H.—23.

1875. NEW ZEALAND.

SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE, 1874-75.

Presented to both Souses of the General Assembly by Command of Sis Excellency.

Meetings of the Board of Governors were held on the following dates, viz. Bth August, 21st December, 1874, and 11th March, 31st March, and 4th August, 1875. Of the members who retire from the Board—W. T. L. Travers, Esq., F.L.S., and the Hon. E. "W. Stafford, F.E.G.S., were reappointed, and the Hon. W. B. D. Mantell was appointed in the room of Sir David Monro, who withdrew. The Governors elected by the affiliated Societies are —His Honor William Eolleston, B.A. ; Charles Knight, Esq., F.E.C.S. ; and Thomas Kirk, Esq., F.L.S. In conformity with Statute IV. of the Eules of the Institute, the following gentlemen were elected honorary members: —Alfred Newton, Esq., F.E.S.; Professor Wyville Thomson, F.E.S.; Eobert McLachlan, Esq., F.L.S. The number of members on the roll of the Institute is as follows :— Honorary members ... ... ... ... ... ... 19 Ordinary Members. Auckland Institute ... ... ... ... ... ... 215 "Wellington Philosophical Society ... ... ... ... ... 158 Otago Institute ... ... ... ... ... IG6 Philosophical Institute of Canterbury ... ... ... ... 91 Nelson Association ... ... ... ... ... ... 57 Total ... ... ... ... ... ... 707 Two honorary members are lost to the Institute since last report, by the death of Sir Charles Lyell and Dr. J. E. Gray; several valuable contributions in the zoology of New Zealand have appeared from time to time in the Transactions from the latter gentleman. Each of the above members receives a copy of Vol. VII.; the free list, herewith appended, are also supplied with copies, and the remainder reserved for sale at £1 Is. each. Local libraries and institutes can obtain copies at half-price. Publication of the Transactions. The publication of the volume for 1874 (Vol. VII.), which took place in July last, was considerably delayed, owing to the difficulty experienced by the printer in obtaining the necessary number of hands to insure its completion at an earlier date. Its greatly increased bulk was also a cause of its not being produced sooner. The volume contains 638 pages and thirty plates. Ninety papers are printed either in the Transactions or Proceedings, which are by forty-six different authors. The space taken by each section of the volume is as follows:— Pages. Miscellaneous ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 195 Zoology ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 137 Botany ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 46 Chemistry ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 30 Geology ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 57 Proceedings ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 101 Appendix ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 45 Table of Contents, Preface, &c. ... ... ... ... ... 27 A paper by the Eev. Mr. Stack, received too late for publication in its proper place in the volume, will be found in the Appendix among other papers. The papers by Mr. W. T. L. Travers, and Dr. Knight, had the advantage of being corrected for the press by the authors. It has been found necessary to increase the edition from 850 to 1,000 copies. It will be at once apparent that the large increase in the number of members made this necessary. It is possible that the accession to the Institute of the two new Societies of Westland and Hawke Bay may necessitate a still further increase in the next volume.