PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 292, 3 September 1908, Page 2

PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

; PLIES AND GRUBS. <•' . Tho • Plijlosophic.il! y Society. .dealt. .witH'.'a variety.;of^j^pics..at :'a. large& ; attended meet? iiig held last eyemng. ;"l'rbf6ssor "Kirk' yf&a in tHe"ch'£ir.'.'''' i Dr.. J. S.-. Maclau'rin, F.C.S., gave an planation of an improved method of estimating iron. ,ln answer to .a- question, Dr. Maclaurin.-stated that no difficulty, had been found in/getting Taranaki ironsand into solu-' tion by the method of' treating, it.for half an hour. ■ ' ' _Mr. T. ,W. Kirk, F.L.S., spoke on fruit flies, gum-tree blight, and the codlin moth parasite. When tho fruit fly was on the wing, he said, it sought for fruit that' had just begun to soften, punctured it, an'd'deposited. its egg beneath the skin. It t?as then impossible to save that particular fruit from destruction. When the eggs, hatched out the fruit became honeycombed with maggots, and as many as forty-two of these had been • found, in one fruit. A Sydney grower had. assured Mr. Kirk that such frnit made as good jam as any other, but he declined the offer of a jar. Mr. Kirk denounced the fallacy of the statement that the, fruit fly could not live in the New Zealand climate. He showed examples of fruit affected, by the fly- . 1 . • Referring to the codlin moth parasite, Mr; Kirk explained how the Agricultural Department had obtained a small supply of this natural enemy of the pest from California. A good many colonies have beeh reared and distributed throughout New Zealand,-and it is known that the grubs are'.breeding under natural, conditions in the orchards, but it will not be possible'for several years to say. if they will-do away with the necessity for mechanical precautions against the codlin moth. ' ' .. ... The imported black ladybird, Mr. Kirk stated, has practically, beaten tho gum blight in the South Island. .Round Timaru today, one. cannot find the.eucalyptus blight, and the plantations are rapidly recovering. Mr.', Kirk considers that the establishment of this ladybird .has saved New Zealand. a million steniflg. ' ' i' .. - ■'Mr. F. G. A. Stuckey, 8.A., contributed a paper on sea-anemones. : Mr. 0. Harding spoke at considerable length on Professor Richmond's theory 'of sentient ether. , Professor Richmond, in replying, said that he would .explain his theory more fully in, writing. • ; 1 Mr. A. Hamilton exhibited some curiositif gathered during his recent-northern trip.