THE OTAGO INSTITUTE.

Otago Witness, Issue 931, 2 October 1869, Page 8

THE OTAGO INSTITUTE.

A meeting of this Institute was held in the Council Chamber on the 24th ult., About thirty mombersanda few strangers were present. The Vice- President, Mr Eccles, occupied the chair. Before proceeding to the busiaoss of tho evening, the Secretary, MrJ. 8. Webb, announced that the following books had been received : — "Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute for 1868," "Geological Report on the Lower Waikato District," v Report of the Geology of the Thames Goldfields," " Olasnified Catalogue of tho Library of the Gonoral Assembly of Now Zealand for tho y«ar 1800," " Colonial Museum and Laboratory Reports," and "Goologioal Report on the Coal Doposits of Now Zealand, by Dr Hector."

The Seohbtaiiv thon proposed--" That tho Council request tho Governors of the New Zealand Institute to tako the necessary stopß for tho incorporation of the Sooioty with tho Institute" It was, he said, a primary objeot of tho Institute that it should affiliate with tho parent Institute, and ho rogrotted to find that tho propriety of the stop had now come to be quostionod by certain members. He believed that this fading aroie ontiroly from a misconception of tho advantages to be derWod iroin incorporation.

W^'W&W ,«,iftje ! e¥?: of f&e ftargnt ,Bo,ci#'^ ?&"s&• &##??• ?! their success, „atia by affiliating 'with it .they would be- entitled 'to participate in sundry' advantages from whixjh t they ,Vere at present excluded. The vote of LtfOO by the Assembly had, he believed, been appropriated' for compiling the "Transactions and Proceedings of the Institute," but such papers as were read by the members of their Society, and were deemed of sufficient importance by the Governors of the Institute, would be published in these Proceedings, lit the next place, the services of Dr Hector would be placed at their disposal, and he apprehended that that j alone would be reckoned no small boon. The speaker then went on to review the constitution of the New Zealand Institute, which he argued" was based on 'principles admirably adapted for forwarding their views. Before concluding, he read two letters of apology for absence, one from his Honour the Superintendent, in which^ opposition to the proposed incorporation was expressed, and the writer requested that, if competent to vote by proxy, his vote should be 1 recorded accordingly. The other letter was from the Rev. D. M. Stuart, in whioh an opposite view was stated. Mr Webb remarked that as vote by proxy was contrary to the rules of the Institute, the request of the Superintendent could not be complied with, but that would not matter so much as th<j views of the other absentee (Mr Stuart) would in a manner pair with it. Mr OirvßE seconded the motion. By opposing the proposal for incorporation, he contended that a quasi-political aspect wonld be given to their proceedings. Otago was well known as the stronghold of Provincialism, and by standing aloof from the parent society he believed that they would lay themselves open to suspicioDH of this kind. For his own part he had no hesitation in avowing himself a strong provincialist, but he was Btrongly opposed to having any motives of this kind imputed to the proceedings of the Society. Mr Reynolds could not agree with tne views expressed by the previous speaker. He did not think that any action they might take would be construed into a question of political predileotion. A motion had been put in his hand requesting that the consideration of the question should be delayed. He was not aware from whence the motion came, and although he was of opinion that it was the best course for the Institute to follow he was uot prepared to take the responsibility of appearing as the mover of an amendment upon the motion. At the same time he thought the suggestion a very desirable one, and as such he threw it out for the consideration of the meeting. Mr Cargixlj supported the motion. It appeared to him that the meeting was a very fair one. It contained at least onehalf of the town members, and he thought it would be a great pity if it separated without arriving at some conclusion on the point, Unless it was provincial jealousy, he could see no reason whatever why the Institute should not affiliate. By narrowing the field of their operations to Otago, they would deprive themselves ef very many advantages. He had no sympathy with the opinion that the step would be one calculated to aggrandise Wellington at the expense of this province. On the other hand it would entitle them to receive the support of the Supreme Legislature of the colony. Mr Bbodib said that the objection to fche proposed incorporation lay in the provisions of the Act, and not in the individuals upon whom the supervision of the New Zealand Institute devolved. Tho mover of the motion had admitted that the vote had been oxpended upon the volume of Proceedings, a copy of which now lay upon the table. The only advantage then that would be deriyod was that of having their papers submitted for tho approval or otherwise of the Governors at Wellington, with the view of ascertaining whether or not they were eligible for publication. Ho did not think that that privilege counterbalanced tho many disadvantages to which tho step would expose thorn. Mr Rkynolds said that there could be no doubt about the advisability of incorporating, at tho same time, ho questioned vory much if tho present woro the proper time. The Aot stood urgently in need of ameadmont, and ho bolioved that if, instead ©f affiliating at once, the Secretary was instructed to corrospond with tho Government upon tho matter, there would bo tho better chance of tho dofocta in th« Aot being speedily amondod. Mr Watt thought that, if tho Aot was objootionablo, the bost ©ours© for thorn to adopt, with the vieir of getting com* menced.was to incorporate at once. Thoy would thoroby bo plsood in a much botter position for taking action in tho matter than woro thoy to stand aloof. Ho could not agroo wtttt Mr Brodio, that tho foot of having thoir bapors submitted' for examination by the Governors of the lu-

stitute at Wellington was a thing to be disapproved of; on the contrary, he looked upon it as a material aid in. their 'endeavours,,, and he, forgone, would be proud to submit to such'an examination. Mr Beal suggested that a circular should be sent to eaoh member .requesting to have his opinion on the subject. - Mr Murison submitted that this would be tantamount to a vote by proxy, which was not admitted by the rules of the Institute. On the other hand, if it was only an expression of opinion it would be of no practical use. The rules provided that all vote* must be taken at a meeting at which not less then ten members were present, so that if the whole of the members did not choose to attend and record their yote, any expression of opinion given in this way would be useless. The Chairman stated that Mr Beal's suggestion could not be received, as in effect it would be a vote by proxy. Mr Mttrison continued to say that he thought that the question should be settled by the meeting. It was as fair a meeting as they could expect to get, and from the remarks made by members he concluded that the majority were in favour of what he felt convinced were the sentiments of the members generally. As Treasurer, he had received a number of communications from country members enclosing their subscriptions, and expressing opinions favourable to the proposed affiliation. After some further remarks had been made, Mr Stout moved as an amendment, " That this debate be adjourned, with the view of affording the Secretary 1 an opportunity of obtaining from each member fan expression of opinion in writing, regarding tho proposal for incorporation." The amendment was seconded by Mr Logan, and, after the meeting had been severally addressed by Messrs Murison, Turnbull, and others, Mr Stout explained that his sole object was to afford an opportunity for bringing about a unanimity amongst the members, whioh he was afraid would not be the case were the question pressed to a final issue at present. Mr Cargill could not see any benefit to be derived from an adjournment. It would not assist the discussion in any way, so that when the matter was again brought up for discussion, the matter would have to be gone into de novo. The Secretary said that of eighty members belonging to the Institute, he was aware that not more than eighteen were opposed to the application, and seeing that the opinion of the majority of those present had been pretty plainly indicated, he thought that the mover of the amendment would promote harmony much better were he to withdraw the amendment.

No further remarks being forthcoming, the motion and amendment were put, when the former was declared to have been carried unanimously. A letter was read from Dr Hector, stating that he was preparing certain papers on the Geology of Otago, which would bo forwarded to them, for the purpose of helping on the objects of tho Society. Besides Btating what was actually known of *.he geology of the province, these papers would contain suggestions for further investigations. A design, prepared by Mr John Millar, F.S.A., of a prize collar for the Otago Volunteers, was received, and the Secretary instructed to acknowledge receipt of the* same, with thanks. Before separating, the Secretary notified that it was of great importance that members should take an early opportunity of notifying to the Sooiety any particular branch of science to which they might be more particularly devoted. This information would bo of great service to them in carrying out their arrangements.

"A Yorkshire Wool*rowor" writes to tho Argus on the subject of wool- washing in hot water, as follows :—" A short time ago there appeared in your paper a paragraph to tho ofioot that it had been found in England that the practice of washing wool in warm water injurod tho fibre. Such a complaint wm mado by some of the wool staplers last season, but it ifl a notioeab'e faot that it wai solely in relation to Vie terian wools. Now, in Tasmania, for many years past, thn wool has been washed in warm water, bat so complaint hat over b«ftn mado about tho quality of tho fibre. I think, therefore, that the oauso of tho injury to tho fibre of our wool oanoot ba the warm wattr, bat admits of an equally «*»y oxplaaation. It ia (imply the uio of sorfa>so«p in washing instead of pota»b-»oap. Whenever todaor nard soap i» used a peculiar harshness of fooling is obtorvablo in tho wool, and this bartbnois is osoied by th« splitting of tht fibro through tho aotioa of tho soda. Where potash or soft «oap is used, this harshness never malts. That this is to may bo easily provod by washing «qn»l weights of wool in tod* loy and potash l*y and carefully drying, when it will ba found that not only is ths parotl wMhtd in soft soap moro silky to tbt> tenoh than ths other, but that it has not lost ntarly so much in wsigbV 1