It was resolved that a special meeting should be devoted to the consideration of the new code of rules prepared by the sub-committee.

The Secretary was directed to communicate with the Government, suggesting the advisability of planting the seeds of the native grasses now in the hands of the Government Gardener, for the purpose of arriving at some decision as to their value.

1. Dr. Haast read a paper upon the Geology of Mount Cook and its neighbourhood. (See Geological Survey Reports.)

Dr. Haast also read a letter from Mr. E. P. Seeley, describing that gentleman's ascent over the Godley glacier, to a nevé saddle between Mount Petermann and the Keith-Johnston range.

Dr. Haast read a printed paper by Professor Agassiz, containing observations on deep-sea dredging in the bed of the Gulf Stream.

The Rev. C. Fraser gave an account of some of the principal points brought out in Dr. W. B. Carpenter's paper, read before the Royal Society of London, on the deep-sea dredging along the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, and in the Bay of Biscay. It appeared that 127 species of shells were found, new to the British seas, and several not known before. In some places the temperature at the bottom of the sea varied very considerably within the distance of a few miles; so that shells of a purely arctic character were found not far from others of a temperate or warm zone. Sir Charles Lyell had declared the facts of Dr. Carpenter's paper to be almost revolutionary in geology.