MEN OF SCIENCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 727, 28 January 1910, Page 5

MEN OF SCIENCE.

» THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE. ANNUAL MEETING. . The annual meeting of the New Zealand Institute was held yesterday morning in the Museum Buildings.'There were' present: Mr.' A. Hamilton (president), Hon. D. Buddo, Mr. John Young, ' Mr. Martin Chapinan, K.C. (Wellington representative), Professor T. H. Easterfield,M.A., Ph.D. (Wellington representative), Mr. D. Petrie, M.A., F.L.S. (Auckland representative), Mr. J. Stewart, C.E. (Auckland representative), Mr. R^Speight,' M.A., B.Sc., F.G.S. (Christchurch representative), Dr. C. Coleridge Farr, D.Sc., A.M; Inst. C.E. (Christchurch representative),; Dr. L. Cockayne, LL.D. (Nelson representative),. Professor W. B. Benham, D.Sc., F.R.S. (Dunedin representative), Mr. G. M'. Thomson, F.L.S., F.C.S., M.P. (Dunedin representative), Mr. K. Wilson, M.A.; (Manawatu representative), and Mr B. C. Aston, F.C.S. (secretary). Apologies were received from Sir. 11. Hill,. 8.A., F.G.S. (Napier representative), and Mr. J. W. Joynt, M.A. Presidential Address. The. president, in his opening address, dealt with the, progress oi the institute. The New Zealand Society, he said, was formed in 1851, at a public meeting in the Wellington Athenaeum, its object be-; ing to -.promote the study of the physical character of the New Zealand group, its natural, history,,resources, aiid capabilities. This first society, of which his Excellency Sir George Grey, was first president, died a natural death: on the depar- • ture, from the colony of the hon. secretary, Dr. Ralph, in. 1852. The property of the society passed into the bands of the Provincial Government, which held it until 1859, when a now society. ,was founded, and the nucleus of a. museum organised. The New Zealand Society/became. merged 'into' the Wellington, Phiio-. sophical Society, local societies were es-tablished-in Wellington, Auckland, arid Canterbury,: and-these/were affiliated to the New Zealand Institute, established by an Act of 1867. In connection with the scientific publications issued during , the year, not under the auspices of the" institute, the two splendid volumes on the Antarctic Islands,. edited by Dr. Chilton; deserved mention. Mr. Suter had completed the manuscript' of; a; new catalogue of marine mollusca of New Zealand, and the work would be published in an illustrated volume. The report ,of the trawling. expMitions issued by. the Marine Department* contained ;valuable information, and Dr.. Cockayne's paper on "Sand Dunes" was /an up-to-date report on an important matter. Before long,' another British. Aritarctic expedition .would.bo.set--ting out from New Zealand to make they hoped would, be a final effort to reach the South Pole. . The Government of New Zealand had shown hearty appreciation, of Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedir "tion, and it was to be hoped that the Government would unite with the -Australian colonies in assisting, the -new, en-: terprise.'. He considered , that' the. institute;ought .to"represent ,to. the authorities that it would be highly desirable to:have several lines of : soundings, taken between the southern. portion' of .New Zealand-and the Antarctic, Contirient.' The soundings made by: the Nimrod on her way back would be of great interest when.: published. ..- The' three gentlemen : asked , to, award the Hutton; Memorial Medal-had consented to do so, but there was no provision as. to when the first award .was to be made. Under the old Act,, the Geological Survoy/ had been very closely connected ''lYith the New Zealand Institute; and naturally all the older members of the institute were deeply interested in tho progress of geological work. They, therefore, looked with great interest, on the,series of bulletins being issued, by-the Mines Department. The institute would agree to 6end their good wishes to Mr. A. M'Kay, the veteran / geologist' of tho old survey, who had recently/retired from the Governriient service. (Applause.) He (the • speaker) 1 had ;. recently written a paper '• setting forth. tho present position of. New- Zealand palaeontology', which paper would shortly appear in the'Transactions;/When copies were' available,: he would snbmit them to all' interested, and .again T 'preb; the claims of/the subject ! ,ori' the.;proper.; authorities.; Another,.subr t'ject iri I 'which .he was particularly, iriterested'was: the exploration.of the islands; of the South Pacific and; tho btudy of-their ethnology. : ■ Although . lnariy expeditions had- been planned, and' many enthusiastic collectors and explorers had .been at work, there: was still,,'room for'work/in all, branches : of ; . the subject. There had been a - time when he had / hoped that vthe., work, .might:...have /'.been attempted by New Zealand scientists. At that time the whole of the Polynesian Islands of the South Pacific might have been under the .control of New - Zealand. If, as was shown by recent publications of the Canterbury Institute, there/was much interesting., natural .'history/ and physical 'geography of the . southern islands, there was evidently a much ,more interesting series, of volumes to- be ivritten.on the natives, natural, history,'arid geology; of our northerri' islands—those groups which, /of recent yeaTS,; had', been definitely included in the area of the Dominion. 'Already, the Maori language was .recognised as a matriculatiori subject, and - the Senate should be brought to see that it'was.of paramount.importance that rulers should have a good working knowledge of the language,' manners/and customs/ of. the people,' whbm they were called upon to govern./ (Applause.) " / On the motion of the Hon. Di Buddo, seconded by; Mri G. W- Thomson, the institute heartily, thanked the president for his' address. ./• , The London Agents, In. the course/of his forty-first annual report, , the president stated that the committee considered ,it advisable to change the London agents, as there-had been difficulty , in obtaining full statements from the preserit agents. .Messrs.' W. Westley 'and Sons were .to be asked, to act as- agents arid publishers in /London. / ■ . ■ The. report was. adopted.' ' Hector Memorial. . The . Hector Memorial .Committee . reported that, up till the -end of the year, subscriptions totalling had been received, . arid a vote, of" had ,been, jiassed by Parliament in the: Supplementary, Estimates. It now. behoved -all concerned to . make renewed /efforts to obtain some : «£9O in additional •subscriptions, iri order that the full amount ;of the Government £ for £ subsidy,' might..be, earned'.before the/vote .lapsed; on March 31 next. . It was hoped then to have .£IOOO available . for investment, which . would, yield. enough interest to, found some research prize or ipholarship. . . The,/institute decided'to ask the Hector Memorial -'Committee'- to draw .up ; a scale of regulations for awarding tho grants, and to report to the' Board of' Governors of the institute., • The Financial Position. , Mr. 'Martiii Chapman' (trpasurer) snb ; mitted/. a.-''financial statement.' -The receipts were JE93G 4s. sd. (including balance brought forward,/i£392 .10s. lid., Government grant ,£500). . One of-tho items of expenditure, was ' Government Printing Office, .£429 -Is. 3d., .and:.the balance ,in bank, was given as JS'lo2.los. 7d. In re- . gard to' the Carter Bequest, ■ J82859. 10s. was invested by , the Public Trustee, and ss. sd. represented scrip- in the hands of' the' Public Trustee.' ' Tho Public - Trustee intiinated that tho balanco on credit of the Hutton Memorial l'und was .£595 4s. lid. ; . ■, Hidden Government Reports./ : Mr. G. M. Thomson proposed, and it was agreed, that; the Government should be urged to publish, in official papers or-reports ,'of a scientific nature.' An alternative suggestion was offered that the. instituto should bo enabled to publish such ; articles uniformly ' with the Transactions. Members recommended tho: establishment of: a Government scientific bureau to deal mth these matters. A number of valuable articles—"Land Dunes," "Botany/' of Stewart Island," "Tongariro," "Kauri Forests," "Development of .tho Lobster"—had not : been placed before the main body-of scientific, men. - Hutton Memorial . Medal. The committee appointed to award tho Hutton Momorinl Medal—Professor David,, Professor: HnsweU,. and Mr: Maiden, all of Sydney—were/asked -to; report,-before, the end of the. year, whether,; any. work j on the geology of' New Zealand, published sinco Deceihber;3l, 1906, was consideied by them to be worthy of the award, I

Election of Officers. ■ The following', wero appointed / officers for. the - coming, year.•: President,. Mr. A. Hamilton: (re-elected);',treasurer, Mr. M.; Chapman (re-eleoted); secretary, Mr. B. C. Aston (re-elected); hon.-.editor of the Transactions;- ; Professor V Chilton,-M.A'., D.Sc., M.8., E.L.S. 1 (of Christchurch); librarian, Mr. A. Hamilton (re-elected); Publishing Committee, Dr. Chilton, Dr.' Benham, Dr. Fany.Mr. Speight,- and Mr. Thomson; Hector Memorial' Committee, Dr. Benham, Dr. Easterfield, Dr. Cockayne; Mi. Chapman,' Mr. Stewart, Mr.- Petrie, and Mr. Speight; Index; Committee,' Dr. EasterMd, Dr. Benham, and Dr. Chilton. . . Other Business. The Standing : Committee was.. instructed to inquire, into the position of the societies in the institute under the new Act, and to report, whether they were .complying, with the, "regulations. The institute resolved' .to" .co-operate' heartily with the Australian scientific .bodies .in the event of the British Association meeting in Australia. . . The matter of' electing an honorary .member to replace the. late Professor R. B. Sharp, .MX, F.L.S. (of Auckland), was deferred until next year. The late Professor Short "was appointed 'to'-. honorary membership ,in' 1885.V . . It was agreed that the next meeting of the Board- of Governors of the. institute should be held in - Auckland, on the last. Thursday in January, 1911.