South African Quarterly Journal

Introductory remarks

Abstract

This essay serves as the "Introductory Remarks" for the South African Quarterly Journal, detailing its purpose as an auxiliary to the South African Institution. The Journal's primary objective is to promote knowledge related to the Natural History and the geographic, physical, and economic statistics of South Africa. It aims to record papers of permanent interest from the Institution and disseminate useful miscellaneous information. The editors emphasise that the Institution is not responsible for the journal's content, which will ideally be authored and avowed by individuals.

It traces the Institution's origin to the Governor, Lieut.-General Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, and presents both the journal and the Institution as an "experiment" to gauge the community's intellectual energy and willingness to contribute to collective knowledge. The piece highlights the need for local research, noting that a great deal of the territory's nature and resources remains unknown, and stresses the importance of understanding the intermixture of different races and their social statistics for the colony's overall comfort and progress.