PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 21, 4 June 1908, Page 2

PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

' A meeting of the Philosophical Society jras'. held last night. - Professor Kirk presided,; and there was a good attendance. Lady Hector wrote thanking the Society for its letter of condolence on the death of her, husband, the late .Sir. James Hector. ; The following new members were.elected: —Professor Picken (of Victoria College), Mr. R. M. Sunley (Karori), and Mr. Geo. Marriner (curator of Wangamri ■■ Museum). Mr. H. C. Field, of IVanganui, forwarded, two' papers, one entitled "Some Little-known. N.Z, Fjsh," and the other ''.Fe.rii Notes,, Some extracts from the former appear in another column. The other-was consideredto be too technical to be .of general interest, 'to"the meeting,.,and' was reserved for pub-' lication. . , ■ •• A paper ..entitled "Notes on a New,. beaAnemone" was read .by Mr. F. G. A.Stuckey, 8.A.. After giving a general - account of the anatomy of. sea-anemones • in; general, the writer referred, particularly -to•• the one in question, which was found-be-., tween the ticfe marks in Oriental Bay. ■■ Its' .peculiar habit was stated; to be that or: burying itself almost completely in the,mud' —a' habit that 'was made more easy by; rea-. ■ son of tho fact that it was infested by a:one-' celled alga. The significance of the alliance was this: The plant supplied the animal with.' oxide which the animal needed for respiration, and the animal supplied the plant, with carbon-dioxide,' which the plant required;, as. food, using it in tho manufacture of starch.-. "Quasi-experimental Stagos m Evolution; was the title of a paper given by Professor H. B. Kirk, who pointed to a . number of in-> stances taken from comparative anatomy of what might be called blind ways in- evolution i.e., achievements in, development that' had'led no further. ..It was -held, that tho existence of these achieved .stages in .con-' siderable numbers was a thing which might be expected if theso were latent in nature. In the- discussion which followed, Professor Richmond, and Messrs.- Gerald, Fitzgerald, ■ Hudson, and Harding took-part:,.... : A vote of thanks' to those who had contributed papers and to tho chairman-concluded the meeting. .. ' . • '-. —: ' -•■ ■■■ ■ •