H.—33

1900. NEW ZEALAND.

NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE. THIRTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT, 1899-1900.

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

Meetings of the Board were held on the 20th February and 4th September, 1900. Messrs. W. T. L. Travers, T. Mason, and Sir James Hector retired from the Board in compliance with the Act, and were all renominated by His Excellency the Governor. The following gentlemen were elected by the incorporated societies to represent them on the Board for the current year —viz., Messrs. S. Percy Smith, James McKerrow, and Hon. C. C. Bowen. To the list of honorary members are added the names of Lord Avebury, Dr. J. G. Agarah, and Mr. George Massee, elected at the beginning of the year for distinguished service in connection with scientific work relating to New Zealand. The members now on the roll are—Honorary members, 27; Auckland Institute, 153; Hawke's Bay Philosophical Society, 59; Wellington Philosophical Society, 144; Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 70 ; Otago Institute, 107 ; Nelson Philosophical Society, 16 ; Westland Institute, 60 : making a total of 636. The volumes of Transactions now on hand are—Vol. I. (second edition), 230; Vol. V., 7; Vol. VI., 12 ; Vol. VII., 98 ; Vol. IX., 95 ; Vol. X., 125 ; Vol. XI., 25 ; Vol. XII., 29 ; Vol. XIII., 29; Vol. XIV., 50; Vol. XV., 163; Vol. XVI., 162; Vol. XVII., 162; Vol. XVIII., 130; Vol. XIX., 154; Vol. XX., 154 ; Vol. XXI., 87; Vol. XXII., 89 ; Vol. XXIII., 163 ; Vol. XXIV., 167; Vol. XXV., 163; Vol. XXVI., 172; Vol. XXVII., 170; Vol. XXVIII., 175; Vol. XXIX., 400 ; Vol. XXX., 400 ; Vol. XXXI., 450 ; Vol. XXXII., not yet fully distributed. The volume just published (XXXII.) contains fifty-three articles, and also addresses and abstracts which appear in the Proceedings. The volume consists of 494 pages and twenty-six plates. The following gives a comparison of the contents of the present volume and that for last year:— 1900. 1899. Pages. Pages. Miscellaneous ... ... ... ... ... ... 162 100 Zoology ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 62 262 Botany ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 102 220 Geology ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 68 72 - I 16 50 Physics ... ... ... ... ... ... ) Proceedings ... ... ... ... ... ... 38 48 Appendix ... ... ... ... ... ... 46 50 494 802 It should be noted that Vol. XXXI. (1898), owing to an unavoidable delay in the publication of the plates, represents a period considerably exceeding the year, so that it included papers that properly belonged to Vol. XXXII. The cost of printing Vol. XXXI. was £539 6s. 3d. for 802 pages, and that for the present volume (XXXII.) £338 11s. 6d. for 494 pages. This amount includes the preparation and printing of the plates. The Treasurer's statement of accounts, appended, shows the amount received for the year as £1,098 7s. 3d. (including balance brought forward) and the expenditure £666 Is. 4d., leaving a balance in hand of £432 ss. lid. This balance has already been appropriated for the completion of the great work by Mr. Hamilton, illustrating " Maori Art," and other publications now in hand. Part IV. of the " Maori Art" has been issued, and Part V., which completes the work, is now well advanced for publication. After this final part is issued to subscribers, the work can only be obtained in its complete form in one volume, handsomely bound, and binding-covers can be supplied to those who possess the work in separate parts at cost price. A dictionary of the Mangareva language, by Mr. B. Tregear, has been published by the Institute. The following extract from Mr. Tregear's introduction will explain why the Board went to the expense of this work :—