Wellington Philosophical Society.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 34, 1901, Unnumbered Page

Wellington Philosophical Society. First Meeting: 25th June, 1901. Mr. G. V. Hudson, President, in the chair. New Members.—Mr. Ben Keys, of Wellington; Rev. H. J. Fletcher, of Taupo; and Mr. D. Matheson, of Wellington. Inaugural address by the President, G. V. Hudson, F.E.S., “On the Senses of Insects.” (Transactions, p. 18.) Sir James Hector spoke in high terms of the President's valuable and suggestive address. It took the thoughts of members out of the beaten track, and led them to the consideration of some of the profoundest and most suggestive problems of natural science. Regarding the external ears of the weta, he was reminded of somewhat similar organs found on the cephalic section of the Japanese crayfish—large and conspicuous auditory apparatus arranged like a Venetian-blind. Strange to say, the New Zealand species was quite destitute of these organs. He proposed a vote of thanks to the President for his instructive paper. Mr. R. C. Harding seconded the motion. He said that bees were not, so far as he knew, supposed to be conspicuous for the homing instinct, a very small change in surroundings causing them to lose their way. He could not see that Lord Avebury's experiments justified the conclusion that light and colour appeared otherwise than as light and colour to all creatures with eyes, though it seemed to be proved that other creatures were sensitive to vast ranges of vibratory movements which made no impression on any of our senses. That colour produced similar effects on the nerves of vision of other creatures might be inferred, he thought, from the effects of the red rays. Lord Avebury had found them cause intense discomfort to insects; the irritating effect of red on birds and mammals was notorious in the instances of the turkey and the bull; and red in mass had an irritating effect on the human nervous system. If the weta was deaf to musical notes, such was not the case with all stridulating insects. He had on many occasions in warm weather noticed a cicada on the wall in church perfectly quiet and silent till the organ voluntary began, when the insect would keep up his characteristic note till the music had ceased, remaining quiet till the hymns were sung, and then joining in again. Others had doubtless observed the same in regard to this little insect. Paper.—“On the Comet of 1901,” by G. V. Hudson. (Transactions, p. 31.)

Second Meeting: 6th August, 1901. Mr. G. V. Hudson, President, in the chair.

Abstract. The paper set forth minutely the details of the route to the caves, which are situated on the Makara Stream (not to be confounded, of course, with the better-known Makara near Karori), as well as careful measurements of the caves and fissures and fossil bones found therein. The locality is about sixteen miles from Martinborough, and the caves are found in what is known as the “Cliff Paddock,” a hill some 1,300 ft. high, with precipitous sides, rising from the stream. The stream itself appears to mark the route of a subterranean river. A stream issues from one of the caves, while in another place a creek plunges into a shaft and is lost to view. Moreover, after descending one of these pits, about 16 ft. deep, and winding along a narrow tunnel for some distance, the roar of an underground torrent was distinctly heard, but no access to the dark river was discovered. When the land was first occupied, some twenty years ago, the existence of the caves was unsuspected. The locality was covered by a forest so dense that, as the station-manager said, “a hawk could not have penetrated the undergrowth,” yet from the various caverns since exposed quite a cartload of moa-bones, some of large size, have been removed, and are now mostly distributed among settlers in the neighbourhood. The author gave precise and minute descriptions of eight separate caves, also of the fossil remains, stalagmites, stalactites, and other ordinary contents of such receptacles. In the vertical shafts the bones of sheep and cattle were found, as well as those of extinct birds. The moa-bones had not only been found in the form of skeletons, but lying piled at the angles and in the narrow portions of the caves, where they had been carried by water. Investigations of a gallery, which they had some hope would open into a larger chamber, has been checked by stalactite pillars 12 in. to 18 in. in circumference. Water was still oozing from the roofs of the caverns, and the solid lime was still being slowly deposited. One passage, about 3 ft. wide, the sides coated with much siliceous deposit, somewhat damaging to clothing and knuckles, was followed up for quite 100 ft., when it became too narrow to permit of further progress.

Third Meeting: 5th November, 1901. Mr. G. V. Hudson, President, in the chair. New Member.—Mr. T. L. Buick. Mr. Martin Chapman was renominated to represent the Society on the Board of the New Zealand Institute. A letter was read from the Secretary of the Canterbury Institute inviting members of the Wellington Philosophical Society to attend a garden party now being arranged to welcome the members of the British Antarctic expedition on their arrival in Lyttelton.

Mr. Hogben said that the expedition was expected about the last week of November. The Chairman regretted that the Society would not have the opportunity of welcoming the party in Wellington also.

Fourth Meeting: 11th February, 1902. Mr. G. V. Hudson, President, in the chair. New Members.—Dr. Archer Hosking, of Masterton; Messrs. A. B. Chalmers, Gerald Fitzgerald, A. E. Pearce; and William Gray, of Palmerston North. Papers.—1. “Embryology of New Zealand Lepidoptera,” by Ambrose Quail, F.E.S. (Transactions, p. 226.) 2. “On a Marine Galaxias from the Auckland Islands,” by Captain Hutton, F.R.S. (Transactions, p. 198.) 3. “On the Latent Heat of Fusion of the Elements and Compounds,” by P. W. Robertson; communicated by Professor Easterfield. (Transactions, p. 501.) Sir James Hector and Professor Easterfield spoke in high terms of the accuracy of Mr. Robertson's work, and of the great importance of his discovery. It would be known, the professor thought, as “Robertson's Law.” 4. “On the Phenomena of Variation and their Symbolic Expression,” by E. G. Brown. (Transactions, p. 520.) Sir James Hector said that Mr. Brown was doing substantial and valuable work in one of the obscure corners of scientific research. 5. “On the Horizontal Component of the Earth's Motion in Space,” by D. Hector; communicated by Sir J. Hector. (Transactions, p. 513.) 6. “Mathematical Treatment of the Problem of Production, Rent, Interest, and Wages,” by D. Hector; communicated by Sir J. Hector. (Transactions, p. 514.) 7. Notes on New Zealand Fishes,” by Sir J. Hector. (Transactions, p. 239.) 8. “The Vapour Densities of the Fatty Acids,” by P. W. Robertson; communicated by Professor Easterfield. (Transactions, p. 499.)* For discussion, see p. 570. Annual Meeting: 12th March, 1902. Mr. G. V. Hudson, President, in the chair.