Exhibit of Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatum) and Young.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 27, 1894, Page 659

Sir Walter Buller exhibited a newly-hatched tuatara lizard (Sphenodon punctatum) which he had received from Captain Fairchild. He had been for years trying to obtain this young form for the British Museum, and, being of extreme rarity, he thought it would be interesting to exhibit it here before sending it Home. He explained that, some eggs of the tuatara having been taken into the lighthouse-keeper's house on Stephen's Island, the heat of the room hatched them out. The specimen exhibited, being one of these, was about a week old when placed in the bottle of spirits. Sir W. Buller exhibited, and made remarks on, Mr. Salvini's new petrel from the Kermadec Islands (Œstrelata nigripennis). The bird is very similar to Œ. cookii, with which it had hitherto been confounded. Mr. Maskell would like to know what Sir Walter Buller intended doing with the other three young tuataras. He thought it would have been better had Sir W. Buller given his first specimen to the Colonial Museum, and after that considered the Home museums. He thought we should have the first of everything in our own collections. The captain of the Government steamer should have first supplied the Government museum before he disposed of any to private collectors. Since the late storm two strange birds had appeared in our harbour: one a sort of gannet, and the other with long tail and wings. They were beautiful birds, and seemed quite tame. Could Sir W. Buller tell us what they are, and where they come from? Mr. Tanner had also observed these birds, and would be glad to hear something about them.

Sir James Hector did not think the young of the tuatara was so scarce as was supposed. Professor Thomas, of Auckland, had obtained some eggs, and had hatched them out. He would be very glad to get one for the Museum. It would be interesting to ascertain the condition of the obsolete eye in this lizard in the early stage of its existence. Sir Walter Buller, in reply, said he recognized the first claim of the local institutions, but in some cases it was better to send objects Home to specialists, who had better opportunities of working them out. In this country we are often placed at a great disadvantage through not having the necessary books of reference and collections for comparison. He acknowledged and admired the industry with which Sir J. Hector and other workers applied themselves to original research, but as a rule there was too much material for the limited number of workers. Take, for example, the case of the adult tuatara. We had been collecting and studying this lizard for years; but it remained for Professor Moseley, of Oxford, to make the extraordinary discovery of its possessing a third and obsolete eye at the top of its head. The birds referred to by Mr. Maskell were the gannet (Dysporus serrator), very similar to the English species, but easily distinguished by the black feathers in the tail; and the common tern, or sea-swallow (Sterna frontalis). Their appearance in the harbour was due to the long-continued storms on the coast, where both are very plentiful. He mentioned several breeding-places where they are met in countless numbers. Mr. Maskell had expressed a hope that they would remain with us, as their evolutions on the wing were most interesting to watch; but this was quite impossible. They would disappear with a change of weather as suddenly as they had come. As he happened to have another young tuatara hatched out at the same time, he would send that to the British Museum, and present the specimen now on the table to Sir James Hector for the Colonial Museum. A large and handsome collection of insects lately deposited in the Museum were exhibited. It had been made and arranged by Mr. Norris. Mr. Hudson said this was a very fine collection, and Mr. Norris deserved much praise for his great industry. There were several valuable specimens in the collection, especially the glow-worms, the large green moth, &c., and the examples illustrating the life history of white and black moths. Until more interest is taken in science in New Zealand, collectors will be disposed to send their collections to England and other places where they will attract more attention. Sir James Hector said he would like to get a list of the fine collection now exhibited, with a view to publication; and Mr. Norris promised to supply this. All the specimens had been obtained in the neighbourhood of Tinakori Road and the Botanic Gardens. Eighth Meeting: 9th September, 1894. Major-General Schaw, President, in the chair. Before the meeting commenced, Sir James Hector, on behalf of the members, congratulated General Schaw on his return to the chair after his long illness; and General Schaw thanked those present for their kind expressions. The President, before proceeding with the ordinary business of the meeting, read an extract from an article in the Royal Engineer

Journal of the 1st August, 1894, as follows: “A most remarkable and valuable calculation has been achieyed by a competent, unprejudiced, and distinguished investigator as to the accuracy of Major-General Drayson's discovery, described in previous issues of the Journal. Admiral De Horsey took the recorded positions of a star, found by observation at various dates, and calculated by geometry the position of the pole of second rotation, the annual movement of the pole of the heavens, the position of the pole of the ecliptic, the decrease in the obliquity at various dates, the period during which an entire revolution of the equinoxes would occur, the amount of extension of the arctic circle during this revolution, and other items of very great importance. The results obtained by this original process differ only ⅓rd of a minute of arc in two cases, and only 1/400th of a second and 1/160th of a second in other cases, from the results given by Major-General Drayson.” The President observed that, so far as he was aware, this was the only real criticism of Major-General Drayson's discovery which had yet been made, and it was gratifying to learn that this searching mathematical criticism so perfectly confirmed the discovery, and its astronomical and geological consequences, which he had the honour of bringing to the notice of the Society. New Member.—Mr. Percy E. Baldwin. Papers.—1. “Myths of Observation,” by E. Tregear, F.R.G.S. (Transactions, p. 579.)