OTAGO INSTITUTE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7724, 19 November 1886, Page 4

OTAGO INSTITUTE.

The annual general meeting of the Otago Institute was held at the museum on Wednesday evening. The president (Professor Parker) oocupied the chair, and there was a Bparse attendance. The President intimated that Mr Scobie Mackenzie, M.H.R., had become a member of the Institute. The following papers had been re-. ceived:—Descriptions of new spiders (Mr P. Goyen); on new species of Araneidea (Mr A. Urquhart); descriptions of new native plants. (Mr D. Petrie, F L.S.). He called attention to two or three specimens which had been sent to the museum. There were stuffed specimens of a lion, a tapir, and a seal. The seal was that mentioned in the newspapers as having been killed by Mr Paulin, at St. Clair, on a Sunday morning—that of an old male—aud was of a species not hitherto represented in the museum. There was also a collection of New Zealand fossil plants, recently named by Baron Constantino yon Ettingshausen of Gratz, Austria, who also bad forwarded fossil plants and nature printings of leaves. MrF. R. Chapman then exhibited specimens of the Katipo spider obtained by him about 30 or 40 miles from Wellington city. They often heard of persons suffering severely from the bite of a Katipo. These spiders were found as far south as Lyttleton, possibly as far south as Dunedin, were exceedingly plentiful in the North Island

ANNUAL REPORT: Professor Scott (hon. secretary), read the annual report:—J _■ During the session nine general meetings have been held. The flrst took the form of a conversazione This was held in the university. At four otlier meetings papers were read; of 'these three were botanical, three Zoological, and five of a literary character. A number of objects of zoological and general interest were also exhibited at these meetings. Early In the session the question of founding a Marine Biological Laboratorr was brought under tha notfceof this society by the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute. The council, while heartily desirous of having suci an institution in Hew Zealand did not think that much good would result unless the laboratory were located permanently in one place. Some correspondence bas passed betweon the council and Professor Liversidgc, of Sydney, with regard to a proposed a-sociatiou of the scientific societies in these Australasian colonios somewhat ou the same lines as the British Association A preliminary meeting was to be held this month, and the council have asked the Rev. Tenlson Woods of Sydney (a corresponding member of our institute) to represent this society. During the year 11 new members have joined the society. The receipts for Ihe j ear are £105 19s 6d. The expenditure has been £-57 17s 9d. The balance of assets over liabilities is £210 13s lOd. On the motion of the President, seconded by Dr Hocken, the report was adopted. ELECTION OP OFFICERS.

The Chaiuman said the next business was the election of officers for the ensuing' year, and as it bad beeu customary for the outgoing president to propose his successor, he begged to propose that Mr F. R. Chapman be elected president for the ensuing year. Dr Hocken seconded the motion, which was agreed to.

Mr Chapman returned thanks for the honour ■ they had done him in electing him to the office. He was uot a scientific man, but had taken a great interest in the affairs of the institute, and he would always be very glad to do anything in his power for its advancement. He pointed out what anyone who attended the meetings of the institute might do—endeavour to obtain new members; and old members should be urged to attend the meetings more frequently than they did. To the ccuncil it was somewhat disappointing that on such an occasion as this— the annual meeting—there was an attendance smaller perhaps thau the average attendance at the usual meetings. The retiring president aud Mr A. Wilson M.A., were elected vice-presidents; Mr G. M* Thomson, hon. secretary and treasurer. Several' other members of council were elected:—Dr Hocken, Dr Scott, Dr de Zouche, Messrs G M Barn E. Melland, D. Petrie, M.A., C. Chilton! Mr D. Brent was re-elected auditor.

RETIRING PRESIDENT'S ADDKE3S The President referred to the great loss .„ t h<! Instltute h»d sustained by the death of Mr Robert Gillies. In the preliminary meetings for the establishment of the institute Mr Gillies took an active 6hare, and continued a member of the council to the time of his death; in 1876 he occupied the presidental chair, at a time when the society was at the height of its prosperity—when 14 meetings were held during the session, and 18 original papers read, aud when the number of members amounted to 230. Mr Gillies' successor of 10 years later might very well say that "the former days were bettor than these." After enumerating the papers Mr Gillies had read at meetings of the institute, the President said:—

" But more important to us as a society was Mr Gillies' general attitude towards science. He possessed in a degree unusual in one engaged in business pursuits the true scientific spirit, the determination t > julge all que.-tions connected with natural phenomena and the legitimate ilductions therefrom, upon tho evidence and the evidence only, and to protest against all attempts to introduce a priori considerations. To him, I far cy, as to an eminent living theologian - not a very orthodox one, perhaps; but that is of little consequence—"nn assured fact, in what. over department of knowledge, is a word of God not less authoritative that that which was placed of old on the lips of prophet or apostle." At the time of Mr GiltJes' prerfde^ciy a coj>.

trover*y on the now well-worn subject of revolution was raging furiously, and our then president espoused the right skie with characteristic energy, and, if oho may judge from his address published in the ninth volume of the " Transactions," without a trace of that bitterness and disposition to impute bad motives to his antagonists which so often degrades discussions of this sort. To a man of Mr Gillies' strong religious feeling the breaking loose from tho traditions of thoehlerscauhar.ily have been a painless process, und wo who live in tho piping times of peace havo every reason to bo grateful to him and to those who fought with him that we aro now able to say what we think on these matters, none daring to make us airaid."—Turning to the work of the session, the president said that though thoy had no reason to be ashamed of what had been done, they had very little for congratulation. The slight reduction in their membership showed that the depression had not left them untouched. One of their most indefatigable members in the production of original work (Mr \Y. Arthur) was taken from them last year, and by his death the number of regular contributors to the "Transactions" was reduced to three. But there were signs of improvement. Mr Goyen hod prepared what the speaker hoped would b3 the first of a series of papers on New Zealand spiders; another worker in tbe same field, Mr Urquharfc, of Auckland, had joined the institute; aud they would confidently expeot from Mr (Jhilton a continuation of the excellent series of carcinological papers which he had been reading before the Canterbury Philosophical Institute. Two papers had been brought before them embodying the results of grammatical and of historical research, and he hoped that they might vow look upon Dr Belcher as a regular contributor. In this couneetion ho referred to two circumstances, apart altogether from the small staff of workers; which tended to diminish the number of papers—the character of tho illustrations in tho " Transactions/ and the very inadequate way in which the volume is distributed in the scientific world. In the present state of affairs he feared it was hopeless to expect any addition to tho paltry sum which was now annually voted —not without much opposition on the part of some of our legislators — for the publication of the " Transactions " of the institute; but when brighter days come, might they not venture to hope that a colony which was enlightened enough to spend £400,000 a year on education might be brought to see that the encouragement of original research was worth more to tho country than the annual servibes of two M.H.R.'s and a-half? There were two other matters in which Government assistance was urgently needed in the cause of science—one Was the adequate protection of native birds, especially the kiwi, kakapo, and the weka. Lately, by somo unaccountable blunder.some of the ferrets so rashly introduced to keep down the rabbits had been liberated on the western side of Lake Manapouri, where there were no rabbits, but large numbers of flightless birds. The second subject to which he wished to draw attention ■ was the advisability of establishing a Fisheries Board for the colony. He believed he was correct in saying that we knew nothing of the life-history of a single one of our food-fishes, and much of our knowledge as to their food and habits was derived from tho frequently untrustworthy and always inexact information of fishermen. What was wanted for the purpose of developing our fisheries was a marine laboratory presided over by a competent naturalist who had been trained for this work and furnished with aquaria and breeding grounds, a small steamer for dredging and trawling, &c. In such an institution systematic observations could be made and recorded from year to year. A proposition.had this year been submitted to the affiliated societies by the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, proposing the establishment of a marine laboratory, which should not be located in any one place, but moved periodically from port to port. He thought, however, that no ouch travelling laboratory could possibly be provided with the somewhat elaborate arrangements necessary to make it thoroughly efficient. When the Wellington ■University College is establisheditmightbefound possible to continue the professorship of Biology | with the.directorship of the Colonial Marine I Laboratory. He pointed out that a laboratory such as that he advocated would cost a considerable sum to equip, and would need a sufficient annual income; otherwise it would be better not to attempt it. Referring to the proposals towards a sort of federation of learned societies in the British Empiro—a movement began when the British Association met at Montreal two years ago—he said that every naturalist in these colonies must of necessity suffer from tho present sense of the immense disadvantages under which he labours through bis isolation from other workers. He had often wished that the Royal Society oi London, the great parent of all scientific societies in the empire, could adopt those men of science who labour hi partibus infidelium, some such system as the Roman Curia adopts towards colonial bishopssummon them to headquarters every few years; but unfortunately, as to the scientific men alluded to there was no body of faithful to pay expenses, sd he feared their case was hopeless. But an Australasian association, if only it could be kept going, might do a great deal towards remedying the evil by allowing widely separated workers to meet aud interchange ideas. Returning to the work of the institute, he pointed out that however uninteresting their work might be to the_ many, it was hardly necessary there to insist upon its worthiness of support by the enlightened few. Having spoken briefly upon some important recent advances in biology, he concluded by saying he now resigned the office of president to his friend Mr Chapman, whom he begged to welcome in the name of the institute as a man in whom wide and curious learning was happily combined with legal acumen, and whose influence would, he (the speaker) felt sure—especially if seconded by a rise in wooldo much to restore this society to the state o prosperity in which they all wished to see it