THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1972, 31 January 1914, Page 4

THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE

The Presidential address of Peofessor Ohilton, at the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute, which took place in Wellington yesterday, deals with a number of questions of scientific interest und public importance. The Institute certainly doserves the hearty sympathy of the whole community, and is fully justified ia asking for more financial support than it at present receives. The President makes out a good case for. an increase in the statutory grant, and he also shows that the Institute has very strong claims on private generosity. It lias done a great deal for tne promotion of pure science in New Zealand, and if its fin.inei:> resources wore enlarged' its sphere of usefulness , could be extended in several directions with advantage'to the community. In the hurry of life and the rush of business many people arc incliecd to -forget the'debt of gratitude we all owe- to the men who devote so much of their time and fiioujght to. the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, and this tendency to underestimate tlio value of Work which has no direct market value is probably oven more pronounced in a young country like New Zealand than in older lands where numerous scientific institutions have become established and endowed. The New Zealand Institute has not done much in tho way' of self-advertise-ment, and the general public hears very little of the good work it is doing. As its needs and its usefulness become more extensively known there > is good reason to anticipate that it will benefit more largely than at present by private liberality, and as PROFESSOR Chilton states, it is not too much to expect "subscriptions from this source- equal to atleast the cost of one- motor-car per year/' It is to be aoped that Mr. Cawtheok's ' splendid gift in the form of an astronomical observatory at Nelson will be followed by otner benefactions of a similar character. P&OFESsoit Ohiltos's references to the unsatisfactory housing of the valuable specimens .and the- Institute library in the Dominion Museum deserve serious consideration, and he does well in calling attention to the fact that *ifh tho disappearance of our forests the insects and other animals that live in the bush are being destroyed. Many of these have not been collected or investigated and are rapidly becoming extinct. New. Zealand has some plants and animals ; of Unique interest, and which can bo j found in no other country. We hojet these in trust for tho whole scientific world, and ft is our plain duty to do our utmost to preserve and study them. Tho Institute is doing ft gft>at service for tho present generation and also for those who will come after Us by giving its attention to tins matter, and by its endeavours in Other directions to foster the scientific- spirit and spread sound knowledge among the people of Now Zealand.