Wellington Philosophical Society.

3. “Notes on Ferns,” by H. C. Field. (Transactions, p. 377.)

4. “A Revision of the Species of the Formicidæ (Ants) of New Zealand,” by Professor D. A. Forel, of Chigny—près Morges, Switzerland; communicated by Mr. A. Hamilton. (Transactions, p. 353.)

Mr. Cuthbert Freyberg gave an account of the variations of the barometer in Wellington during the few days immediately preceding the meeting. He exhibited the barograph tracings taken at the Colonial Museum during that period, and called attention to the peculiarities of the curves registered, the weather having been much disturbed throughout the time represented by the tracings.

Third Meeting: 6th July, 1904.
Professor Easterfield, President, in the chair.

New Member.—Mr. Thomas Hunter.

The President informed the meeting, with much regret, that news had been received of the death of Mr. Robert McLachlan, F.L.S., one of the most distinguished honorary members of the New Zealand Institute.

Mr. G. V. Hudson said that the late Mr. McLachlan (who was elected an honorary member of the New Zealand Institute in 1874) was one of the greatest authorities in the world on the Neuroptera, and had done invaluable work in classifying the New Zealand species. His death was a very great loss to science, and would be widely deplored by entomologists and others.

Papers.—1. “On Macro - lepidoptera observed during the Summer of 1903–4, including a Note on the Occurrence of a Hawk-moth new to New Zealand,” by G. V. Hudson, F.E.S. (Transactions, p. 358.)

2. “Notes on the Occurrence of some Rare Species of Lepidoptera,” by A. P. Buller, F.E.S. (Transactions, p. 331.)

These two papers were discussed together. The President said that it was interesting to find that two collectors, working independently of one another, had each, within the same short period of time, observed so very rare a description of moth as the one referred to in the title of Mr. Hudson's paper.

Mr. A. P. Buller then exhibited a collection of butterflies made by Mr. Ward, naturalist to Sir Henry Stanley's expedition in search of Emm Pasha.

The thanks of the meeting were conveyed to Mr. Buller for his interesting exhibit.

3. “The Distillation of the Fatty Acids for the Manufacture of Candles,” by P. W. Robertson, B.A. (senior scholar), F.C.S. (Transactions, p. 568.)

The Chairman congratulated Mr. Robertson on his researches, which had resulted in his bringing to light several matters, apparently not known before, in connection with the distillation of stearine.

Fourth Meeting: 3rd August, 1904.
Professor Easterfield, President, in the chair.

New Member.—Mrs. Ponsonby.

Papers.—1. “On Storm-routes in New Zealand,”^* by R. A. Edwin, Retired Commander R.N. (Transactions, p. 555.)

2. “The Early History of the Morioris,” by A. Shand (of the Chatham Islands); communicated by Professor H. B. Kirk. (Transactions, p. 144.)

This paper was read by Mr. E. Tregear. Mr. Tregear, in the course of some introductory remarks, pointed out that Mr. Shand was the sole repository of the knowledge of a lost race—the Morioris—therefore anything that he had to say upon the subject possessed a unique value.

The hour being late, the discussion of Mr. Shand's paper was deferred until the following meeting.

It was resolved that a letter should be sent to Mr. Shand thanking him for his valuable contribution.

Fifth Meeting: 7th September, 1904.
Professor Easterfield, President, in the chair.

New Member.—Mr. E. R. Dymock.

Auditor.—Mr. E. R. Dymock was elected Auditor to the Society for the current year.

Mr. Earp Thomas exhibited a tube of bromide of barium and bromide of radium which he had obtained from Madame Curie in February, 1901.

Mr. H. N. McLeod exhibited a spinthariscope.

On the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Mr. R. Coupland Harding, it was resolved, “That the Right Hon. the Premier of New Zealand be respectfully urged to make provision as soon as possible for having copies taken of the valuable manuscripts relating to the Polynesian race which were presented to the Cape library by the late Sir George Grey.”

Captain Gilbert Mair, at the request of the Chairman, read a list of some of the more important of these manuscripts, and pointed out their extreme interest and their value to New Zealand. It was decided that a copy of this list should be sent to the Right Hon. the Premier along with the resolution.

Mr. A. Shand's paper on “The Early History of the Morioris” (read at the previous meeting) was then discussed.

Captain Gilbert Mair explained how native traditions had been handed down, with the minutest details, for eight or nine hundred years. He read a narrative illustrating this.

At the invitation of the President, Captain Mair also read an abstract of a paper compiled in 1852 by a number of the oldest of the Morioris then living, dealing with the genealogy, early history, &c., of their people. (Transactions, p. 156.)

In the discussion which followed, Captain Mair mentioned that originally the Morioris were quite a distinct race from the Maoris, but that they appeared subseqently to have intermingled with the Maoris and formed with them a mixed race, introducing into their own language a proportion of Maori words. Some of the Morioris were of opinion that their ancestors had come from the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. There was no doubt that the Morioris were a most inoffensive race—they actually attacked the first Maori invaders of their territory with flax-stalks! At the present time (1904) there were only six pure Morioris surviving; in 1903 there were eight. He urged that immediate steps should be taken to secure photographs of the small remnant left.

Captain Mair exhibited a skull of a Moriori slave who was killed in 1839 or 1840.

Mr. A. H. Cockayne exhibited a photograph of a Chatham Island native, taken by Dr. Cockayne, of Christchurch.

Mr. H. H. Travers called attention to a paper read by him before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury in 1865 (“On the Chatham Islands”: Transactions, vol. i., pp. 119–127) embodying information which he had obtained, during a personal visit to the Chatham Islands in 1864, from the same source as that drawn upon by Mr. Shand.

Papers.—1. “Revision of the New Zealand Species of the Genus Potamopyrgus, with a Description of a New Species,” by Henry Suter; communicated by Mr. A. Hamilton. (Transactions, p. 258.)

2. “Report on the Mollusca collected by Messrs. Keith Lucas and G. L. Hodgkin in Six Lakes of New Zealand,” by Henry Suter; communicated by Mr. A. Hamilton. (Transactions, p. 233.)

Popular Lecture: 5th October, 1904.

A lecture on “The Art Workmanship of the Maori People” was delivered by Mr. A. Hamilton, Director of the Colonial Museum, Wellington, on Wednesday, the 5th October.

The President, Professor Easterfield, occupied the chair.

The lecture (which was illustrated by a series of specially prepared lantern - slides) was open to the public. It was listened to by a very large audience.

A hearty vote of thanks, moved by Mr. Tregear and seconded by Mr. Justice Chapman, was accorded to Mr. Hamilton by acclamation.