Preface

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 2, 1869, Unnumbered Page

Preface The first volume of the “Transactions” contained several Communications and Essays that had accumulated from previous years, and it was therefore anticipated in the Preface that the succeeding volumes would not equal it in size. The present issue, however, has not fallen off in this respect, as it contains almost an equal number of pages, which are of larger size; while the number of original Articles has increased from twenty-three to sixty-three, contributed by thirty-two different authors. The arrangement of the work has been improved by dividing it into Sections, according to the subjects treated of. Part I. contains the original communications of the various Societies, during the Session of 1869, which have been selected for publication by the Councils of the Societies, and approved by the Board of Governors of the Institute. These Articles have been classified, for convenience of reference, under the following Sections: I. Natural History, —II. Botany, —III. Chemistry, —IV. Geology, —V. Miscellaneous. There are three exceptions to this arrangement, owing to the papers not having been received in time for insertion in their proper places:—a Zoological paper by Dr. Haast, “On the Ziphid Whale,” and one on a Botanical subject by Mr. Buchanan, appearing among the Miscellaneous Articles; and at page 385, near the end of the volume, an Ornithological paper, by Mr. Buller, has been inserted. Part II. contains Lectures on Scientific subjects, delivered during the year, in addition to one, by Mr. Fitzgerald, reserved from last year. Part III. consists of the Minutes of the Proceedings of Meetings of the various Incorporated Societies, which have been condensed from Reports furnished by the Secretaries. Among these Reports will be found abstracts of papers that have not been printed at length, and the Annual Addresses of the Presidents of the Societies. In the Appendix will be found an abstract of the Meteorological Returns for the year. The number of members of affiliated Societies, who are entitled to receive copies of this volume, gratis, according to the lists published in the

Appendix, has increased from 255 in 1868, to 342 in last year. The Governors also distribute, as presentations or in exchange, about fifty copies in addition, to various Learned Bodies and Public Libraries. Although the supply of algebraic type, obtained for the purpose, is still imperfect, the two papers by Captain Hutton, reserved from last year, have been printed in this volume; the deficiencies being supplied by a few letters and signs not generally used in mathematical formulæ, for which the reader's indulgence is requested. Amongst the papers reserved are several relating to purely medical subjects, chiefly communicated to the Medical Section of the Auckland Institute. As these papers do not contain matter of general interest, the Board considered it advisable to hold them over for future publication, in a separate form, for the professional reader. Whenever it was found possible, without delaying the progress of the work through the press, proof sheets were submitted to the authors for revision, but in the majority of cases this was found to be impracticable; in which case the final revision, as well as the preparation of the papers for the press, was performed by the Editor. In one instance, the author, Mr. Potts, came from Canterbury to revise the proof sheets of his paper on “Birds,” for which attention the Editor desires to express his thanks. Although every care has been taken to avoid typographical errors, it is necessary to call the attention of authors, and the Secretaries of Societies, to the desirability of forwarding the manuscripts in a more legible form; as, in several instances, the papers had to be recopied before they were placed in the hands of the printer, thereby greatly increasing the chance of misinterpreting the author's meaning. Several small errors have been observed since the work has passed through the press, but only those that seriously affect the author's meaning have been placed in an errata slip. The Illustrations to the present volume have all been drawn on prepared paper, by Mr. Buchanan, and transferred to stone at the Government Lithographic Press, —the Hon. the Colonial Secretary having allowed the Board to make an arrangement with the Government Printer, for the purpose of securing for the work the superior appliances and skill available in the Government Printing Office. The Editor has again to acknowledge the great assistance which he has received from Mr. R. L. Holmes, who, at considerable personal inconvenience, remained in Wellington to superintend the passing of the work through the press. The thanks of the Board are also due to Mr. J. Buchanan, who has devoted a large portion of his leisure time to the illustrations of the work.