NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB.

Otago Witness, Issue 1296, 30 September 1876, Page 7

NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB.

The annual meeting of the above Club was held on the 22nd, in the University Building. There was a large attendance of members, and Professor Coughtrey, President of the Club,, was in the Chair. The minutes of the previous' meeting were read and confirmed.

ANNUAL BEPORT.

The Secretary (Mr Thomson) read the following report, which was adopted : — In bringing the annual report of the Club's doings before the members, the Committee desire to congratulate the Club on the success which has attended it. Thore have been 12 excursions, nearly all of which, as will be seen from the details of the various trips given in the appendix, were very interesting and instructive. But the Committee have yet to deplore the fact that so comparatively few take part in the excursions. Out of a membership of 84, it was but rarely that the number attending exceeded ten. Now this is not as it should be. When a number of persons join together for purposes such as ours, it is surely not too much to expect that some little interest should be token in ths Club's affairs. Of course, allowances must be made for other business, but the Committee still think that the members are byfar too lukewarm, and strongly hope that the next session will show a very different state of things. The Committee also \irge on members the duty of paying the annual subscription as early as possible. The sum is so small that it can be no wardship in paying, but so few have attended to this matter that the Treasurer has been out of pocket as a rule during the whole season. To obviate this, some propose to double the subscription, but there h really no necessity for such a step. If members would ©nly pay the small sum required at the beginning of the season, there would be plenty of money to carry on with, and pay everything as it came due. A proposition to score off all those two payments in arrear at the general meeting will be made as a byelaw. An indoor meeting was held during the winter, at which a paper was read by the Secretary.

The competition for the prizes offered by the Secretary did not come off. The sectionising of the members, as proposed at the beginning of last sea*on, did not come to much, for the want' of leaders in any other science than botany.

Copies of last year's report were, as usual, sent to the local and leading Colonial papers, and to several Hojne Societies of a similar nature.

ELECTION OP OFFICE-BEARERS.

The meeting then proceeded with the election of office-bearers for the ensuing year, with the following result : — President, Mr A, Bathgate ; Secretary, Mr ThoHHC-u; Committee — Professor Coughtrey, Capt. Hutton, and Messrs Davidson, Moritzon, Petrie, Purdie, G. M. Thomson, and Wicks. Several ladies and gentlemen were also elected members of the Society.

A paper on "Tlie Stone Implements of the Maori" was read by Mr P. Thomson, and illustrated by a very extensive collection of tools and weapons, collected during the last 12 years from the coast in the vicinity of Dunedin. Mr A. C. Purdie also contributed a paper on the " Fungus Tribes." Both papers gavo rise to long and interesting discussions.

Professor Coughtrey, by way of encouragement to the younger members of the Society, announced his intentidn of offering a £rize of a valuable scientific instrument, or oi some other useful object, for competition in the zoological department. He would announce the subject at some future meeting. Mr Petrie would follow the example set by Professor Coughtrey, and would give a prize to be competed for by young students in botany, He also strongly advocated that members should colJect as large a number of specimens as possibb, with a view to classification, and also for the purpose of exchanging with other institutions.

Professor Coughtrey warmly supported M* Petrie's suggestion.

A HERBARIUM.

On the motion of Mr Petrie, it was resolved — " It is desirable that the Club should form a herbarium, consisting of plants indigenous to Otago, and that the members of the Club be requested to contribute duplicates to this collection. And further, that the Society meet on the last Monday in each month, for the purpose of examining and classifying the specimens collected." Tb.6 meeting then adjourned.