Carter Observatory Board. The report of the two representatives on the Carter Observatory Board (Dr. M. A. F. Barnett and Mr. C. G. G. Berry) was on the motion of Mr. Callaghan, seconded by Dr. Focken, adopted. Carter Observatory Board—Report of Representatives. Ten meetings of the Carter Observatory Board were held during the year, at which routine business was conducted. Increases in the grants from the Government and the Wellington City Council of £500 and £250 respectively now bring the annual income of the Board up to a little over £2,000. This enabled the Board to advertise for an observatory assistant, and Mr. K. D. Adams, of Dunedin, was appointed. The staff now consists of a director, an assistant. and a clerical assistant. Instruments, buildings and grounds have been maintained in good order. Ventilation of the outer walls appears to have reduced the general dampness which previously existed in the building. Public attendances at the Observatory have continued to be good and there is no evidence of general public interest decreasing. Research work at the Observatory, as in previous years, has been concentrated primarily on solar observations. As a result of correlations with radio propagation phenomena, the Director has been issuing forecasts of disturbances in reception conditions to the Post and Telegraph and National Broadcasting Departments. This work is still in the developmental stage, but results to date show good promise. Work on co-ordination of auroral observations has been continued. M. A. F. Barnett C. G. G. Berry 6th May, 1948,Representatives on Carter Observatory Board. Research Grantees. On the motion of Dr. Archey, the reports of the research grantees were adopted. Report of Research Grantees. Misses E. J. Batham and B. T. Brewin, who were granted £15 in 1944 for research on the plankton and coastal rock fauna at Portobello Marine Biological Station, reported on 10th April, 1948, that for the time being the research at Portobello is completed and the work is being carried on within University departments, so that no more funds from the grant will be required. The unexpended portion of the grant amounts to £3 9s 10d. Dr. L. H. Briggs, who in 1943 and 1945 was granted an amount of £96 3s 2d for research on essential oils of New Zealand plants and for the purchase of a hydrophil balance, reported on the 4th May that the research for which the balance had been obtained has now been completed. He states that Professor Llewellyn, of the Chemistry Department in the Auckland University College, is willing to purchase the instrument for teaching purposes at the undergraduate level at the cost price, and he asks permission to transfer the balance accordingly and use the purchase money towards further equipment and chemicals for use in research on plant products. Dr. Briggs reports that new compounds have been isolated and work on their constitution is in progress. In collaboration with other institutions the physiological properties of a number are being examined. Some show promise as antibiotics in general and one compound specifically against the tubercle bacillus; some are being tested as anti-cancer compounds, while others may have an effect on the blood capillaries. The following work has been published and reference made to the assistance given by the Royal Society of New Zealand: (1) Liverside Research Lectures— “Plant Products of New Zealand,” Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S. Wales, 1946, vol. 80 (L. H. Briggs); (2) “The Occurrence of Isophyllocladene in the Essential Oil of Araucaria excelsa,” Jour. Soc. Chem. Ind., 1947, vol. 66 (L. H. Briggs and W. I. Taylor); (3) “The Essential Oils of Dacrydium Kirkii,” Jour. Org. Chem., 1947, vol. 12 (L. H. Briggs and W. I. Taylor); (4) “A Terpene-type Essential Oil from a Fern (Paesia scaberula),” Nature, 1947, vol. 160 (L. H. Briggs and M. D. Sutherland); (5) “The Essential Oil of Phyllocladus trichomanoides,” Jour. Org. Chem., 1948, vol. 13 (L. H. Briggs and M. D. Sutherland). Five more papers on various aspects of the plant products of New Zealand have also been submitted for publication.