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Volume 40, 1907
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Annual Meeting: 24th February, 1908.
Mr. E. V. Miller, President, in the chair.

The annual report and audited financial statement was read and adopted.

Abstract of Annual Report.

During the year seventeen new members have been elected, and fourteen names withdrawn from the roll, leaving a net gain of six. The total number on the roll is now 176. Among the members removed by death were Mr. T. H. Smith, who served for some years on the Council, and who was well known as a leading authority on the language, manners, and customs of the Maori race; and Mr. W. Will, late editor of the Weekly News.

Eulogistic reference was made in the report to the great services rendered to science, and especially to the New Zealand Institute, by the late Sir James Hector.

The balance-sheet showed a total revenue of £1,805 18s. 3d., exclusive of a balance in hand at the commencement of the year of £84 4s. 3d. This includes a Government subsidy of £660 on the amount raised by subscription for the erection of the Maori house and the purchase of Mr. Fenton's

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pataka, and also an item of £112 10s., balance of the Mackechnie bequest for the purchase of groups of animals. Deducting these sums, the ordinary revenue was £1,033 8s. 3d., and of this the receipts from the Museum endowment amounted to £419 13s. 2d. The invested funds of the Costley bequest yielded £355 12s.; interest on the Mackechnie library bequest, £96 10s.; and the annual subscriptions, £147. The total expenditure has been £1,236 2s. 4d., including £158 1s. 3d., balance of cost of the erection of the Maori house, and £139 18s. 3d. on account of the groups of animals for the Museum. The credit balance in the Bank of New Zealand is, therefore, £654 0s. 2d. The total amount of the invested funds of the Institute is £16,308 4s. 3d.

Ten meetings were held during the year, at which the following papers were read:—

1.

Introductory address by the President, Mr. E. V. Miller.
2.

“The Passing of the Maori,” by the Rev. Archdeacon Walsh.
3.

“Science and Metaphysics,” by Dr. R. Briffault.
4.

“On the Vegetation of Mount Hector, Tararua Range,” by D. Petrie.
5.

“Description of a New Species of Veronica,” by D. Petrie.
6.

“Botanical Nomenclature,” by T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S.
7.

“Translation of Dumont D'Urville's Account of his Visit to Tasman Bay,” by S. Percy Smith.
8.

“The Composition of the Sun,” by F. P. Worley, M.A.
9.

“The Disposal of City Sewage,” by W. E. Bush, C.E.
10.

“The Struggle for Foreign Trade,” by Professor H. A. Segar.
11.

“Maori Forest Lore,” by Elsdon Best.
12.

“Contributions to a Fuller Knowledge of the New Zealand Flora,” by T. F. Cheeseman.
13.

“The Canoe that brought the Maoris to New Zealand; or, a Glimpse of Polynesia in the Past,” by K. Watkins.
14.

“Additions to the New Zealand Fauna,” by the Rev. W. H. Webster.
15.

“Notes on the Destruction of Kumaras by Beetles,” by Major T. Broun.
16.

“On a Fungus (Cordyceps sp.) destructive to Scale Insects,” by Major T. Broun.
17.

“Notice of the Occurrence of certain Marine Reptilia in New Zealand,” by T. F. Cheeseman.
18.

“Notice of the Occurrence of the Lesser Frigate-bird in New Zealand,” by T. F. Cheeseman.

The attendance of the public at the Museum for the past year is estimated at 68,055, as against 62,551 for the previous year. After defraying the balance due for the erection of the Maori house, a sum of £500 remained for expenditure in the Museum, and of this amount about £400 is being spent in providing a properly equipped workroom. Provision is also being made for the exhibition of the collection of foreign (mainly Polynesian) ethnographical specimens. The Hon. E. Mitchelson has deposited his valuable collection of kauri-gum, probably the most complete ever formed, and likely to possess still greater interest when the trade in kauri-gum has become a memory of the past.

Election of Officers for 1908.—President—E. V. Miller; Vice-Presidents—Professor F. D. Brown, M.A., and Professor A. P. W. Thomas, M.A.; Council—L. J. Bagnall, H. Haines, H. D. M. Haszard, J. Kirker, T. Peacock, D. Petrie, J. A. Pond, J. Reid, Professor H. W. Segar, M.A., J. Stewart, C.E., J. H. Upton; Trustees—Professor F. D. Brown, M.A., T. Peacock, J. Reid, J. Stewart, C.E., J. H. Upton; Secretary and Curator—T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S., F.Z.S.; Auditor—W. Gorrie.

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