aim always before it, and endeavoured to do such a work as 'The New York Nation' has been doing for years under far greater advantages in the neighbouring country with marked success and ability. In the meantime, until a magazine of the character I advocate is established, the 'Transactions of the Royal Society' cannot be expected to occupy the same ground unless it is prepared to give up that important field which it and the societies with which it is associated alone can fill in this country. In one respect, indeed, the Royal Society, in my opinion--and I have endeavoured to impress it on my fellow-members--can reach a much larger class of readers than it is now possible by means of its somewhat formidable though handsomely printed and well illustrated volumes, which necessarily are confined, for the most part, to libraries and institutions, where they can be best consulted by students who find it necessary to inform themselves on such Canadian subjects as the society necessarily treats. It is quite possible that by selecting a more convenient form, say royal octavo, and publishing the purely scientific sections in one volume and the purely literary department in another, a larger inducement will be given to the public to purchase its 'Transactions' at a moderate cost and in a more convenient shape for reading, whenever they contain monographs or large works in which Canadians generally are interested or on which they wish special information. Of course, in making this change care must be taken to maintain the typographical appearance and the character of the scientific illustrations and the usefulness of the cartography. Not only may the Royal Society in this way reach a larger reading public, but it may stimulate the efforts of historic and other writers by giving them greater facilities for obtaining special editions of their works for general sale. As it is now, each author obtains a hundred copies of his paper in pamphlets, sometimes more; and if the form is now made smaller and more handy, to use a common word, he will be induced to order a larger edition at his own cost. Even as it is now, some four or five thousand copies of essays and monographs--in special cases many more--are annually distributed by authors in addition to those circulated in the bound volumes of the 'Transactions'; and in this way any value these works may have is considerably enhanced. If it should be decided to continue the large form, at all events it will be in the interest of the society, and of the author of any monograph or history of more than ordinary value, to print it not only in the 'Transactions' but also in a smaller volume for general circulation. Practically this would meet the object in view--the larger distribution of the best work of the section devoted to historical and general literature. But whether this change is adopted or not,[61] I think the Royal Society, by showing even still greater zeal and earnestness in