statistics 46, the last in 1918; philosophy 23, the last in 1908; literature 10, but only one since 1911. Engineering topics made their best showing in the first three lustra, when 49 of the 61 papers were published, the last appearing in 1917. Some 28 papers defy classification except as “miscellaneous,” but since 1908 only two come under this head. Roughly grouping the different subjects we get the following totals for the successive decades:— 1st Decade 2nd Decade 3rd Decade 4th Decade 5th Decade 6th Decade 7th Decade Total Natural History 455 521 509 402 411 418 280 2996 Physics and Chemistry 88 56 59 47 45 45 16 356 Pure and Applied Mathematics 43 18 6 23 17 0 0 107 Humanistic Studies 55 58 74 79 21 24 3 314 Miscellaneous 5 1 6 14 2 0 0 28 Totals 646 649 656 568 496 487 299 3801 The average number of papers per volume for these groups in different periods is: Natural History—1869 to 1898, 50; 1899 to 1929, 40; 1930 to 1944, under 30. Physical and Chemical Subjects—1869 to 1883, 9; 1884 to 1929, 5; 1930 to 1944, under 2. Pure and Applied Mathematics—1869 to 1883, 4; 1844 to 1918, 1; 1919 onwards, a trace. Humanistic Studies—1869 to 1903, 7; 1904 to 1924, 4; 1925 onwards, a trace. The average number of papers per volume for all subjects is for the period 1869 to 1883, 67; for 1884 to 1898, 64; for 1899 to 1913, 54; for 1914 to 1929, 49; for 1930 to 1944, 30. I have not attempted to analyse the relative length of papers in the successive volumes; long and short papers occur throughout, but the trend seems clear for long rather than short papers to be offered for publication. In sum, there have been 3899 papers contributed by over 800 authors. In interpreting these figures we have to remember the changes that have been made in format, and especially that various other avenues of publication have opened up since the Transactions began; for example, the Journal of the Polynesian Society in 1892, the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture in 1910, and the Journal of Science and Technology in 1918. Further, there have been increasing facilities for publishing in overseas journals. Cost of publication has increased, and available funds have not increased in proportion. By the Royal Society of New Zealand Act in 1933, the New Zealand Institute was abolished and there was constituted a “Body for the Promotion of Science, to be known as the Royal Society of New Zealand.” Art, literature, and philosophy were no longer our concern. Indeed, the Act of 1903 mentions only science as coming under