New Zealand Institute.

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

New Zealand Institute.

Museum. There have been 120 entries in the books as additions to the Museum since last report, a list of which will be published in due course. The whole of the cases in the Museum have been cleaned and revarnished, and several important changes were made in the exhibits prior to the arrival of the Royal visitors, who inspected the collection. These changes afforded more space for the display of the specimens, and the large leading tickets were all renewed. Library.—The books in the library have been classified and arranged so that they can be referred to without difficulty with the assistance of the new catalogue published last year. Meterological. The returns of the principal stations for 1900 have been supplied as usual to the Registrar-General to be included in his annual statistics, and the monthly rainfall returns from 176 stations have been regularly published in the Gazette. The monthly return for vital statistics has been supplied, and the weather exchange, by telegraph, is continued between this colony and Australia.

Colonial Time-ball Observatory. Mr. Thomas King, the officer in charge, reports as follows: “The transit work in connection with the daily-time service has proceeded as usual. Details of the observations are appended hereto, together with particulars of the rates of the standard clocks. The clocks have gone well throughout the year. The transit instrument has, of course, been frequently tested for adjustment. As in past years, hourly galvanometer signals have been sent from the Observatory to the Colonial Museum, and to the Telegraph-office, Wellington; and time has been distributed throughout the colony each morning at 9 o'clock. On chronometer-rating days special signals have, as heretofore, been telegraphed to the chief ports of the colony for the convenience of navigators. The time-ball at Wellington has been dropped each day at noon (Sundays excepted). James Hector, Manager. Approved.—Thomas Mason, Chairman.—6th September, 1901.