AUCKLAND INSTITUTE.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 271, 17 November 1886, Page 6

AUCKLAND INSTITUTE.

Last Meeting of the Session.

The last meeting of the session was held on Monday night in the Museum roor_ i there being very few present, no doubt on account of the bad weather prevailing at the time. Proleseor Brown (President) occupied the chair, and there were present: Mr Cheeseman (Secretary of the Institute), Drs. Murray Moore and Purchas, Professor Thomas, and Messrs Percy Smith, Stuart' Bartley, Bagnall, and others ; a few ladies were also present After Mr Cheeseman had read the minutes of the last meeting, he read the announcement of proceedings since the last meeting: —New member, Dr Davy, Thames. Douations to tho Museum : Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, for 1884, the Association ; an album of 24 photographic views in the province of Auckland, D. M. Beere ; Obsidian bomb, from Rotoiti, Major Mair ; 21 foreign coins and two foreign bank notes, J. Brooks. KAHiKATKA-The Chairman then reminded those present that the discussion on the paper read at the last meeting on kahikatea as a building timber was not finished, and invited any gentlemen preeent to speak on the subject. Mr Bartloy asked leave to say a few words, and produced a piece of kahikatea, which looked like . a sponge, so perforated was it by the wood-boring beetle, and said he considered that the timber's worst feature was its being so much infected with this insect —Mr Bagnall responded by saying that there was g.od and bad kahikatea. That on the high land, for instance, was better in his opinion than swamp timber. Much good timber was spoilt also by being felled at the wrong time of the year. Rain was good for seasoning timber. He then gave instances of tho way in which timber was cut down and used at once in a green state, even being tarred and painted when in this state. If wood thus used rotted, it gave a bad name to that class of timber, but that most unfairly. He asked how long the timber Mr Bartley had produced had been in uso.—Mr Bartley: Fifteen years.-Mr Bagnall continued to say that there was more blamo attaching to the persons who used kuhikatea than to that timber ; they did not use it fairly. In answer to a question by Professor'lhcmas, who said that in tho Old Country timber was sometimes artificially seasoned by means of corrosive sublimate, Mr Bagnall said that would cost too much, but, of course, would keep the beetle away from tho wood.—Mr Stuart, C.E., said ho was using creosote now on several soft timbers such as towa, which he could use as sleepers, and would be »ble to lay information gathered on this subject before tho Institute at some not very distant period. Salt Spring near Taupo.— Professor Brown read a very interesting and scientific paper on a wonderful salt spring; which had lately been discovered by Mr L. Cussen, of the Survey Department. It ran down from the Hikurangi Range, and was the ealteet of any running water he had ever had knowledge of. The point whore Mr Cussen discovered this stroam was about 20 miles west of Taupo, and about 900 feet above the sea level, flowing down the hill sides iv a rivulet of about two feet in width and six inches In depth. The mountain consisted of marl, containing many fossils of bivalvee. Mr Cussen had taken great trouble to procure the Professor a gallon of the water of tho stream, and its analysis showed it to contain the following number of purts of the . übstancas named in a million parts : - Chlorine, 12,450 parts ; calcium, 2,5-6 ; sodium, 5,643 ; its specific gravity being 10175, being the heaviest water he knew, and containing 21,660 solid parts of matter in the million parts of fluid. When salt water is evaporated, it docs not give calcium cblorate aa this deposi does,making it very curious. Drs. Moore and Purchas spoke on tho subjoct, a. did Mr Percy Smith, who mentioned that this placo would be approximate to the projected trunk line of lailway. Professor Brown also mentioned that the salt contained in tho stream would ho easier to evaporate lor chloride of sodium (common salt) than sea-water.

Work by Faktiiwokms.—Mr Cheeseman read a very instructive paper by Mr Urquhort, of Karaka Ghur, on tho wonderful part earthworms play in changing the surface of pasture lands. Darwin's book on the subject had first made him experiment on New Zealand worms, and he found that they did ovon more work than those described by the great scientist in England. Worms increased in a pastuio as it was cultivated, and did it nn immense amount of good. A paper by Herr Kei.chek was then read by I'rofofsor Thomas on the Little Barrier, showing ho« it would bo of all places that well known ornithologist had visited the nio-t suitable for preserving our fast dying-out natiio birds. — Mr Percy bin it h .bowed that the Government had partly purchased it, and that it could easily bo made available for the pur-pose.—Prufee-or Thomas pointed out that there were several precedents for a Government handing over a state forest for such a purpose, and this inland could be treated in this way. Tbo vuluablo timber thereon could bo cut down without injury to the birds there, if a proper person were appointed to look after the bti.bmen. It teemed tho general feeling of those present that tho Institute should move at once iv the matter.

Land and Freshwater Shells of the Thames District —A paper by Mr James Adams, 8.A., was then read by Mr Cheeseman, which was highly scientific in character, and showed the enormous variety of snails that inhabit our New Zealand forests. It was not unusual to find 80 distinct varioties within a short distance of each other, and 20 on one nik-iu palm. The paper concluded with a long list of tbe varieties met with by the learned writer of tho paper, who is the New Zealand authority on this little known subject A paper by Mr W. D. Blyth, on "The Whence of the Maori," was then laid on the table and " considered ac read," on tho motion of the president, Professor Brown. The Chairman proposed that a special meeting should be held to cons'idor the matter of obtaining the Little Barrier Island as a native bird reserve, but nothing was finally settled. This closed the meeting and the session,