OTAGO INSTITUTE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3686, 27 November 1873, Page 3

OTAGO INSTITUTE.

An ordinary meeting of the Otago Institute was held in the University Building on the 11th inst. Mr J. T. Thomson, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Institute, was in the chair. The attendance was .small. ELECTIONS. The Chairmax proposed His Honour Mr Justice Chapman as a Governor of the New Zealand Institute. The motion was seconded by Mr J. Logan, and carried unanimously; The Chairman then invited the members present to nominate an Honorary Member of the New Zealand Institute. He explained that the nomination resolved upon would have to be submitted to the Governors of the New Zealand Institute, who have power to adopt'or reject it at their discretion. There appeared to be a diffidence on the part of the meeting to nominate any person, but at length . ; Mr E.. Stout proposp-d Mr Herbert Spen- , cer. The grounds on ; which,he made the nomination were stated; by Mr Stout to be that in Biology and Social Science Air Spencer stood at the top of the tree, and that no person eminent in those branches had been elected to the proposed honour. Mr Logan seconded the nomination. ' ■ Professor Black proposed Sir Charles Lyell, who, he Baid, had certainly benefited this Colony by his geological works. : -Mr Stables seconded. , Mr A. H. Ross proposed, and Mr H. Skey seconded, Professor Tyndall. ■'".A show of hands was then taken, and resulted in a tie between Sir Charles Lyell 'arid'Professor Tyndall. ■ i' - The Chairman gave .his casting vote iii favour; of the former. , '* 'The Rev: A. Dasent, of Waikouaiti,;was ilected a member of the Otago Institute, :■-■ ..-.-• ..'.":.- . PAPERS. • ■ .' • --.'; - ■ ,-'. -.. : '; Mr A. H. Ross then, read a: paper, ." On Observed Irregularities in the Action of the Compass in Iron Steam Vessels." Mr. '. Ross' began, by 'stating it to be "his belief that a great proportion of the casualties that have occurred on the New Zealand coast to iron built steamers may be attributed to compass errors, and'he had ho doubt that if so, the cause is; prev'entiblel. He pro-' ceeded to enumerate 'a : few observations taken by himself on• board two of our' .coastal steamers during the present yearv ;0n oiie of these vessels the two compasses ,never agreed, thfeir differences varying with' every change in the dires-tionof the chip's head. The least difference Mr Itos3 observed amounted to about <l'i2 degrees, or a" little over one point, this occurring when the yes-: sel's head•wasN.N.E. ( The greatest differetlce observed amounted to 27 degrees, or nearly 2^ points; when the- direction steered -was W.N.W.Thtse observations were taken" on the northward voyage; On the southward voyage, in another steamer, the differences between the stem-and-'forwtrd- compasses varied from, 5^ s to 7 points, the .observations being taken when the ship was oii an even keel. It was thus not to Be wondered at if the captainy after ■ having, at a late hour of the evening, given a course in order to clear a certain headland, should, at d&ybreak find his fhip, three or.four'miles, nearer the shore than he reckoned upon; or, instead of, as he expected^ \ running parallel with the land, he should find himself but of Bight of land altogether. ■ "After considerable exj>erience in the .^adjustment of the compasses of iron vessels, he (Mr Rosa) had no hesitation in expressing his belief that the local attraction of vessels navigating in these | latitudes can ,b& easily, and effectually; overt come.: After explaining and illustrating by meaiis of a small compass and bars of, iron and steel,.-, the; nature of the magnetic } attraction in the Southern Hemisphere, Mr Ross went..on ;to state that it followed that at -any place ; the deviation of the compass may be Accurately corrected by the folfowing:mechanical methods :—:By a magnet plicea in an athwart.ship direction, for correcting the deviation when the ship's head is •N. or,S.;; ,by,a.magnet in the headand stern direction, when the ship's head is E. or.W. ; and by a mass of unmagnetisediron—a small box of chain best—at the Bame level as the compass^ in either the athwart ship-, or head; arid stern line, according to. circumstances * (ns'n^lly in the former), when the ship's head 'is N.E., S,E., S,\V., or N.W,... The distance M the magnets and unmagnetised-iron from the compass to be, in each; case determined by trial. This readjustment could' .always-be done,'in.,harbour,, and; probably; also:at jsea, in. a very, short; time. He believed that the variation of .the compasses so aljlisted on board steamers l>etween New. Zealand and Melbourne would be almost, if. not altogether, imperceptible. , :

The Chairman then introduced Captain Elutton to the Institute, and in doing so <l\v«lt upon thealarge field that. Otago presented for scientific enquiry. For instance^ the circumstances under which gold had heen deposited at the Blue Spur had to him (the Chairman) always :beeri a perfect' enigma; Captain Hutton would be able to investigate and perhaps solve this and similar enigmas, and his labours would briug the Province under the notice of savans in: Europe, which could riot but;prove beneficial to us..

Captain'HurrbS- said that his paper con--sisted of a list of the insects recorded as having come' to New Zealand before the yearlSyO. The list had been revised and corrected by Mr O. Mi. Waken eld and Mr'll. W. Fereday, both of Christchurchi arid'eonsequently was pretty nearly complete. According to it the number of species was as follows :—Coleoptera, 265;, Hymenoptera, '23; Lepidoptera, about 250 ; Diptera, 98.; Neiiroptera, 42 ; Orthoptera, 30; Heteroptera, 22; Hornpptera, 22.: total, about 750. The difficulty in this matter was. that the species were so numerous that no person .would undertake the task of naming them all. The beetles alone, for .exainpLty were more numerous than the I>lants of New Zealand. The only way that he could see in which the task ould be performed was by the General Gavernment being induced to place a sum of money on the Estimates—£3oo. or so would be enough —in the same way as they did with the flora, to pay some' one to collect into one volume and translate from the various languages in which they .were published, the descriptions already printed,which uumbered about 1000. A commencement with the wr>rk of naming the species could then be made. As a preparatory step to this he (Captain Huttori) had prepared the list in hia hand. He had Btopped at the year 1870; because there was no later copy of the Zoological Record in. the Colony, and he therefore could not feel sure &s to what had been done. He concluded by again urging the Institute to bring its influence to bear upon the General Government to vote the money required to pay a man to bring out a catalogue of all the genera and species of New Zealand insects already known. The meeting adjourned mie die.