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Sir David Monro and Mr. W. T. L. Travers, F.L.S., were re-nominated Governors, and the Hon. Mr. Waterhouse and the Hon. Mr. Stafford were appointed on tho retirement of Mr. Fitzgerald, C.M.G., and Dr. Knight, F.R.C.S. The Governors elected by the incorporated Societies for the present year were Mr. Justice Chapman, Mr. Rolleston, M.H.R., Captain Hutton, F.G.S. In February, 1873, Mr. Ludlam resumed the office of Honorary Treasurer, which had been held during his absence from tho Colony by the Hon. Mr. Mantell. Tho Foreign Members elected, in accordance with Statute IV., during the past year, arc — Sir George Grey, X.C.8., Professor Huxley, LL.D, F.R.S., Admiral Stokes. A diploma of honorary membership was also conferred by the Board upon His Excellency Sir G. F. Bowen, G.C.M.G., accompanied by an address, plticing on record an acknowledgment of his services for the advancement of scientific pursuits in the Colony. The attached statement of account shows the manner in which the funds at the disposal of tho Board of Governors have been expended, leaving a balance of £181 13s. 3d. in hand at the close ofthe financial year. The fifth volume of Transactions and Proceedings was issued in the month of May last. It contains 541 pages and 21 plates. 101 original communications were selected by the Board and printed in this volume; these are by 4S different authors, and consist of 33 on Zoology, 15 on Botany, 5 on Chemistry, 5 on Geology, and 43 papers on Miscellaneous subjects. An arrangement has been made for the republication of the first volume of the Transactions, which is now out of print, only a small edition having been published ; so that members who have joined the Institute since its first year may be able to obtain copies. Museum. The number of specimens added to the collections in the Museum during the past year is G46, and the various sources from which they have been derived is acknowledged in the attached Schedule.* Additional accommodation having been provided, a portion of the Museum hitherto occupied by offices has been applied to its proper use, and has afforded space for the exhibition of the large series of fossil Reptilian remains, which is now one of the most interesting and valuable collections iv the Museum. These fossil remains represent portions of forty-three individuals belonging to the genus Plesiosaurus, Mauisaurus, Liodon, and Taniwasaurus, and are from the upper mesozoic formation at the Amuri Bluff, and Waipara. The}7' have been worked out from an exceedingly hard matrix, and will all be described and figured during the ensuing year. Seals and Getacea. —The collections in this branch have received many important additions, and the whole ofthe representatives of the latter group in New Zealand have been described in Vol. V. of the i: Transactions of the New Zealand Institute," illustrated with figures of the most interesting specimens. The skull of the elephant seal (Morunya elephantina), fouttd .among sand-hills on the West Coast, is a most interesting addition ; and also the skull of a largo seal, probably Arctocephalus lobatus, from the Campbell Islands, presented by tho Rev. R. Taylor. A fine skull of Orca pacifica, or the whalekiller, captured on the coast of Otago, has also been deposited, for the purpose of being described, by the Hon. Captain Fraser. Birds. —A considerable addition to the collection of New Zealand birds was made during the examination of the S.W. coast in January last, and during the exploration of the Te Anau district, which was made for this Department. The collection of foreign birds has received a valuable addition of sixty-nine species from Dr. Finsch, in exchange for collections sent to him from this country. Professor Newton, of Cambridge, has presented a fine series of the bones of the Dodo and Solitaire, the extinct birds from the Mauritius and Rodriguez Islands. A fine series of birds from the Christiania Museum, in Norway, was procured by Mr. Friberg, during a visit to that country in connection with the Immigration Department. To Mr. Bills, the energetic and successful acclimatizer of so many European forms to the Colony, the Museum is indebted for a series of specimens of English birds; and lastly, Mr. Howard Saunders has presented, through Mr. Buller, a very fine collection of thirty-four specimens of British birds, that are especially useful for comparison with allied forms indigenous to this country. The collection of foreign birds' eggs has been again added to by a domation from Mr. Potts, of six specimens. Among the mounted additions to this section of the Museum must be mentioned the recently completed skeleton of Cnemiornis calcitrans, an extinct form of goose that co-existed with the Moa, which has been deposited for study and exhibition by the Hon. Captain Fraser. Rcptilia. —A collection of mounted reptiles, received from the Trustees of the British Museum, including the principal species of crocodiles, lizards, and snakes, forms a very imposing addition, and the series was rendered more complete by a fine specimen of the American alligator, presented by Mr. Buller. It is worthy of note that several specimens of the large turtle have lately been found to reach as far south as Cook Strait, one specimen having been cast up on Cape Fsircwell sandspit, and another near Wanganui, of which latter the skull and some other bones have been presented by the Rev. Richard Taylor. Fishes. —Several important additions have been made to this section of the fauna during the past year, and the collection of duplicates has enabled a tolerably complete series of our fish to be sent to the British Museum, so that Dr. Gunther may have an opportunity of critically examining the new species described in the Catalogue of New Zealand Fishes. The new species discovered during the year have been described by Captain Hutton in a supplementary paper to the catalogue, and printed in Vol. V. of the " Transactions of the New Zealand Institute." Mention has also to be made of a fine collection of fish preparations received from tho Trustees of tho British Museum. Invertebrata. —The Marine Mollusca have all been remounted and correctly named, with printed labels in uniformity with the catalogue prepared by Captain Hutton, which has been issued by the * See " Eighth Museum and Laboratory Report."

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