H.—27

1895. NEW ZEALAND.

NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE: TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT.

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

Meetings of the Board were held on the following dates : 18th January and 31st May, 1895. The members elected, in conformity with the Act, by the incorporated societies as Governors of the Institute are: Mr. James McKerrow, Mr. S. Percy Smith, and Major-General Schaw. The retiring members from the Board —viz., Mr. W. T. L. Travers, Mr. W. M. Maskell, and the Hon. W. B. D. Mantell, have all been reappointed by His Excellency the Governor. The Board regrets to have to record the death of Professor Huxley, thereby creating a vacancy in the list of honorary members of the Institute. The members now on the roll of the Institute are : Honorary members, 29; ordinary members, —Auckland Institute, 171; Wellington Philosophical Society, 150; Hawke's Bay Philosophical Society, 82; Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 65; Otago Institute, 102; Nelson Philosophical Society, 22 ; Westland Institute, 62 : making a total of 683. The volumes of Transactions now in stock are : Vol. I. (second edition), 245 ; Vol. V., 18 ; Vol. VI., 20; Vol. VII., 105; Vol. IX., 108; Vol. X., 140; Vol. XI., 30; Vol. XII., 38; Vol. XIII., 35; Vol. XIV., 60; Vol. XV., 170; Vol. XVI., 170; Vol. XVII., 172; Vol. XVIII., 145; Vol. XIX., 160; Vol. XX., 161; Vol. XXI., 93; Vol. XXIL, 93; Vol. XXIII., 170; Vol. XXIV., 175 ; Vol. XXV., 175; Vol. XXVI., 180; Vol. XXVII., not yet fully distributed. The volume (XXVII.) just published was issued in June, and contains seventy-two articles, and also addresses and abstracts which appear in the Proceedings. The work contains 742 pages of letterpress and 42 plates. The following is a comparison of the contents of the present with those of last year's volume : — 1895. 1894. Pages. Pages. Miscellaneous ... ... ... ... ... ... 154 202 Zoology ... ... ... ••• ... ... 298 258 Botany ... ... ... ... ... ... 154 88 Geology ... ... ... ... ... ... 30 76 Proceedings ... ... ... ... ... ... 58 64 Appendix ... ... ... ... ... ... 48 42 742 730 The cost of printing Vol. XXVI. was £447 19s. 6d. for 730 pages, and that for the volume just issued (XXVII.) £441 16s. for 742 pages. During the past year the manuscript of the library catalogue has been completed, and is now being printed, but it will not probably be ready for issue for some months. An arrangement has been made with Mr. A. Hamilton for the production of a standard work on Maori art, illustrated by photographs of carvings and other articles, which now are becoming very rare, and a permanent record of which should be preserved. Mr. Hamilton has travelled in the interior of the North Island for this purpose, and has already accumulated a large and interesting collection of photographs, from which selections will be made. It is hoped to have the first volume, containing 100 plates, ready for issue by the. end of the year. The Honorary Treasurer's statement of accounts shows that there is a balance in hand in the current account of £58 6s. Bd. The amount appropriated for the publication of memoirs and postponed papers (according to resolution) is now £758 7s. Approved by Board. Glasgow, James Hector, Chairman. Manager. 6th August, 1895.