New Zealand Institute.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 37, 1904, Unnumbered Page

New Zealand Institute. Thirty-Sixth Annual Report. In November, 1903, the New Zealand Institute was reconstituted by the passing of “The New Zealand Institute Act, 1903,” and the following is the report of the Institute for the past twelve months. The Act of 1903 has completely changed the constitution of the Institute, for whereas formerly the various incorporated societies had the power merely of nominating members, of which three were elected by the Board of Governors, now the various societies elect twelve out of a total of eighteen. This practically places the management of the Institute in the hands of the various incorporated societies. Another change is to make every member of the incorporated societies a member of the Institute. This will bring every member in closer touch with the Institute. Only one meeting of the old Board was held since the last annual report was printed—viz., the 23rd November, 1903. The first meeting of the new Board was held on the 21st and 22nd January, 1904, in the Museum, Wellington, and was attended by thirteen members. Captain Hutton, F.R.S., was elected President; Mr. J. W. Joynt, M.A., Treasurer; Mr. T. H. Gill, M.A., LL.B., Secretary; Mr. A. Hamilton, Editor of the Transactions and Librarian. The following vote of thanks was placed on record for the eminent services rendered to the Institute and the cause of science by Sir James Hector, F.R.S.: “That the Board of the New Zealand Institute expresses its regret at the retirement of Sir James Hector from the active management of its affairs, and begs to place on record its high appreciation of the eminent services rendered by him to the Institute and to the cause of science.” The members now on the roll are—Honorary members, 28; Auckland Institute, 147; Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, 53; Wellington Philosophical Society, 152; Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 85; Otago Institute, 111; Nelson Institute, 19; Westland Institute, 63: making a total of 646. The volumes of Transactions now on hand are—Vol I. (second edition), 325; Vol. V., 41; Vol. VI., 32; Vol. VII., 154; Vol. IX., 226; Vol. X., 147; Vol. XI., 402; Vol. XII., 315; Vol. XIII., 152; Vol. XIV., 117; Vol. XV., 290;

Vol. XVI., 280; Vol. XVII., 541; Vol. XVIII., 319; Vol. XIX., 565; Vol. XX., 463; Vol. XXI., 466; Vol. XXII., 572; Vol. XXIII., 581; Vol. XXIV., 682; Vol. XXV., 638; Vol. XXVI., 626; Vol. XXVII., 618; Vol. XXVIII., 702; Vol. XXIX., 605; Vol. XXX., 699; Vol. XXXI., 710; Vol. XXXII., 533; Vol. XXXIII., 626; Vol. XXXIV., 579; Vol. XXXV, 541. These are now stored in the Parliamentary Buildings. The volume just published (XXXVI.) contains fifty articles, also addresses and abstracts which appear in the Proceedings. It consists of 568 pages and forty-four plates. The following is a comparison of the contents of Vol. XXXVI. with those of Vol. XXXV. 1903. Pages. 1902. Pages. Miscellaneous 129 305 Zoology 90 77 Botany 169 64 Geology 108 16 Chemistry and physics 11 77 Proceedings 23 29 Appendix 38 55 — — 568 623 The whole of the work was done at the Government Printing Office. By an Order in Council of the 29th August, 1904, copies of which were sent to all the incorporated societies of the New Zealand Institute, the property of the New Zealand Institute, previously vested in the Board of Governors under the Act of 1867, is vested in the Board of Governors under the New Zealand Institute Act of 1903. The schedule of property so transferred consists, inter alia, of £2,247 9s. 5d., being residue of the bequest of the late Charles Rooking Carter for the purpose of establishing an astronomical observatory. Acting under instructions of the last meeting of the Board of Governors, the Colonial Secretary was communicated with on the 30th January, 1904, asking for railway passes to members of the Board when attending meetings of the New Zealand Institute, and a reply was received on the 8th March that the Colonial Secretary was not prepared to grant free railway passes to members of the Board of Governors, nor to defray the cost of their steamer-fares when attending meetings of the Institute. The matter will come up for consideration, as Mr: Hill, of Napier, has given notice of motion dealing with this matter. A number of applications-for interchange of Proceedings

have been received from other scientific societies. It might be advisable to set up a committee similar to the Library Committee set up at the last meeting, by whom these applications could be considered and dealt with. This would be better than leaving them until the next annual meeting. The balance - sheet shows receipts to the amount of £537 6s. 8d. (including Government grant of £500). The sale of “Maori Art” accounts for the balance. The disbursements total £537 7s. 11d., the largest item of which is printing the Institute's Transactions, £350 16s. 3d. Statement of the Receipts and Payments of the New Zealand Institute for the Year ended 31st December, 1904 Receipts. £ s. d. Balance from 1903 418 3 0 Sale of “Maori Art”— 418 3 0 Per S. and W. Mackay 7 5 2 " Champtaloup and Cooper 6 13 6 " Quaritch (London) 19 4 0 Sold direct 4 4 0 Government grant 500 0 0 — — — £955 9 8 — — — Expenditure. Salaries— £ s. d. Editor 50 0 0 Secretary 25 0 0 Acting-Secretary 11 17 6 Librarian 20 0 0 Printing Transactions, Vol. XXXVI. 350 16 3 Wages and work in library 49 0 0 Compiler of the slips for the International Science Catalogue of Scientific Literature* See report of International Council, appended. 10 0 0 Cartage 4 14 6 Steel die for stamp 2 0 0 Repairs 1 15 3 Stationery, typewriting, and petty charges 12 4 5 Balance in bank 418 1 9 — — — £955 9 8 — — — Audited and found correct. Wm. Beauchamp Platts. Wellington, 16th January, 1905.