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 ADDRESS 
 
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 PROFKSSOR J. G. MACCJRKCiOIl, 
 
 !• U K S I 1) K .N T. 
 
 riUNTKi) BY \vii.iJ.\M .\iAr.\AB, ;} I'Ri.Nci: «tui:i;t. 
 
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 hMic, Arr.ji2v9S of Nova Scim^ 
 
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 Norman Md. Swain 
 
 HALIFAX, Nova Scotia 
 
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OPENING ADDRESS. 
 
 By P;i()FKssou J. G. MACGREGOR, PRESinENT. 
 
 Members of the Institut. of Natural Science : 
 
 I TAKE this, the earliest opportunity which has presented itself, 
 of thanking you for the honour you have shown me, in electing 
 me to the Presidency of the Institute. To be asked to preside 
 over the work of a number of earnest men, however few, must 
 always be a source of gratification. The invitation to preside over 
 your work at the present time is especially so, because of the 
 critical point which the activity of the Institute seems to have 
 reached. We have recently had the misfortune to lose some of 
 our most active members, and so far as we can see there are few 
 young men who are ready to take their places. For this reason 
 the Presidency of the Institute at present should involve much 
 more onerous duties than ever before, and I undertake to dis- 
 charge them, only because I know that, though there are few 
 active scientific workers left among us, those few are willing and 
 ready to exert themselves to the utmost. 
 
 I have looked recently somewhat fully into our history, and 
 find that, since its first meeting in 1863, this Institute has pub- 
 lished about 304 papers, dealing for the most part with the 
 Natural History and Geology of the Province of Nova Scotia, 
 and averaging about 9 pages each. It is interesting to know 
 how those papers have been distributed in time, and I have 
 therefore plotted two curves, shewing, one, how the number of 
 papers, and the other, how the number of pages, in our Trans- 
 
 
 \ 
 
1 IJI »|l|l|IPP||^f||fjill| II III Mil II II 
 
 2 Ol'ENINfJ ADDUESS— MACfiltKdOIl. 
 
 actions, has varied with the years. Those you see before you • 
 and they shew that our Institute has had its ups h,nd downs. 
 Judging by numbers of papers, you see that the time of our 
 greatest activity was the first few years of our existence, that 
 since 18G7 we liave kept oscillating about an average of about 
 11 papers a year, never getting far above tliat number and never 
 falling far below it, that the year of greatest intellectual dearth 
 was 1<S75, and that, during the last few years we have been 
 below the average. If we remember that in the first few 3'eais 
 we published regularly papers on oar local meteorology, and that 
 now all such returns are made to the Meteorological Bureau and 
 published by the Legislature, it would appear that for the last 
 20 years we have kept at a pretty uniform level, and that at 
 present we are but little below it. The other curve, the curve 
 of pages, has an interest of its own. It shews much greater 
 variations than the curve of papers, the Transactions having 
 been much bulkier in some years than in others. In 18G6, 1809, 
 1873, 187G, and 1878, our members scattered the silver of speech 
 with lavish hand, but since 1878 we seem to have realized tliat 
 though speech may be silver silence is gold ; and it is a somewhat 
 remarkable fact that, though since 18G8 the number of papers 
 has not in any year varied very much from the average, the 
 average length of papers between 1868 and 1879 was nearly twice 
 as great as between 1879 and the present time. Of course the 
 falling off is by no means an indication of lethargy. It is possi- 
 bly due to a growing power of perceiving rubbish, and a conse- 
 quent growing determination to eliminate it. 
 
 On the whole the record which these curves show is not satis- 
 factory. The activity of the Society ought to have been gradu- 
 ally increasing ; instead of that, it has been gradually diminishing, 
 until now we find ourselves not only making no progress, but 
 even falling somewhat below the records of former years. And 
 this just means as I said at the outset, that the older workers in 
 our Institute are passing away, and that few young men are com- 
 ing forward to take their places. 
 
 If we ask why this is, it must be noted that in the early history 
 of a country, it is a comparatively easy matter to make additions 
 
 /' 
 
r; 
 
 OPKN'INO ADDHESS— MA( (JUrXiOR. 3 
 
 to tlie knovvle(l<,'e of its local Natural H'stovy ami Geoloj;;y, 
 tho two (lopartments in which the work of the Institute' for iho 
 most part lies. Tho knowledf^o of the jreofirraphical distribu- 
 tion of its plants ami animals, for example, makes at first very 
 rp.pid strides, but proj^resses more slowly as time goes on. The 
 discovery of new species becomes more and more lare and tho 
 recognition of new species as new involves over increasing 
 research. So, also, the main features of the geological character 
 of a new country are appannt even to an observer who is pro- 
 vided with no large stock of ffoolocfical lore, whereas when the 
 surface prol>lems are solved and more intricate (juestionscome to 
 be investigated, their solution is found to require thorough know- 
 ledge and deep research. We cast no slur upon the early work- 
 ers in the Natural Science of this Province when we say that 
 much of their work was of a character that required no very 
 thorough scientific training. Nor do we gloiifv ourselves when 
 we assert that in these latter days the problems that confront us 
 are, in general, of a higher and more difficult order than those 
 which naturally first presented, themselves for solution. 
 
 Unfortunately, scientific education in Nova Scotia has not 
 kept pace with scientific investigation ; and now, when progress 
 in our local scientific knowledjie demands more thorough training 
 than in former years, we find ourselves with no body of young 
 men whom our Schools and Colleges have provided with the 
 necessary training, and with but few who have had the energy 
 to train themselves. We lack even the constituency which most 
 .scientific societies find in the Colleges themselves. If we look 
 through tlie records of such societies, we find that usually a large 
 proportion of their memoirs are contiibuted l)y College Profes.sors, 
 men who are appointed not only to teach but to extend the 
 bounds of tho departments of science which they profes.s, and 
 who for that purpose are enabled to devote their whole attention 
 to comparatively small departments. Our Colleges are so small 
 and so poorly equipped that in general their Professors require 
 to teach, and therefore to spend their time in studying, several 
 subjects instead of one. And it is consequently almost impossible 
 for them, however able thej'^ may be, to lend a hand in work 
 
^qiiR>i««piff<iiin, iiiuiiaiin III i|.i ifviwnnn^pvpiw^ii^iffppijfiqnip' 
 
 OPENING ADDIIKSS— MACOHKCiOn. 
 
 such as our Institute was founded to foster. When our Colle<j;es, 
 either by acquiring large endowments or by combining their small 
 endowments, become able to allow their scientific Professors to 
 devote themselves to special departments of Science, we may 
 expect the golden age of the Institute of Natural Science to begin. 
 Meantime we must look elsewhere for the most of our recruits. 
 
 There is one source from which we may hope that before long 
 a considerablo number of recruits may be drawn, and that is 
 from the teachers of the schools and academies of the Province. 
 From our pomt of view it is most hopeful that the necessity of 
 introducing Science-teaching into the schools is being more and 
 niore clearly perceived by our teachers, and that they are making 
 great efforts to acquire the knowledge that is necessary for its 
 introduction. The Summer School of Science, which leading 
 men among them have established, will not only assist them in 
 preparation for their educational duties, but must in some cases 
 produce an interest in scientific work which will lead to still 
 greater results. The many will of course fit themselves merely 
 to teach, but the few will fit themselves to investigate. And the 
 public-spirited men who devote their vacations to assisting their 
 colleagues to prepare for the moie thorough discharge of their 
 academic duties, may have the satisfaction before long of finding 
 that some of the seed they have sown is springing up and bear- 
 ing fruit worthy of being preserved in the Transactions of our 
 Institute. 
 
 There seems, therefore, to be ground for hope that, by the aid 
 of Tieachers in our Colleges and Schools, and of laymen with 
 leisure and taste for scientific work, — some of whom have been 
 our main supporters in the past, — we may be able at present to 
 maintain, and in future to increase, the activity of our Institute. 
 Where there is interesting work to be done, we may have con- 
 fidence that workers will not fail. 
 
 And that leads me to attempt to make a synopsis of the work 
 which the Institute has to do, to ask how far we have been 
 doing it, and to make some suggestions as to the best mode of 
 doing those portions of it which seem hitherto to have been left 
 undone. 
 
OI'KNINO ADDRESS— MACaUEaOR. 
 
 >. 
 
 Our woik may be said roughly to be three-foltl— -(1) Investi- 
 gating; (2) Stimulating the love of investigation; and (3) Pro- 
 viding the means of investigating. 
 
 The first and purely scientific part of our work is tiie exten- 
 sion of our knowledge of Natural Science, ujore particularly of 
 the Natural Science of our own Province, by original investiga- 
 tion. To a great extent this must be the outcome of the know- 
 ledge and tastes and resources of individual members of the 
 Institute, each member following the bent of his own inclination 
 and doing the work which falls to his hand, while the Society 
 aids by providing sympathetic criticism. This is the work which 
 the Institute has hitherto for the most part done, with what re- 
 sult our Transactions bear witness. It is not permitted unto us 
 to glory, but we may nevertheless say that a large amount of 
 this individual work has been done. And while our publications 
 contain much that on looking back we would wish had never 
 seen the light, they contain still more in which the most rigorous 
 critic can take delight, and feel a justifiable pride. 
 
 There are a great many important scientific problems, how- 
 ever, which cannot be solved by the isolated work of individuals, 
 but require the concerted action of a great many observers, not 
 necessarily highly skilled observers, but intelligent men, working 
 under the guidance of one who is able to direct them as to what 
 they should obseive, and to record and systematise their observa- 
 tions. This collective form of work has been attempted only to 
 a very limited extent by the Institute, owing probably to the 
 diflSculty of securing the necessary observers. But if this difiScul- 
 ty could be overcome, — and now that our teachers are obtaining 
 a knowledge of the elements of science, it would seem to be more 
 easily overcome than heretofore, — we might very largely increase 
 the "output" of our Society. I may mention as a subject re- 
 quiring for its proper elucidation the combined observations of 
 many observers, the occurrence of luminous meteors. Any per- 
 son with such knowledge of the constellations o.s may be obtained 
 from a fairly good star-atlas could describe the apparent path of 
 a meteor in the heavens, and the comparison of the apparent 
 paths as seen by different observers would shew what the actual 
 
6 
 
 (»l*i:N'IN(i ADDIIKSS— MA((iltK(if)||. 
 
 path liHtl boon. N<)Nv,ha<l wc, scuttiMCil over tlu! I'loviiicc.u luij^e 
 body of cont'sjxjtxK'iits wlio wouM sciid us ilcscriptions of tlio 
 np|)earurjL't', positions, diicc'tioMs, Sic, of such meteois as they 
 iiii;4lit see, wn miyht a(hl <.'iL'atly to our knovvled^^'o of this IntiT- 
 entin^ suhjuct. Iti thii di-paituHMit of uictt'orolo^'y <,'ood work 
 nii<:;ht ho done hy concspondents wlio would scnil us extracts 
 fioin tlie loLj-hooks of ships, dcst-riptive of unusual ineteoroIo;j;i- 
 cal phenouiona. liiid we funds to supply such correspondents 
 with siniph) instruiiK^nts we nM<,dit^'et vahiable Jata with re«(ard 
 to ina^fuetic and titlal phenomena. Hut as the funds are wantinj^ 
 the collective investiLjatioo of phenonieiui recpiiiin^' them is 
 beyond our poweis. 
 
 In the departments (if Natural Science there would seem to he 
 many subjects in which collective investiifation is both necessary 
 and possible. I woidd sul,';.;* st merely (jbservations of the times 
 of the flowering' of plants, tlie nii<,'iation of bii'ds, the movements 
 of fish, the first appearance of insects, a systematic record of 
 which would seem to be comparatively easy to obtain and would 
 certainly throw much li,:;ht both on the life histoiy of tlio plants 
 and aidmals themsidvfs and on the variation of our climate. 
 
 It would seem to be eminently desirable, not only that our 
 Institute should itself undertake the superintcindence of some 
 forms of collective work of this kind, but also that it should 
 induce other Canadian Societies to co-operate with it, and per- 
 haps prevail upon the lloyal Society of Canada to collect and 
 systematise the results which the local Societies might be able to 
 supply year after year. 
 
 Besides purely scientific work, a Society such as ours, which 
 exists in a community as yut but slightly developed in the 
 direction of scientific education, ought to do sometliing towards 
 stimulating outsiders to an intcirest in .scientific work ; and not 
 only ought to do so, in fact mu-^t do so, if it is to have a success- 
 ful career. The stimulating in the non -scientific a desire to 
 become scientific can be done only by making some or all of our 
 meetings moie popu'ar and more attractive than the ordinary 
 meeting ot a Scientific Society usually is. Outsiders are accus- 
 tomed to think of us as a lot of old fo.ssils engaged in riding 
 
■ f 
 
 o|'I;niN(J ADDIIKSS— MACdRFfJOll. 7 
 
 liol)l)y horst's in tlio form of itisfcts and j)lunts, nnd l»inls and 
 rocks, and l>»in<'in'' occusionallv to li'dit facts of njoii; or less 
 utility. Ut.'causu of tho utility of our work wo recoivo a little 
 monetary assistance ; l)iit couutiMiance and oiicourai^emunt and 
 the opportunity of makin;^ [jiosulytos, sucli as attendance at our 
 moetin<'s would provide, are l)Ut rarely <j;ivi'ii ns. And that is 
 as much our misfortune as our fault. Kur the discussion of 
 a .scientific pa|)L'r in <,'(!neral is comlucted.and must ir. numy cases 
 be conduc't(!d, in a lan^i;ua;,'e whose technical terms render h 
 unintelligible to all but the initiated. It would appear there- 
 fore, that our ordinary lueetin^'s, which must bu devoted to the 
 hearing and discussing of new and soiuewhat recondite things, 
 cannot leadily be rendered wholly popular. And accordingly it 
 has been proposed that we should devote some evenings to popu- 
 lar lectures or to co'Wersa/.ionos, or that we should organi/o 
 excursions of a scientilic kind Doubtless, popular lectures and 
 excursions have their merits and should not be neglected ; but we 
 would probably get at the few outsiders who have obseivational 
 tastes more readily, if we could rendiu- the ordinary meeting of 
 the Institute sufKciently attractive to make them regular atten- 
 dants. And it is in this direction that the Institute has lately 
 been moving. It may not be generally known tliat we are 
 endeavouring now to tnake our ordinary monthly meetings more 
 popular than they have hitherto been by the introduction of 
 what may be called popular prefaces to the vaiious scienti- 
 fic papers that may be read and discussed. We invite the 
 readers of papers in fact to prepare introductions which will 
 enable even their non-scientific hearers to i deistand the work 
 of which the papers are to give an account, and to describe the 
 contents of the papers in as untechnical language as possible. 
 Men differ very much of course in their power of complying with 
 this invitation. But in many cases the result has been quite 
 successful, and audiences which contained but few persons who 
 possessed any previous knowledge of the subject under considera- 
 tion, have appealed to follow and enjoy the whole discussion. 
 I think that the most of us feel that our etibrts in this direction 
 have been sufficiently successful to warrant our continuing them, 
 
8 
 
 OPENING ADDRESS — MACGREGOH. 
 
 and persons who have scientific inclinations but no extensive 
 knowledge, ma}^ therefore henceforth attend our meetings with 
 the assurance that the time devoted to them will not be thrown 
 away. 
 
 The third department of our work consists in providing for 
 investigators to as great an extent as possible the means of 
 investigation. And this we are doing with greater or less suc- 
 cess in a variety of ways. 
 
 First, it is above all things necessary that investigators should 
 know all that has been already discovered in connection with 
 the Natural Science of the Province ; and this involves the pub- 
 lication, from time to time, of such papers read before the Insti- 
 tute, as may be considered to contain new and well established 
 results. Hence for fc' e last quarter of a century our "Proceedings 
 and Transactions" have been published year by year. It is often 
 difficult to determine whether or not the results contained in any 
 paper are really new and really well established, and doubtless 
 occasionally papers are published whose contents do not possess 
 these characteristics. But on the whole our Transactions will 
 be found to be a record of continuous advances made in the 
 knowledge of the Natural Science of Nova Scotia ; and it is a 
 source of legitimate gratification to us to find that scientific men 
 and scientific societies all over the world welcome our publica- 
 tions gladly, and are ready to send us in exchange for them, 
 publications, I will not say of much greater value, but certainly 
 of much greater magnitude and of much greater cost. 
 
 Secondly, it is .necessary that investigators should have access 
 to collections of specimens of the various species of plantb, ani- 
 mals, minerals, etc., which have so far been discovered in Nova 
 Scotia, together with similar specimens found in other countries, 
 for purposes of comparison. And it is therefore the duty of the 
 Institute to see that the Province possesses a well filled and well 
 arranged museum. Fortunately, however, this part of our work 
 has been to a large extent taken out of our hands by an intelli- 
 gent Legislature which itself has provided the public with a mu- 
 seum, and has put an experienced scientific man at its head ; and 
 our work in this department, therefore, consists in giving him 
 
OPENING ADDRESS — MACGREGOH. 
 
 9 
 
 I ' 
 
 
 such assistance as we can in adding to his coUecti ns. If the 
 fact that W9 do make efforts in this direction gives us' the right 
 to make suji^estions, we might sun^tjest that since the Legislature 
 has provided the collections and a curator to look after them, it 
 should complete its work by providing a local habitation in which 
 they might be advantageously exhibited. The room at present 
 set apart for this purpose is so small that a study of the speci- 
 mens which it contains is attended by great difficulty, while the 
 arrangement of typical collections for the use of students of the 
 elements of Natural Science is well nigh impossible ; and thus 
 the very object with which the collections have been made is to 
 a large extent rendered unattainable by the lack of suitable 
 accommodation. Apart from this defect, however, it is a matter 
 of great consequence to our Society that the Legislature has taken 
 off its hands the work of forming a Museum. For it is, 1 believe, 
 the experience of local scientific societies in Great Britain, that 
 the expenses connected with the maintenance of Museums are in 
 general too heavy for them, and that too often they are crushed 
 by the weight of the material which they collect. 
 
 Thirdly, it is necessary that investigators should have means 
 of informing themselves of the progress which Natural Science 
 is making in other countries, and it thus becomes the duty of the 
 Institute to collect a Library of sciei^tific publications giving 
 accounts of what is being done in Natural Science all over the 
 world. Could ;;uch publications be obtained only by purchase, 
 it would be quite impossible for the Institute with its limited 
 income to form any adequate collection of the kind referred to. 
 But fortunately a large portion of them can be obtained at slight 
 expense so long as we exhibit a reasonable activity ourselves and 
 continue to publish Transactions of scientific value. For, as 
 stated above, foreign Societies will in that case be ready and 
 willing to send us their publications in exchange for ours. The 
 value of such publications, not only to the scientific investigator 
 but also 10 the practical man engaged in pursuits whose methods 
 improve with the increase of our knowledge of Natural Science, 
 such as mining, agriculture, fishing, manuf ctures, etc., cannot be 
 over-estimated ; and from this point of view alone it is important 
 
 i i 
 
10 
 
 OPENING ADDRESS— MACGREOOR. 
 
 that our Transactions should be kept at least up to their present 
 vol nine ami value. 
 
 For many reasons the publications which have accumulated 
 during the last seventy-five years have neither been .■;o numerous 
 as they might have been, nor so well preserved as they should 
 have been ; and, for want of proper cases and rooms, they have 
 been lying in a state in which it was impossible to use them. 
 Lately, however, the Institute has been engaged in reducing them 
 to Older, and has bound up all the volumes which were found to 
 bt> complete. It is our intention now to get as many as possible 
 of the incomplete works rendered con»plete, and to add largely to 
 our list of exchanges; so that if we are able to maintain the 
 publication of our own Transactions, we shall very soon acquire a 
 valuable Library of the Transactions of other Societies 
 
 There are many works, however, in which records of pro- 
 gress in Natural Science are contained, which cannot be obtained 
 in this way, but must be purchased ; and in cases in which such 
 works are too expensive to be purchased by individual investi- 
 gators, and are required for purposes of investigation, it would 
 seem to be the duty of the Listitute to obtain them. Here our 
 poverty makes judicious selection necessary. But it may be 
 hoped that as our Library increases and is found to be of prac- 
 tical utility, funds available for this purpose may be found also. 
 
 And lastly, it is desirable, if not necessary, that in many cases 
 the Institute should provide for investigators instruments which 
 are too costly to be purchased by individuals themselves. Our 
 funds have always been too small to enable us to make any 
 extensive provision of this kind. We have recently, however, 
 purchased an excellent microscope for the use of our members, — 
 such an instrument as individual members could not be expected 
 to purchase for themselves, — and good work has already been 
 done by means of it. There are many instruments of this kind 
 that the Institute ought to possess, and that doubtless will be 
 acquired as time goes on and funds increase. 
 
 Such, then, is a rough sk^itch of the work which, as I conceive 
 it, the Institute has to do ; and it will be seen that while in 
 some departments we have been active and successful, in others 
 
 r 
 
O P EN I N( J A DDRESS — M ACG UEGO K . 
 
 11 
 
 ■we have not done so much. Even now, it may not be possible 
 for us to put much energy into all. But, it is well, nevertheless, 
 that we should compare what we are doing with what a Society' 
 such as ours ought to be doing. For such comparison must re- 
 sult in a desire to do more and better work. 
 
 While referring to the many things which we have left undone 
 in the past, I must urge in our behalf that, few though we have 
 been, we would have done much more, and few though we still 
 are, we could look forward with gieater expectations, were it not 
 for the smallness of our income. But we are hampered on all 
 sides for want of funds. We ought to have a commodious meet- 
 ing place with ou. books on the walls and oui- working materials 
 easy of access. As it is we have no room we can call our own, 
 but are indebted to one Government official for the use of his 
 office once a month and to another for allowing us standing 
 room for our book cases in a corridor. We ought to have a paid 
 librarian and secretary to take charge of books and instruments 
 and conduct our correspondence, whereas these onerous duties 
 are discharged by volunteers. We ought to be able to stock our 
 Library with books of reference and costly publications of all 
 kinJs, whereas the purchase of a new book is a gre vt event in 
 our history. We ought to be able to furnish our membeis with 
 expensive instruments, whereas, so far, we have been able to 
 purchase but one. Had we the funds at command there are 
 many ways, to which I have not even referred, in which they 
 might be advantageously expended. I may mention the making 
 of grants to assist in defraying the expenses of experimental in- 
 vestigations of great public utility, as for example, the introduc- 
 tion into our Nova Scotian climate of foreign plants useful for 
 manufacturing purposes, and the offering of prizes for memoirs 
 of practical value, as for example, on the raw materials for 
 manufactures which our Province supplies. Such modes of 
 stimulating research have been tried with much success in other 
 countries, and could we adopt them, would doubtless be found 
 equally successful here Perhaps our Institute has been too 
 backward in the past in making its wants and wishes known. 
 And it may therefore be well that we should let it be known 
 
■IP 
 
 •1 
 
 12 
 
 OPENING ADDKESS— MACGREGOR. 
 
 thai no mv^n who is looking about him for a public-spirited 
 mode of investing capital can do better than establish for us a 
 Library Fund or a Prize Fund. 
 
 I fear I have already kept you too long from the main work of 
 this evening. Let me therefore in conclusion simply express the 
 hope that the Session which we are now beginning may be one 
 of great productivity and of unusual progress. 
 
 1 4