containing beds of lignite. The true source of the oil is still undetermined, but is probably, as suggested by Sir James Hector in 1866, the coal-seams which are supposed to underlie Mount Egmont. Before proceeding to discuss the prospects of oil at the places just reviewed, Mr. Park briefly described the geological conditions usually attending the production of oil in other parts of the globe. Mineral oil, he said, was obtained from two sources—namely, from bituminous shales by distillation, and as a natural product from certain oil-strata. Reference was then made to the oil industry in Scotland, which continued to hold its own against the natural oils of America and Baku. Petroleum was found associated with shales (or coals) and sandstones. The former yield the oil, while the latter serve as reservoirs to collect the oil. The author then went on to consider the prospects of payable oil in the three districts already described.

Prospects on East Coast of Wellington.—He did not think the indications sufficient to warrant the assumption that payable oil would be found in this district, his reasons for this belief being as follows: (1.) That the shales contained too small a proportion of carbonaceous matter to yield oil by distillation. (2.) That the strata are too much shattered to afford the pressure necessary to condense the volatile gases.

Prospects at Poverty Bay.—The author said that, after a careful consideration of the surface-evidences, he was of the opinion that payable oil would not be found at the places where boring was at present being conducted, his reasons being the same as in the case of the east coast of Wellington. He said the Awanui shale could not be regarded as the source of the oil, as it was always at or near the surface. The dark-grey shales were no doubt the true source, but they contained only 1 or 2 per cent. of carbon, while the oil-shales of Pennsylvania contained from 10 to 20 per cent. As regards his second objection, he said the strata were too much shattered and tilted to afford the pressure to condense the volatile hydrocarbons, and to prevent leakage on the surface. Ample surface-manifestations were not considered a good indication of payable oil. He thought further explorations might discover places in the oil-belt where the geological conditions were more favourable for the accumulation of oil.

Prospects of Payable Oil in Taranaki.—With regard to the prospects here, Mr. Park said it was difficult to form an opinion, as there was some doubt as to the true source of the oil. It was probably the coal-seams underlying Mount Egmont; and this hypothesis was supported by the occurrence of fragments of the purest graphite among the débris on the flanks of Mount Egmont. This graphite was no doubt a coal or lignite altered by volcanic agencies. The bores put down at Taranaki were too shallow; and the question of payable oil could only be determined by further explorations.

Distillation of Oil-shale.—This was an important industry in Scotland, and he did not see why it should not become the same here. Professor Black had shown that the Orepuki shale is superior to the celebrated torbanite, as it yields forty-two gallons of crude oil and other valuable products to the ton of shale, against forty gallons returned by the latter. To insure the success of this industry it would be necessary to manufacture our own sulphuric acid and alkalies. In the so-called refractory sulphides on our goldfields, and the native-sulphur deposit at White Island, we had an abundance of the raw material. The production of the alkalies would follow as a natural consequence. Mr. Park said our bituminous shales were a valuable asset, which would no doubt yield large returns when the proper time came for their development.

Mr. McKay asked the writer of this paper whether he had noticed the presence of petroleum in the east coast district of Wellington: he said that, so far as described, gas-springs only seemed to occur. Mr. McKay

referred to the existence of a mineral spring on Sutherland's station on the Pahaoa River, which yielded inflammable gas, freely escaping from, the older rooks of the district, and which had not been included by Mr. Park as gas-bearing. He thought that possibly the Blairlogie gas-spring might have its source in the same rocks. He thought the author had under-estimated the so-called oil-bearing belt at Poverty Bay at four to five miles, his idea being that in some places it was not far short of twenty-five miles in breadth.

Mr. Higginson pointed out that the distillation of oil from shale had been abandoned in Scotland, owing to the flooding of the market with oil from the Black Sea ports. He did not think it would pay to distil the oil in New Zealand. From what he observed he thought the prospects at Poverty Bay appeared good. Of course, it was now a question of quantity. The raw material was now in great favour for use in all kinds of steam-engines, and very startling results had been published. It would revolutionise the manufacture of small engines.

Mr. T. W. Kirk did not think there was much chance of the hopeful anticipations regarding oil-production in New Zealand indulged in by the author ever being realised—at any rate, for a great many years. In 1886 the export from Baku alone was over 370,000,000 gallons; America, added 28,000,000 barrels of forty-two gallons each; and the supply from these places was still increasing: so that our being able to compete with the foreign article was unlikely.

Count Jouffroy d'Abbans hoped that when the Government sent the New Zealand minerals they had promised to the Paris Exhibition, they would include specimens of the New Zealand petroleum and shales, so that they might be tested by the experts who would no doubt be present to report on such products.

Mr. A. S. Paterson (advocate, Edinburgh) regretted that, having just arrived in the colony, he was not a member of the Society, but hoped he might be allowed to answer some of the difficulties referred to in the discussion. Permission having been granted, Mr. Paterson stated that, having been lately in contact with the shale enterprise in Scotland, he was in a position to assure the Society that since the opening of the Baku wells, and, still earlier, the introduction into Scotland of American natural oils, the working of shale had enormously increased. This was due to the fact that shale was no longer distilled merely for the oil it contained, but was treated by a new process for ammonia and other products previously regarded as by-products of little or no value. At Burntisland, Straition, and other places in the vicinity of the Firth of Forth, large works had sprung up, and gave large returns, in some instances 30 per cent. being earned. There had been difficulties with the workmen at Dalmeny and elsewhere, resulting in strikes of a disastrous character; but these were no indication of any loss of trade. It was a curious fact that for many years this valuable shale had been lying in strata exposed to public view in road and other cuttings in the vicinity of Edinburgh and elsewhere, but only within the last eight or ten years had its full value been discovered. He was not in a position to say that the New Zealand shale would give the same return when similarly treated; and, indeed, one specimen he had seen appeared to differ—at least, outwardly—from the best Scotch shale. He concluded by thanking those present for having heard him.

Mr. Gordon said that, with regard to Mr. Park's paper on the mineral oil in the Poverty Bay district, the author held out very little chance of success at the place where boring operations are now being carried on; but the reasons assigned did not appear sufficient to warrant this conclusion. Before we can tell definitely where petroleum is likely to be found we must understand its origin, and that is a subject on which scientists do not agree. We are pretty certain it is formed by the decomposition of

vases, globes, groups of figures, and other ornamental devices were placed along the edges of the roofs. It should be recollected that in cases where, as in the Post-office, a building is nearly all windows and openings, the iron rods and bands used to tie brickwork together cannot possibly run continuously in the external walls. On the whole, an inspection of the brick and stone buildings in the town of Wellington leads the lay mind rather to the impression that architects—at least, up to the present—have laid less stress upon safety from earthquakes than on their ideas of artistic effect. The matter of chimneys interested not only the dwellers in brick houses, but also those in wooden houses. Past experience of earthquakes clearly set forth that, as wooden houses swing at different intervals from those of their brick chimneys, if these last are in contact with the timbers of the house they are very liable to be simply knocked down. Yet probably there was not one house in a thousand in Wellington where the chimney was not built closely touching the woodwork of the roof. In conclusion, Mr. Maskell said that in the face of past history scientific pundits might demonstrate quite to their own satisfaction that a destructive shake is not at all likely to occur in New Zealand, just as some people can show to a moral certainty that the world will come to an end in some particular year. Still, it did seem not quite satisfactory that the by-laws of the Wellington Corporation should contain no kind of provision against earthquakes, and that a glance at the buildings in our streets should show that the points mentioned by high authority as desirable should not have been taken into consideration.

Mr. A. McKay, Assistant Geologist, in discussing the paper, said that Wellington was more concerned in the recent shocks in the Amuri district than most people supposed. He referred to the late earthquakes as in some way connected with the great lines of fault that run parallel with the Kaikoura Mountains, and thought that further movements along some of them may have been the cause of the late disturbance. He mentioned that the principal fault-line was prolonged across Cook Strait into the North Island, and in the South Island extended to the south-west far beyond the boundaries of the Amuri district. It was not certain that our city might not be visited next, for most surely we stood on the same fracture-line, and it was only a question of place whether we had the violence of a shock at one time, and there was a lighter one in the South, or vice versâ. The line of fracture passed from Tinakori Road to the mouth of Happy Valley, was next seen across the Strait at Lake Grassmere, on the Flaxbourne Estate, where it was traced for about sixty miles, to the Hanmer district. It passed within one and a half miles of the residence of Mr. Low, which suffered so seriously in the late convulsion, and at no great distance from Mr. Rutherford's station. The downthrow in the Kaikoura district was not less than 10,000ft., but between Karori and the city it was only 500ft. All this displacement had taken place in comparatively modern times, geologically speaking—perhaps within 500,000 years—and the movement was certainly not likely to cease for a considerable period—perhaps another 500,000 years.

Mr. T. W. Kirk said that the best thanks of the Society were due to Mr. Maskell for having drawn attention to this subject. If the city had really the slightest claim to the title sometimes given it by persons from other parts of the colony—viz., the “city of wind and earthquakes”—then the paper should possess special interest for the citizens, and he was surprised there was not a much larger attendance: the absence of architects was particularly noticeable. The author stated that there had not been, for more than thirty years, until the present month, any earthquakes in New Zealand of sufficient violence to do damage to property. He would like to ask Mr. Maskell if he did not think the earthquakes “which accompanied the Tarawera, eruption of sufficient violence. He thought it would have been as well if the candidates for seats at the City Council had been present, for after Mr. Maskell's paper

was made public they would most likely be asked to give their opinions on the architecture of Wellington. It seemed to him that a great deal more was made of the elevation of Te Aro flat than was necessary. Old residents had told him that the flat was originally a swamp, impassable except in a few places, and separated from the harbour by a bar; and that one winter there was an unusual accumulation of water in the swamp, with the result that it swept the bar away. From that time the flat ceased to be a swamp of any great extent, and subsequently drainage arrangements were carried out. The earthquake no doubt assisted in the alteration, but he thought it was the accident of the carrying-away of the bar that had most to do with rendering Te Aro flat available for building purposes.

Mr. H. P. Higginson thought that most of the defects in architecture pointed out by Mr. Maskell were the faults of the property-owners rather than of the architects. They insisted upon having structures of a certain class, and getting as much show as possible for their money. The immunity of Wellington from damage was probably due to the fact that the brickwork put up here was of a more substantial character than that in most other parts of the colony, particularly strong cement being used. Where the effects of earthquakes were felt most severely they were generally due in the main to bad workmanship.

Mr. Natusch (architect) said that, since reference had been made to the absence of architects, perhaps he might be permitted, although not a member of the Society, to say a few words upon the subject. Permission having been given, he said that when he arrived here some two years ago he naturally made it a point to ascertain what special provisions were made against earthquakes. He was astonished to find none; and, moreover, in course of conversation with Wellington men they said, “We have plenty of shocks—mere tremors; but there has not been a severe shock since 1855, when Te Aro was raised;” and it seemed to be generally taken for granted that serious earthquakes need not be anticipated. However, this hardly seemed reasonable to him; and, after considering the subject, he came to the conclusion that no more effectual “earthquake-proof” building could be devised than on the principle of framing. That is to say: Erect the frame of the building with wood, or with light T or angle-iron if preferred, very much in the same way as wooden houses are now erected; but on the outside of the framing secure thin slabs of concrete, with joints somewhat similar to those of rusticated boarding. Thus, in the event of a severe shock, the framing itself would sway more or less as the frames of wooden buildings do, and the slabs, having loose although weatertight joints, would also move with the frame. And he ventured to say that, except with a very severe shock (such a shock as would demolish the town), no damage would be done, and even if any of the slabs should be broken or cracked, they could be unscrewed and replaced with new at a trifling expense. Two or three people to whom he mentioned this were aghast at the idea of ugly buildings being put up with slabs of concrete. At first sight such an idea was quite pardonable even to the average architect or builder. But, in reality, architectural effects in any style, from the simple and pleasing Gothic to the most elaborate Roman or Grecian designs, might be produced. So much for the exterior. The interior could be finished with thinner slabs of the same material for walls, and the ceilings could be either plastered in the ordinary way, or formed with the patent steel webbing and plaster, which, in the event of a severe shock of earthquake, might when old hang down as old scrim does, but would not fall, as the ordinary plastered ceilings would do under similar circumstances. It would be seen, therefore, that buildings might easily be made to all intents and purposes “earthquake-proof.” The fears of the City Council as to the advisability of permitting the use of wood framings should give way before the fact that fire could not possibly touch the wood, because it would be encased

with the non-inflammable concrete on both sides. Well, it had been said, “But surely such a method of construction would be precluded by the expense.” But no; for one of the great beauties of this method was that it was more economical than building with brick or stone or solid concrete. His only objection to the method was the weight of the concrete. Happily this objection had been overcome in a highly satisfactory manner by Mr. Donaldson. A friend of Mr. Lascelles, the patentee of the system of building with concrete slabs in England—adopted, by the way, principally upon the score of economy, earthquakes not being usual in England—Mr. Donaldson, upon arriving here, set to work to improve upon Lascelles's system of manufacturing the concrete. By using pumice-sand with the best Portland cement, a concrete is produced which is of a much better natural colour, and, what is of greater importance, much lighter in weight than those made in the ordinary way. According to the proportion of cement used different degrees of hardness can be obtained, from that equal to Oamaru stone to granite. Thus, then, no obstacle so far as material, method of construction, and expense would stand in the way of this method for erecting both earthquake- and fire-proof buildings being adopted. What obstacle remained, then? Really none. But, as Mr. Higginson pointed out, architects are very much handicapped. In the first place, the City Council's by-laws merely provide against fire, by compelling the use of brick and stone, or solid concrete walls erected an the ordinary way, in the business quarters of the town; and he considered that the Council should be asked to permit the method of building in the manner pointed out. In the second place, those intending to build, were afraid to go out of the beaten track, and architects were afraid to push home to their clients any such vital changes.

Mr. Donaldson also asked permission to speak, and said the problem of building houses sufficiently fire-proof, wind-proof, damp-proof, and earthquake-proof requires very careful consideration. In the first place, heavy materials such as stone and brick are more easily overturned than wooden, structures, because if thrown slightly out of the perpendicular by an earthquake-shock their weight tends directly to bring them down, whereas a wooden structure with a properly-joined framework would bear a very considerable oscillation without any great effect being produced. But the objections to wooden buildings are,—

The question therefore naturally arises: Can houses be erected with the tensile strength of a wooden framework, with a light yet strong material for the walls, proof against earthquake-shocks, as near as possible fire-proof, at the same time to exclude damp and wind, and offer great resistance to wear and tear? The method of construction used in iron-ship building answers all these requirements; but to build houses of thick plates of iron fastened on an iron framework would be very expensive, and the iron plates, being rapid conductors of heat and cold, would make such houses very uncomfortable. With a view to meet the requirements of the case, he had patented a concrete slab, made of a mixture of strong cement, pumice-sand, and sometimes gas-coke. This meets all the requirements. Samples of this material he exhibited. It has the following advantages:—

Mr. C. T. Richardson pointed out that the old hospital, whice was now removed, was built somewhat after the plan advocated by Mr. Donaldson—namely, with what was called brick “nogging,” a kind of framework built in with brick. Upon the fact being brought before the City Council they had provided that any one could build in the city after the same style.

Mr. Natusch: That only applies to No. 2 Building District, not to No. 1.

Mr. Brandon said that the City Councillors were not all architeets or builders, and they had to frame their by-laws in a negative form. Of the two great dangers which they had to face, fire seemed more imminent than earthquakes, so they prohibited the erection of wooden buildings in the more populous parts of the city. They did not consider that it was necessary to detail the several points to be observed in the construction of buildings, so they left that part to the owners and architects. If the Council had endeavoured to frame by-laws to guide people in erecting structures warranted to resist earthquakes they would probably have laid themselves open to a great deal more criticism than they are now subjected to. As to the Post-office and Government Printing-office, the Government did not consider themselves bound in any way by the City by-laws, and would have gone on in their own sweet way in spite of the most earthquake-resisting regulations. Mr. Kirk had thrown some doubt on the raising of the ground at Te Aro on the occasion of the earthquake of 1855; but he believed he was right in saying that on the eastern coast of the province the beach was undoubtedly raised some 12ft., enabling settlers to ride round the coast where they had formerly been obliged to climb over hills, while Te Aro flat was elevated 4ft. or 5ft. In conclusion, he could only regret that, according to Mr. McKay's account, we had still 9,500ft. to slip down.

The President was sorry that there were not more persons present who were acquainted with the technical part of the subject. Of course, his only knowledge of the subject was that of an ordinary layman. As to the elevation of Te Aro, it would be excessively uncomfortable for the residents if they had to go down again, even 4ft., and there was nothing that he knew of to show that the land would not go down in the next earthquake in the same way as it rose thirty-three years ago. He was very glad that last week's shake occurred at Amuri: if it had happened in Wellington it would have knocked down about half the buildings in the city. Professor Hutton had consoled the people of Christchurch with the assurance that the centre of the late shakes was so distant as to

it was his bounden duty to those who had employed him to vindicate the faith he had in the stability of brick buildings, and to show as far as he could those gentlemen, as well as others, that their confidence in the foundations of our city was not misplaced; and also to prove that modern science had in architecture acquired sufficient knowledge of construction to be able to erect buildings capable of withstanding earthquakes even of a severer nature than they were ever likely to experience here. The subject was an important one, as, without sufficient confidence in the lasting stability of the buildings, those who made our cities would never attempt to erect any of a permanent character. Thus the progress of architecture would be checked, and the best index of our civilisation impaired. From this point of view the subject was not only an important but an interesting one. As Mr. Maskell had quoted Professor Milne, of Japan, as probably the best living authority, which from the tenor of his paper he (Mr. Maskell) evidently believed, Mr. Turnbull said he would refer to portions of the Professor's work on the effect of earthquakes on buildings, for the purpose of showing that he was not as infallible as Mr. Maskell would have them believe. When he (Mr. Turnbull) had read several chapters in that book he had come to the conclusion that the Professor, with all his talent, knew little or nothing of architectural construction, as he used words and phrases that were unknown in practice; and nowhere did he give any specific information as to the mode of construction, or the qualities of the material used in the buildings injured, but contented himself with stating whether of brick or stone, and often not so much. He then quoted the Professor's works at some length, and endeavoured to show that he was not so much an authority as Mr. Maskell would have them believe he was. He referred especially to one statement made by the Professor, “that a civil engineer, writing about the New Zealand earthquake of 1855, when all the brick buildings in Wellington were overthrown, says that it was most violent on the sides of the hill, and least so in the centre of the plains.” The Professor had quoted this from the report of the British Association of 1858. Now, they all knew this sweeping assertion to be wide of the truth; and they might well ask, What about the rest of the Professor's quotations? Seeing this assertion had been made from such a source, and repeated in such a book as the Professor's, he had made inquiries concerning the earthquakes of much-abused Wellington; and he mentioned Messrs. T. McKenzie and J. Plimmer in particular. There had only been three earthquakes of any consequence since 1840—namely, in 1840, 1848, and 1855. The earthquake of 1848 was of a much more severe character than the one in 1840, and many of the brick buildings in the city were shattered. Mr. Fitzherbert's free and bonded store in Farish Street collapsed, but was subsequently restored by Mr. Plimmer without taking off a slate. The front wall of the Colonial Hospital, in Pipitea Street, was partly thrown out. A new brick building on Mount Cook had to be stopped in consequence of the shake. Hickson's store, which was also damaged, is still standing at the corner of Old Custom-house and Cornhill Streets. The Wesley Church, in Manners Street, was also thrown down. These were all the brick buildings injured. It was worthy of note that no wooden buildings were injured. The brick buildings were built then of a mortar composed of shell-lime and clay from Barrett's Point, which with age was reduced to a powder. Old intelligent pioneers assured him that, if the buildings had been constructed then as they are now, little or no damage would have been done. A sensational report of this earthquake was drawn up by Mr. Eyre, Lieutenant-Governor, which had a most alarming effect, and greatly retarded colonisation for a long time. With respect to the shook of 1855, he had been assured that no brick buildings were totally wrecked, though some few were injured—in fact, buildings erected before that time were standing yet. Since Mr. Maskell had read his paper the author had visited them, and found them

in good order, and answering the purposes for which they were erected. As to the question whether it was possible to erect brick buildings in New Zealand, and in Wellington in particular, capable of resisting earthquakes even of a severer nature than any they had hitherto experienced, he said he had no hesitation in saying that it was, and that buildings of such a character were erected. As Mr. Maskell had referred to several of the buildings erected under his (Mr. Turnbull's) care, he desired to say something respecting them. Concerning Messrs. W. and G. Turnbull's building on the reclaimed land, he stated that he had suggested floating foundations, as they were not costly, had stood the earthquakes well in San Francisco, and the filled-in earthwork between the rock below and the foundations of the building would act as a cushion, and deaden the stroke of an earthquake should one occur. This foundation consisted of cross-planking and a double row of beams all bolted together. The motive for this system of foundation was that when a shake occurred the heavy beams and planking would carry the superstructure along with the oscillations of the earthquake. When this building was in course of erection an earthquake occurred. This was at a time when our Solons were in session; and many of them rushed down to the reclaimed land expecting to see the buildings in ruins, and he supposed they were somewhat disgusted to see the mechanics at work as if nothing had happened, so little knowledge had they of the strength and tenacity of brick buildings. He mentioned this to show that even the siftings of the New Zealand population had little faith at that time in the stability of brick structures in Wellington. He entered into the question of cements, and the most suitable, in his opinion, to be used here, recommending “béton aggloméré.” Referring to the qualities of New Zealand timbers, he said they had little or no fibre, and broke short without warning. Some of the varieties were never seasoned, and the most useful and best shrunk the end-way, to the disgust of the architect and builder. Mr. Maskell said that the National Mutual Association buildings had a heavy cornice to their projections, and that the arches did not curve into the abutments. He said the same of the Post-office. Now, in each of those buildings the cornices projected just 6in. less than, according to the best authorities, they should do in order to produce true architectural beauty. He noted this to show that he had erred on Mr. Maskell's side—if error it was. In his opinion, however, the line of 6in. more could have been touched with perfect safety, as the roof behind was infinitely more than a counterbalancing weight, as was shown by the naked walls of the Post-office having stood for the last eighteen months without floor or roof, and after being exposed to extreme heat. So far as the arches were concerned, they all curved to the abutments, for the reason that there was nowhere else to butt them to. For the safety of the building now he could not answer; but before it was destroyed by fire he would have stood in any part of it during the severest shakes he had felt here or on the west coast of America, and have had perfect confidence in his safety. He denied Mr. Maskell's assertion that buildings were not put up in Wellington to resist earthquakes. Here, as elsewhere, money entered largely into the qualities of a building; and, speaking personally, he used to the utmost every precaution that the money at his disposal would allow him, and he was sure that his contemporaries would do the same for their own sakes; therefore it was neither just nor fair to an honourable profession to make such an assertion—not even by a gentleman who confessed that he knew nothing about it. He agreed with Mr. Maskell that the Corporation by-laws ought to be more explicit. There was not one word about the quality of the brick or of the mortar, or how they were to be laid together, and other important matters. Clearly, their City Fathers had paid more attention to the fire-insurance agents than to earthquake-agitation. He thought it was time that the city should have a Building Inspector who

knew something about building-construction. He suggested that on the reclaimed land floating foundations should be used as a protection against earthquakes. The bricks should be hard and square, and well wetted, and the mortar should be composed of what is called “béton aggloméré” in France. Hoop-iron should be built in the walls at short heights, and the buildings girt with bond-irons instead of wall-plates. The joists should be a fifth of their depth in thickness, and supplied with wrought-iron anchors. Mr. Maskell had told them that he had taken opportunities of looking at some of the brick buildings in the city, and had found that the greater part of the theories of Professor Milne had been neglected. He hoped that he (Mr. Maskell) would now admit that in these visits his looking was only superficial, that he only saw regular openings one over the other, instead of scattered ones, that the arches were not curved into the abutments, and that there were some projections which did not please him. He hoped that, after having heard the foregoing general description of the construction of the buildings under consideration, Mr. Maskell would see that the wrought-iron built within the walls, and the iron-bound connection that the floor and roof had with the walls, formed such a tower of strength as even Professor Milne never dreamt of. All his (Milne's) theories were mostly on the face, and no part of the framework. This system had been followed in the building he (Mr. Maskell) had criticized. It was a mode of construction that had proved eminently efficient in San Francisco and along that coast, and was in use with the architects there, a body of gentlemen represented by every nation in Europe, as well as America, and who had begun the study of earthquake-proof construction long years before the name of John Milne was known to the scientific world, who were still continuing the study, and on this subject were, in his opinion, the best authorities on the face of the earth. In conclusion, he hoped there was nothing in Mr. Maskell's paper or Professor Milne's book that would eliminate the faith they had in their adopted country, and that they would continue to hope that they would experience no more severe tremors of the earth in the future than they had in the past.

Mr. Donaldson asked the author whether the wooden buildings stood the shakes experienced in 1848 and 1855 better than those of brick or stone.

The President regretted that Mr. Turnbull had made the question a personal one. He (Mr. Maskell) had carefully avoided that; and his only object in presenting the paper was to draw public attention to an important matter. He did not desire to defend Professor Milne, who could stand up for himself; but if he was allowed he would differ from Mr. Turnbull's opinion of that gentleman. As far as his (Mr. Maskell's) reading went—and it was not that of a few days—no name stood so high as that of Professor Milne upon such matters. He combated Mr. Turnbull's arguments at some length, and pointed out that the effects and results of earthquakes were incomprehensible. Earthquakes seemed to knock buildings down or leave them alone just as they liked. A number of buildings on one side of a street might be knocked down, while others on the opposite side would be uninjured. He considered that Mr. Turnbull had given up the whole question—just as an architect who had written to a newspaper in reply to his (Mr. Maskell's) paper had done—by expressing the opinion that we were not likely to again experience destructive earthquakes. Those who thought that were perfectly welcome to their opinions. He did not believe that destructive earthquakes might not at any time occur in New Zealand; and he explained that the whole of his paper was based on the supposition that what had happened before would probably happen again. He quoted some notes on the shock of 1848, written by Mr. W. Fitzherbert, who stated that “the earth in some parts was moved in waves averaging about 12in. in height.” He would like to know how their brick buildings would fare under those

imported bird. He thought the author was quite justified in his conclusion that the weka was largely concerned in the decrease of the pheasant.

Mr. McKay would merely remark that in the Bay of Islands district, where there were no wekas, plenty of dogs, and hawks were very rare, the pheasant had almost disappeared, although once plentiful.

The President said there appeared, as he had contended on a former occasion, to be some kind of law by which birds or beasts introduced from other countries became exceedingly numerous for a time and then died away. An important question raised now was, whether such birds or beasts must not be preserved more strictly if they are intended to increase, instead of following the usual New Zealand principle of letting a thing “slide” after you had once obtained it.

2. “On the Takahe (Notonis mantelli) in West Otago,” by J. Park, F.G.S. (Transactions, p. 226.)

The Hon. Mr. Mantell said that the western shores of Lake Te Anau were known to the primeval Maoris as “The Land of the Takahe.” This bird was plentiful there in 1851, but the natives set a high value upon it, and were unwilling to procure specimens for Europeans.

Mr. McKay said that it was true, as described by Mr. Park, that the supposed bird was hunted by torchlight two successive nights at the camp on Cascade Creek, and several hours each night were devoted to this purpose; but the bird was never seen. For the first time he now became aware that the bird had been seen by Mr. Park. At the time, he (Mr. McKay) was under the impression that all three supposed it to be the moa, and such it was suggested it might be by both Dr. Hector and Dr. Buller at the first meeting of the Society after the return of the expedition.

In reply to Mr. McKay, Mr. Park said he could not be mistaken, as he had taken notes of the occurrences at the time. At Cascade Creek Mr. McKay devoted very little time to hunting the strange bird, only assisting for a few minutes at the decoy-fire on the evening of the 22nd January. He did not join the camp at the Forks until the beginning of February, and was absent when the incidents narrated took place. In arriving at the conclusion that the strange bird was the Notornis Mr. Park said he was largely guided by the opinion of Mr. Buchanan, who was an accomplished naturalist. Some time after this Dr. Hector suggested it might be the Aptornis.

3. “The Knowledge of Cattle among the Ancient Polynesians,” by E. Tregear, F.R.G.S. (Transactions, p. 447.)

Mr. Coleman Phillips, whilst congratulating Mr. Tregear upon the research which his paper displayed, took exception to its heading. He had attended this meeting of the Society especially to hear what Mr. Tregear had to say upon “The Knowledge of Cattle among the Ancient Polynesians.” That was the heading of the paper. What he had heard was really very little else than a philological paper. Mr. Tregear's paper was actually a following of the root “ak” (from “yak,” the cow of the Oxus people, the generally-accepted early home of the Aryan race) through the different languages of the earth. In his opinion the paper this evening should have been so called. It was scarcely fair, either to the subject or to Mr. Tregear himself—the able author of the paper—to name it otherwise. A considerable amount of doubt was expressed concerning all Mr. Tregear's philological investigations, owing to the fact that he endeavoured to confine them strictly to New Zealand or Polynesia. In Polynesia. Mr. Phillips knew almost for a certainty that the present race of people there knew nothing whatever about cattle. He remembered in 1872 taking a ride of about twelve miles along the eastern

coast of Viti Levu, in Fiji, upon the first horse sent down to a plantation there in which, he was then interested. The marvel of the natives, who had never seen a horse, and their screams of astonishment as he cantered past the villages, were most amusing. The missionaries had told them of a bull and of a cow. Some of them may have seen these animals. But he only knew that the children ran screaming away, with the cry of “Bullumakau! Bullumakau!” They joined the names of bull and cow together, and so dubbed the horse. This fairly showed the state of knowledge of the present race of Polynesia upon the subject of cattle. As to the ancient race, Mr. Phillips pointed out that the languages of the present Polynesian might not have been used at all by the ancient race—that race of stone-builders which left behind the cyclopean remains still existing in the Carolines, the gigantic images of stone men still seen in Easter Island, the monoliths and trinoliths of Tonga, the remains of aqueducts in New Caledonia, &c. The present race of Polynesians knew positively nothing about these ancient stone-builders. Mr. Tregear's use of the word “ancient” was therefore scarcely warranted. He quite recognised the value of Mr. Tregear's work, and encouraged him to proceed in it; but he would prefer Mr. Tregear to treat it as a linguistic study.

In answer to Mr. Phillips, Mr. Tregear said he had little to say to Mr. Phillips's argument. As to the Polynesians being a stone-building people, although in Hawaii they had temples of stone, &c., yet in New Zealand there had never been one stone put on another in prehistoric times—a proof that before the separation they had not been a stone-using people. As to Mr. Phillips being qualified to speak about ancient Polynesians because he had spent some time in Fiji, Fiji was inhabited by a Melanesian people of different origin from that of the Maori, and Fiji was not a Polynesian island at all.

4. “On the Ancient Moa-hunters at Waingongoro,” by Colonel McDonnell; communicated by J. Park. (Transactions, p. 438.)

The President said that this was a question that had caused a great deal of argument. Sir Julius von Haast, Mr. Colenso, and others had taken one side (arguing that the moa was extinct before the Maoris came to New Zealand); while Mr. Mantell, Sir James Hector, and others had taken the other. He expressed surprise that Mr. Colenso should found a theory on the circumstance that there were no traditions or legends to prove otherwise, and questioned whether these traditions were of any value at all. Certainly he thought the testimony of a man who had actually seen and eaten the moa was worth ten thousand legends and traditions.

Mr. Tregear said that, although not prepared that night to speak on this question at length, a paper of his on “The Maori and the Moa” had been read before the Anthropological Society of London in May this year, and to prepare for this he had read up every available authority. His conclusions were that the Maori had never seen the moa; that his knowledge of the subject (if he had any knowledge) was traditional, and gathered from some older race inhabiting the islands when the Maori arrived, and absorbed by him. The negative evidence was very strong; the absence of any distinct notice of the huge birds in hunting-legends, and in descriptions of food-supplies, was very noticeable. The moa spoken of in the vague and fragmentary allusions to be found might have been any bird, large or small. In reply to Mr. Maskell, he would state that the comparison of native legends to worthless fairy-tales was unfortunate, because some of the most valuable evidence of the remote lives of our ancestors was being gathered together by comparative mythologists from fairy-tales, and it had been found that even nursery rhymes had

rageous,” “polygamous,” &c.; and, as many of these compound words were also used by Maoris, it is probable that they had no reference whatever to the Dinornis.; certainly the Tongan, Tahitian, Samoan, &c., words did not apply to the Dinornis. Nor did the scanty allusions in New Zealand song and proverb ever mention any attribute (such as huge size, &c.) of the bird—it might have been any bird. He believed that the pictures and descriptions of the bird sent (as reconstructed by Professor Owen) to every Maori tribe had been fitted to old traditions of a lost bird. Certainly it was monstrous that, when every effort had been made to get reliable evidence thirty years ago, a story should now be brought forward asserting that Kawaua Paipai (who only died four years ago) and his tribe hunted the moa in droves at Rangatapu. He (Mr. Tregear) had interviewed that day a number of old Maoris—one a centenarian—who had known Kawaua Paipai all their lives, and who had lived in Taranaki Province; and they laughed to scorn the idea of moas being “battued” on the Waimate Plains and they not having heard of such an occurrence. It was much easier to tell an untruth than to hunt moas in modern days.

Sir James Hector was astonished at this fruitless discussion being revived. Mr. Tregear had not gone back far enough in our “Transactions,” or he would have found Mr. Colenso's reports of earlier date than 1878 referred to. In 1840 Mr. Colenso relates that he himself had gone out with a party of natives expecting to capture a live moa. He would also have found the reference to Polack's account of the large struthious bird called the “moa,” gathered from native tradition long before any bones had been described. The manner in which the moa-bones were found associated with remains of human occupation throughout New Zealand afforded clear evidence that these huge birds had been eaten and exterminated by a race that could not be distinguished by any habits of life from the Maoris of a few years ago. The determination of the epoch of the first appearance and the date of the final disappearance of the moa was more a question for a geologist than a philologist. The paucity of reference to the moa and its true nature in the early collected vocabularies was due to the circumstance that those who questioned the Maoris had no conception of the existence of such an extraordinary bird, while to the Maoris it was such common information that they never thought of mentioning it. Bishop Hadfield had explained this to him. But there were many allusions and traditions that referred to the moa. Certainly it was more rational to hold that the word “moa,” as used by the Maoris, referred to the large birds that were so abundant than to a domestic fowl, of the existence of which in New Zealand until of late years there was not a scrap of evidence. He would remind the Society that in 1876, in this room, he had exhibited a feather with an after-plume, exactly agreeing with the feathers found on the moa's neck at Clyde, in Otago, and which feather he had taken off an ancient taiaha in the British Museum collection. As to direct evidence, he could only say that the great chief Rewi told him that his grandfather had killed moas.

Mr. Higginson said that he had seen in the York Museum the moa's neck and skin referred to, and its state of preservation did not give the impression that it was of very ancient date. The last recorded occurrence of the dodo in Mauritius was in 1680, and yet few or none of its bones were found until he himself collected some in 1865; and until this latter date the existence of the dodo was almost doubted.

Mr. McKay said that Mr. Tregear had in effect said that the Maoris had no knowledge whatever of the moa. It must, however, be admitted that, in as far as the tools and implements of the moa-hunters could be put in evidence, they proved distinctly that the moa-hunter was identical with the Maori. The excavations in Moa-bone Cave, Sumner, showed this clearly. The antiquity of any particular deposit might or

mere trickle along the invert of the sewer. This state of things resulted in the accumulation of deposit, owing to the velocity being insufficient. The outfall-main being under pressure, any leak is easily detected, and quite as easily repaired, owing to its being laid but little below the surface of the ground. The cost of applying the system to Wellington had purposely not been dealt with in the paper, as sufficient data from which to frame a reliable detail-estimate were not available. It might, however, be stated that, from such information as could be gathered from Mr. Clark's published report and other sources, and allowing for the reticulation of the whole forty-two miles of streets with properly-constructed sewers, laid on a concrete bed, provided with man-holes, lamp-holes, automatic flush-tanks, also for the whole of the necessary machinery, cast-iron mains, &c., the cost would not exceed £80,000, or 32s. per head for the 50,000 persons provided for; while the cost of Mr. Clark's scheme amounted to £145,000, or 41s. 5d. per head for the 70,000 persons provided for.

In reply to Mr. Hughes, Mr. Higginson agreed that to a certain extent the “separate” system necessitated duplicate sewers, but considered that over a large area of the suburbs it was possible to carry off the rainfall by the side-channels and short lengths of pipes into the nearest natural watercourses. In many cases the watercourses had been converted into sewers, but it was now proposed to re-convert them to their original use. It should also be remembered that the existing drains and sewers would be devoted to this purpose entirely, and that for the sewage a complete system of independent sewers is provided for in the estimate quoted. It would be impossible for sewer-gas to become generated between the dwellings and the ejectors, provided the sewers were laid to self-cleansing gradients. The area served by each ejector would contain no sewers more than 20 or 30 chains in length, so that, with a velocity given to the sewage of but 2ft, per second, only from 11 to 16 minutes would elapse before it had passed from the dwelling into the ejector, and become a thing of the past. It would therefore be seen that, unless a defect and stoppage existed in the sewers, there would not be time for gas to become generated. The system had been in constant use in Southampton and Warrington since 1884, where the officers in charge expressed to the author, when visiting the works, their entire approval. The town of Eastbourne was also drained upon this system in 1884, and, in a report published for the German Embassy by the Chairman of the Drainage Committee, that gentleman stated that they “have every reason to be satisfied with the works already executed on this system.” A Select Committee of the House of Commons adopted the system in 1886 for the drainage of the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, where it had completely remedied the evils that previously existed.

In reply to Mr. Richardson, the author of the paper hoped that before long the system would be adopted on a small scale for the drainage of Pitone, when it would be possible to see the ejectors in action. As explained in the paper, the system could be adapted to suit the present requirements of a town, increasing the number of ejector-stations and main outfall-pipes so soon as the increased population warranted the expenditure.

In reply to the President, Mr. Higginson stated that he regretted he had omitted to mention that the air made use of in the ejectors was compressed by an ordinary air-compressing machine, driven by any suitable power available, and placed in the locality best adapted to meet the requirements of the particular case. This compressed air was conveyed by a line of small pipes to the different ejector-stations. It is usual to have only one compressing-station, the loss by friction in a long length of pipes being insignificant. In the proposed scheme for Wellington, the air-compressing station would be at the Corporation Yards, where either steam- or water-power would be available.