SYDNEY MAGAZINE

OF

SCIENCE AND ART.

CONTAINING, BY AUTHORITY, THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE

AUSTRALIAN HORTICULTURAL AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

AND

THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

VOLUME I.

EDITED BY MR. JOSEPH DYER.

SYDNEY:

JAMES W. WAUGH, PUBLISHER.

286, GEORGE STREET.

1858.

LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY

A.35770..

PREFACE.

THE first volume of the SYDNEY MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART is now before our subscribers. We trust they will allow that-considering the difficulties that must attend such an undertaking in a community where politics, professional occupations, or mercantile pursuits engross nearly the whole population we have fairly fulfilled the promises contained in our Prospectus.

New South Wales can yet boast but few gentlemen of leisure who feel pride and interest in pursuing science for its own sake, and are ready to devote both time and money to its advancement. Such a class will doubtless arise, especially now that science is becoming fashionable under the auspices of our energetic and sagacious Governor, Sir WILLIAM DENISON, to whom we beg to express our grateful acknowledgments for the enconragement he has afforded us by his advice, his patronage and his contributions.

To the members of the Philosophical Society of New South Wales and of the Horticultural Society we are also indebted for their patronage, and trust we have repaid the obligation by presenting them in a concise and convenient form with a record of their Transactions, which would otherwise have been buried in the columns of a daily newspaper.

The Editor is quite conscious of numerous deficiencies in the plan and execution of his work, and would avert the severity of criticism by the consideration that his efforts, feeble as they may have been, were sincerely intended for the advancement of the Colony, and that, but for this periodical, many valuable suggestions and much statistical information would have been lost to succeeding labourers in the same field. At any rate we have the satisfaction of knowing that many residents in the interior have derived valuable information from our pages, and have acknowledged their obligations in the local journals.

We are proud and happy to say that we have received promises of assistance from gentlemen interested in scientific pursuits who have not hitherto contributed to our columns, while we hope to retain the support of those gentlemen who have so kindly helped us during the past year.

It is only just to the enterprising Publisher to say, that at present, the MAGAZINE has not paid the expense of its production. We appeal to the members of those Societies whose proceedings it records, and who are not already subscribers, to yield it a more liberal support. We shall thus be enabled to add to its attraction by more frequent illustrations, and by engaging competent correspondents on scientific subjects.

To the country, and especially to the metropolitan press, we beg to express our warmest thanks for its appreciation of our efforts, and assure our kind critics that we have a resolute will to merit a continuance of their approbation.