical Society ; the Department of Public Instruction might nominate teachers as students during the whole or part of their vacation ; students and cadets from the Technical College and Technological Museum might be nominated; the Department of Mines and eT eg ee et Le, eee Agriculture might nominate forests cadets, students at agricultural colleges and experiment farms, inspectors of prickly-pear and other weeds. Every encouragement could be given to other — : students to take up practical work in connection with the physiology and morphology of plants, and to work at problems of classification. A student would bring such books and apparatus as he could afford, and as regards the rest, he could have ready — access to the Public Library and the library of the Botanic Gardens, to a fine collection of growing plants and a very fair herbarium, and to the various conveniences for study (hot-houses, frames, — : ponds, tanks, etc.) which a generously equipped botanical establish- _ ment might supply. For my own part, I desire to see the — educational opportunities which the Gardens afford exercised to s their fullest extent, subject only to necessary safeguards for the a safety of the public collections, and to non-interference with the i discipline of the staff. I quite think it would be possible to carry out some such scheme as I have outlined, without interfering with _ the ordinary work of the Gardens. 4 c. Education of Foresters. —Our foresters are some of the best — . abused men in the service, but, if only for the reason that they ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 63 have the oversight of part of the assets of the colony worth a very large sum of money, we should do all we can to encourage them and further their welfare. Some of the men in our forest service are, to my personal knowledge, excellent men for the positions they hold, but this is owing to the men themselves, and not to the method by which they have been trained. Just as the administrators of the public school system of this colony find it necessary to train, from the beginning, most of their teaching staff, so, I think it would be also a wise policy for the State to train foresters for its own service. If the whole, or the majority of the forestry posts were awarded to trainees of the State, the State would find competition to undergo courses of training keen, and better men would probably find their way into the service. Some knowledge of the botany of Australian plants (particularly trees) should be insisted upon, in addition to the botany of exotic plants usually exclusively taught in Australia itself, together with knowledge of the physiology of plants, for unless a forester possesses such knowledge, his treatment of his tree-charges must of necessity be empirical. Apprenticeship for one or two years of forestry cadets in the Botanic Gardens and Parks would be very desirable, in order that the operations and discipline of such establishments might be familiar to them. In fact I would insist on such training, and with stringent provisions for the prompt termination of a course in any case in which a student did not appear to-profit by the instruction provided. 6. A Prea ror a Boranican Survey.—The desirability of a botanical survey for the Colony is so obvious, that I require only to touch upon a few points which suggest themselves, because of our special circumstances and environments. In the first place, we are frequently asked where this or that plant, or a supply of its product, may be obtained in quantity, and sometimes we can Only indicate the locality in general terms. The establishment of a botanical survey need not involve the expenditure of a large Sum of money, but rather the organization and control of existing gencies which may subserve the grand object in view. I feel 64 J. H. MAIDEN. sure that in country districts there are hundreds, nay, even thousands of private citizens, and officials such as engineers, surveyors, mining, land and forest officers, school teachers, post- masters, and many others, who would give voluntary aid to the furtherance of a botanical survey. Many would, in their spare moments, gladly supply information and collect specimens if they knew what would be acceptable. But while the work must be largely voluntary, it need be none the less systematic. I have conducted an informal botanical survey on my own account for many years, but my correspondents, although many, do not represent the whole of the colony, and their work has been neces- sarily of a fitful and unorganised character. In time to come we shall not only have geological and mining surveyors, but also agricultural and forestry surveyors. I use the word surveyor (as regards agriculture, forestry, etc.), not so much in the sense it bears as applied to a land-surveyor, for a man may be able to furnish valuable information suitable for a botanical and agricultural survey, and yet be incapable of using a theodolite. To summarise, I would use the term “ botanical survey ” as corre- lative to geological survey, and it would include observations applicable to :— a. Pure Botany. b. Agriculture. c. Forestry. d. Horticulture. Let us touch upon these heads in a little detail. a. Pure Botany.—An obvious advantage to the systematist would be that material from a wider area would be available, and thus he would be better able to define the limitations of species and varieties than he is at present. How frequently we have ~ to deplore the one-sided description of a species, often prepared from one specimen, from one locality, in ignorance perhaps of the amount of variation the same plant undergoes a very short distance away.

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Ste wes B00 — turriculata ... ie ... 389 volutella ... ie .. 382 i 3 antharus vari 382, 383 Carleton, H.R, a Inst.C.E. , Light- oO ses nO: lxvii. ers he the: Fauna of the Older iary of Australia Guckalins: recent work on lexi Cereb a Mulders n. =p. : . 403 Cerithium per trier . 402 — Salteriana 402 pene Dr. Thomas, Obitu- otice Chileutomia subvaricosa.: 403, ree Chlorophane ... i “avi Chrysoberyl xlviii. idaris Australie ies 4 Cinnamomum Oliv ee a) aba Clarke Memorial "Fund eee Clathurella obdita Clubbe. Dr. C. F. B., On fifteen cases of In tussusception... wore Coolgardie i — Colum = norton ... 393 Comet f 71896 (Perrine) sin 8D inella can 3. 398 Cousthanees sb iat we. 41 Conus acro otholo ides i . 391 — . 39. — Dennanti 891 eatenuat 891 Hamiltonensis , 391 erospy 391 atus >) — Murravianus . 89 pullulescens 391 —— ptychodermis 39 207 391 . 392 riculus Copper, effect of temperature o on 281 ts 76 Conkle : 381 Cordierite-bearing rock from a 2 Qondionitesranulite eis xxviii. Cordieria conospira, n. sp. 396 margi ; cee . 396 ... 408 | —— AGE Cowdery, G. R., eomii! Rail i iB XCVIII. Current Papers ‘No. 3 ... sae EY Cyprea brachypyga ee .. 389 —— consobrina . . 390 cont ‘ +. 389 — dorsata 390 — eximia was 390 ce AOE cachet 390 : 390 —— — leptorhyncha 389 — Murraviana 389 latella 390 — parallela 389 platypyga 390 pyrulata . 389 —— scalena . 389 —— spherodoma vee 890 subpyrulata .. 389 —— subsid at .. 389 toxorhyncha . 390 D Daphnella columbelloides 393 —— crassilirata... ae 393 racillima ... ee w+» 393 — pulchra 393 - seulptilis pps — tenuisculpta ae Daviesia recurvata Dennant, John, F.a. 9 ,On Corals $81 se = Dr. J. Adam, N eb see cerbral aa ga Dissochilus . 402 —— vitrew; ee . 402 ‘ Doigtidre,’ ie Caledonia Xxxvi. Donations, viii., xvi., xX; ie, , Xxix., xxxvi., 1. oo daligoe: : ... 392 eblongula, 1 Bie . 382 392 _—— Trevor 392 . 392 Drought, outburst of “springs EB —— — po oes ee a Eldred, One. W. H., Obituary otice wer 38 Engineering fieotiva, Papers in 1896 ... she ee 16 (xx Engineering Section procoodingsixy Eo-atlanta pte so 407 Epidromus citha ena oil of tg? Grey Gum’ 259 191 alyn : yi amyodaling 196, ie calophylla : — apitellata . 197 — cneorifolia ... . 260 —— eugenioides 197 —— globulus 260, "262, 269, 270, 275, _ pe hemiphl ; Spe macrorrhyncha 179— is 200, 377, a -—- maculata — oleosg a I 195, 197, 363 —— Punctata 177, 182 — 194, 259 — Risdoni . 260 rostrata ... . 260 viminalis, . BAe 535) Eudesmin 191, 193 Eudesmol .-. 200 Eupatagus decipiens --- 412 Exchanges ae ony (reflecting) Prof. Ma: .-90, 94, — ao. es ) Prof Kennedy's 0 90, 288 Fasciolaria exilis 384 say of ‘the Older Tertiary 0 of A ao . 381 ce Fissurella n Flow of water 3 in fs hiioen pipes and channels . 814,°356 oe &o. in N. 8. Wales 51 - Fossarus Sse day sp. —— lam ; " 401 G Garvan, J. P. Shei i Notice Genotia atractoides ..- 398 —— font . 398 Gill, Hey 1 Ww Wyatt, B. Ai LL.D. bitu ary Notice Gold nuggets and ingots, crys: talline structure of vii.) PAGE | Green manuring &e. © Grey Gum,’ _exudations of the a ; —— essential oil Hargrave, Lawrence, The possi- ed of soaring in ROE Hetichrysin brevidecurrens "Ga selat ww. 44 Hanlane Cova n. ‘sp. Bee) E Hereditary ataxy i xxxvi. ‘ Hooeng,’ Now Caledonia Houghton, T. H., 1.0.E-5 M.I.M.E., Low Lift Bumping Machinery Z Icebergs in the Southern Ocean 221 I ee a latesulcatum, n. sp. 404 Ini n Sodpnteype: of the "Mare mbi tri 111 Intussusception, fifteen « ee of Ixxi. Isopogon Dawso A4 K Kalgoorlie telluride ores xl viii nibbs, G. H., F.k.A.s., On the steady"flow*of water in uni- form pipes and channe 314 e theory of the reflect- ing nsometer of Prof. Martens wae pi vs *Kulpi’ operation .XXV eas osteo seein a 384 Latirulus subaffini 385 Taplectand oka ides 382 — converus, nN. Sp. ~ . 382 extenua uatus . . 382 —— Newtoni, n. sp. soe 3| Library . 98 Lightliouses in in LN. S. Wales “isvit Lima Jeffrey ee Liversidge, A., LL ae F.R.S. , On the crystalline structure of gold and ee — and — gots aoe ee * PAGE M Mactra howchiniana 409 | Maiden, J. H., ¥.1.s., Anniver: versary Midics 1 sag oer gales 398 — gla : _ 399 — sph tae — obsoleta Martens’ mirror ‘extensometer 90, 9 . 399 | —— 4. 283, LIV. Martesia elegans .. 410 elegantula, n. sp. - 409 —. used in 2 construction, 111 Mathews, R. ne , The ur- ung, or enitiation cere- monies of the Mu re ee tribes The Tot emic divisions oe Australian tri Medical Section, Papers in 1896 1x — Proceedi Melbourne sewerage Melitose ... ae Members, of abs ae Merfield, C. J., F.R.A.s., Deter- mination of the or rbit ele- erg of comet f 1896 (Per- — "Note on the cubic parabola as a transition to 1 VI. * Mika’ oper xxv. Mitra alokiza 388 — anticoronata 2 388 —— atractoides ... 38 — atypha wes —— biornata 388 —— cassida ay 388 clathurella ... 388 citharelloides . 888 —— complanata.,. ‘ . 888 —— conoidalis ., —s — Dennant cae — dictua : sve O08 escharoides «oe 309 —— exilis a ie «0 O88 —leptalea ... sue -.. 388 —— ligata bas + 388 —— multisulcata ..» 388 — othone A +. 388 —— paucicostata we) BOS —— semilevis ., ‘ .. 388 —~. sordida vas OOO —— subcrenularis be 1. 388 (Xx vill.) PAGE lee Mitra shape econ apeyeer 388 apla 888 88 Mitromorpha daphnelloides 397 397 Monttivattia daca 416 rif ena Spe ic. 414 416 Moulden, ‘a. Collett, ‘: R.S. M., F.G:8., a cordierite- bear- ing ae tré om Broken Hill 214 Mueller, Baron von, Obituary oti ae zi ae Mutilations of Australian Abori- ines ... ae ce ia Myrticolorin 182, 377 Natica arata . 399 —— limata Be Nickeliferous opal XXvViii. pate 1896 .. “Oli ne sane