H.—2o,

1880. NEW ZEALAND.

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE, 1879-80.

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

Meetings of the Board were held on the following dates : 21st July, 19th November, 1879; and 17th February, sth April, and 20th April, 1880. The members who retired from the Board in conformity with the Act were Messrs. Travers, Mason, and Waterhouse. The two former gentlemen were reappointed; and the Hon. G. Randall Johnson was appointed by His Excellency in the room of the Hon. Mr. Waterhouse. The gentlemen elected Governors of the Institute by the incorporated societies, under clause 7 of the Act, are: Dr. Buller, E.E.S., C.M.G.; Mr. T. Kirk, P.L.S.; and Captain Bussell, M.H.E. The list of honorary members of the Institute having reached the number prescribed by section 4 of the Bules and Statutes (viz., thirty), no nominations took place during the past year. The number of members now on the roll of the Institute is as follows:— Honorary members ... ... ... ... ... 30 Ordinary members. Auckland Institute ... ... ... ... ... 274 Hawke's Bay Philosophical Society ... ... ... ... 78 Wellington Philosophical Society ... ... ... ... 269 Nelson Association ... ... ... .. ... 50 Westland Institute ... ... ... ... ... 121 Philosophical Institute, Canterbury ... ... ... ... 229 Otago Institute ... ... ... ... ... ... 226 1,277 The printing of Vol. XII. was commenced in January and finished early in May; but, owing to delay in getting the lithographed plates printed, the volume was not ready for issue until the Bth of June. Vol. XII. contains 59 articles, and several Presidents' Addresses and abstracts of papers which appear in the Proceedings and Appendix. There are 14 plates and 538 pages of letterpress. The following are the sections of the work, compared with last year's volume :— 1880. 1879. Pages. Pages. Miscellaneous ... ... * ... ... 240 186 Zoology ... ... ... ... ... 76 216 Botany ... ... ... ... ... 84 66 Chemistry ... ... ... ... 14 26 Geology ... ... ... ... ... 6 22 Proceedings ... ... ... ... 52- 66 Appendix ... ... ... ... 66 42 538 624 The volumes of the Transactions now on hand are, — Vol. 1., second edition, 430; Vol. IL, none; Vol. 111., 4; Vol. IV, 2 ; Vol. V, 70; Vol. VI., 60; Vol. VII., 165 ; Vol. VIIL, 30 ; Vol. IX., 170 ; Vol. X., 20; Vol. XL, 100 ; Vol. XII., not yet fully distributed. The balance-sheet herewith shows the sum of £4 Bs. 3d. to the credit of the Board, to which must be added the sum of £31 2s. 6d. due by the Auckland Institute, making in all £35 10s. 9d.; against which there is an outstanding balance of account for printing of £66 6s. 6d. To meet the deficiency of £30 15s. 9d. it will be necessary to make a call of Is. per volume on the present issue. The usual annual reports of the various departments connected with the Institute are appended. James Hectoe, A pproved by the Board, 21st July, 1880. Manager. * - W. B. D. Mantell, - Chairman.