PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2248, 17 June 1881, Page 3

PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE.

The inaugural address in connection with the above, which should have been delivered at the first meeting of the session, but was postponed owing to the absence of the president in Melbourne, was delivered last night by Professor J. von Haast in the Science Lecture Theatre of the Canterbury College. The attendance was not a large one, and included several ladiee.

The Professor commenced by explaining the reason of the delay which had occurred in the delivery of the address. The subject of the address was “ The Origin and Progress of the Canterbury Museum.’’ A graceful tribute was then paid to the workers who, with the president, had stood by the cradle of the institution. The importance of such an institution in a newly settled country was next referred to. In 1860, the president stated, he was appointed by Mr W. 8. Moorhouae, Superintendent of Canterbury, as Provincial Geologist, In 1862 the Provincial Council voted £IOO for the proonral of specimens from Germany, and Professor von Hochstetter presented a large number of specimens. - In the same year a oast was obtained from Germany, and shortly after this the moa bones were discovered, and the infant Museum then had the pleasure of possessing the most valuable collection known. In 1863 a vote was applied for to build a Museum, but it was not successful, and the offices occupied by the' Provincial Geologist, in which it was intended to have the specimens displayed to the public, were required by the Provincial Government, and thus the opening of the Museum was delayed. The first presentation to the Museum was made by Mr Tripp in 1861, and there were also a largo number of presentations, the names of the donors of which were given by the professor. Amongst the most noticeable of these was a collection of fossils from Professor Agassiz. In August, 1864, a large number of specimens had been catalogued, and a number of exhibits were sent from the Museum to the Dunedin Exhibition in 1865. Amongst these was an interesting section of the tunnel then in course of construction, which created great interest amongst the scientific visitors. The Canterbury Government also procured a large number of specimens of the gold-bearing rooks in the Province of Westland. In 1865 the first taxidermist was engaged, and in 1866 a large exchange was made with Professor Louis Agassiz, of Cambridge, U.S. A trip to the north-west of the province resulted in a large number of bird skins, &0., being added to the Museum, In the same year an effort was again made to build a Museum, but it was postponed. In this year two exchanges were made with the Sydney and Vienna Museums. A large number of presentations were also made during the year. In December, 1866, at the invitation of Mr Q. H. Moore, the Professor proceeded to Glenmark, where excavations were made and a large number of moa bones procured. In the name year a large exchange of North American mammals arrived from Professor Agassiz. At this time the collection was too large for the small room then occupied, and a cottage in Ellmore street was placed at his disposal, and a room over Bellamy’s, whore the seven moa skeletons were set up. In June, 1867, another attempt was made to get a building erected for the purpose of the Museum, but without success. In September two large exchanges of moa bones were shipped to Sydney and to the|Oambridge (U.S.) Museum. In December of the same year the collection was opened to the public, the room over Bellamy’s and the other rooms being fitted for the purpose. The number of specimens now on view numbered 37886, the greater (part of which had been collected by the Professor. In 1868 another journey was made to Glenmark, and a large number of moa bones exhumed. About this time a large number of exchanges were received, which made the Canterbury Museum a very extensive one. In 1868 the contract of the Professor as Provincial Geologist expired, and a new Executive having come into power, the sum of £BOO was placed on the estimates for a building. Objection was made as to the smallness of the vote not enabling a proper building to be erected, and the vote was increased to £I2OO. The site selected was in the Public Domain, where they now are, and the Professor was appointed as director. An appeal was made to the public for subscriptions, which was readily responded to, amongst the earliest donors being Mr George Gould, who had been a most generbus friend to the Museum. The building was completed in 1869, when it became pretty plain that the days of Provincialism were numbered. After some trouble in the session of 1872, an endowment of waste lands was secured for the Museum and School of Technical Science. In 1870 the new Museum was opened to the public, and in the same year a moa hunters’ camp wai discovered. In 1870 an art exhibition was held in the Museum building, and drew a large number of visitors. In that year a large number of exchanges arrived from the various museums of the world. A tribute of praise was paid to Messrs Potts, Sealey, Eollcston, John Hall, B. W. Mountfort, Ac. The opening was performed by Mr W. Eolleston, as Superintendent of the province, and this part of the Museum should be regarded with reverence by the succeeding generation, as evincing the enlightened feelings of their forefathers in establishing here a home of science. He had been accused of having been too keen to obtain specimens for the Museum, but this was not so. What he had done was to excite the generosity of the public in respect to the Museum, and this had been productive of the best results so far as the collection was coni cerned.