8s. 10d. for the thirty-seventh volume in 1904. It was not until 1916 that the cost rose to £1 for each page. The greatest cost was in 1920, when it rose to £2 2s. The cost for the last volume was greater than for that which preceded it, and amounted to £1 14s. 6d. It has often been suggested that the expense of printing could be reduced if the work were entrusted to a private firm. Hitherto the Governors have always taken the view that, even if the apparent cost were less, the extra labour, of the Editor, and the cost of reading, revision, and corrections, would be so great as to overwhelm the apparent benefit. The only other way in which the cost could be reduced is apparently by a reduction of the size of the volume. Such a suggestion, when viewed in the light of the interests of scientific research in New Zealand and of the intrinsic importance of the researches themselves, is to my mind unthinkable. You are aware that the Publication Committee exercises a considerable amount of discretion in regard to the material sent up from affiliated Societies and Institutes for publication, and it would be unwise, in my opinion, to be more stringent than at present in the selection of papers. At the present juncture I think that it is not out of place to refer to the prominent, and in fact dominant, part that the New Zealand Institute has taken for fifty-six years in fostering the development of scientific activity and thought in the interest of the whole Dominion. It has placed the result of the researches in New Zealand before the world at large, to the great advantage of the country from material as well as scientific aspects. It is well known that when a worker in the domain of science in any part of the world wishes to obtain information in regard to any bearing of his research on New Zealand he turns at once to the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. It is safe to say that thousands of scientific inquireis in many countries have obtained all their knowledge of New Zealand and of its scientific interests from the pages of our volumes. A series of our Transactions is to be found on the shelves of important scientific libraries everywhere, and this fact more than any other has given our country a recognized place in the world of study and knowledge. Scientific workers in New Zealand are placed in a position of considerable disadvantage. There is always a great deal of difficulty here in obtaining access to the records of scientific research and progress elsewhere, and without these a person who undertakes research is often groping blindfold. Here again our Institute is of valuable assistance, for in our library are to be found series of scientific journals of great variety which are received in exchange for our own publications from learned societies in nearly all countries. In many cases the results of scientific research in New Zealand would be almost nugatory without the assistance obtained from this library. Maintenance of our annual volume up to its present standard is necessary in order that we may continue to obtain these exchanges which are essential for research work. Another necessity for the aspiring and energetic man of science is an organ in which his work may be published and circulated. Here the New Zealand Institute has achieved its most noteworthy claim to recognition on the part of all patriotic citizens. There are many scientific men in this country whose reputation is world-wide in their own specialty, but whose work would have remained unknown, or would have been stunted if it had ever found expression without the opportunities that the Institute has afforded.