Field, member of Parliament for Otaki, accompanied Mr. Aston to Mount Hector from the Kaitoke end, and came out at Otaki. I wished him to have a look at the Kaitoke end with a view to our co-operating with him in his efforts to cut a good track from the Otaki side, for which purpose a sum has been voted by the Government. I believe that the Lands Department has now agreed to undertake the expenditure of this £50 on the track from the Otaki Gorge through the bush at that end up to the clear land on Mount Denham. There is also a bridge being placed across the creek at that end. I hope that during the present season we shall be able to complete arrangements for working on our end of the track in the way of clearing the present track, so that horses may be taken up with provisions or materials for erecting a permanent hut. There are also some small difficulties about the approach to the track which I hope will be got over shortly, and I think that this year the Society might vote a small sum towards the expense of clearing the approaches. In my last address I suggested that we should endeavour to have a permanent hut erected on Ruapehu and another on the Tararuas. Since then I visited Ruapehu from Rangitaua, and I am of the opinion that there is no necessity for us to take the initiative in building a hut on that side of the mountain: the people in the locality have taken the matter up with so much vigour that in a short time I think every necessary facility will be provided for. At present there is very little difficulty in riding to within a short distance of the summit. This leaves us-to devote our energies to co-operating with those who are working on the Tararua tracks from the Otaki side, and also with those who are working with a similar track from Masterton and the Wairarapa. It therefore appears that next summer we may be able to say that the Tararua Range is open to the study of naturalists to a better degree than it has ever been.

The results of the small amount of collecting on the Quoin and the adjacent parts show that there is a vast amount of material of a most interesting character ready to our hand. The collectors who have been there have been well rewarded in obtaining new species of insects and new records for many Lepidoptera. The alpine insects are so very local that as each fresh region of the alpine country is examined we may expect fresh discoveries and additions to our fauna and flora.

In one of Mr. Aston's papers which will appear in the forthcoming volume of the Transactions there is a useful map, unfortunately on a small scale, prepared by the Lands Department, showing the tracks upon the different spurs.

Mountain Observatories.—Before leaving this subject I may say that I should like to see later on a small observatory built on Mount Hector at which self-recording instruments could be installed for the purpose of making records during the winter-time, mainly of the rainfall and barometric pressure. The amount of alpine rainfall is not sufficiently estimated in this country, as a rule. Owing to the destruction of the bush on the lower grounds which retarded the descent of the water from the higher portions of the watersheds, the rainfall now descends very rapidly, and in consequence is liable to injure the valuable land on the flat, to say nothing of the culverts, bridges, roads, &c. I saw a suggestion the other day that observations of this kind should be taken on Mount Egmont, as there were facilities for doing so at the present time at the mountain houses. This should certainly be arranged, and observations taken at the head-waters of all the larger streams with a view to getting a better understanding of the water-power which will be valuable for industrial purposes when the question of the harnessing of rivers for electrical purposes is in a more practical position. This question of an accurate knowledge of the condition and amount of rainfall over given areas is perhaps even more important to those in manufacturing localities than a knowledge of the local weather is to the agriculturists and others who are concerned in the ripening and preservation of their crops. If electrical energy is provided for industrial purposes by water-power, we must have the knowledge of the probable rainfall, as well as the means of conserving and properly distributing the supply of water for the energy required.

Comet.—Perhaps I may be permitted to make one or two remarks on the subject of the comet, about which you will hear more this evening, which may interest, and which I think are hardly likely to be made by any of the gentlemen who are speaking on this subject. This brilliant visitor, known as Halley's Comet, is generally regarded as one which has made many brilliant visits at various dates, and the visit of 1066 is recorded in the Saxon chronicle in the following terms: “There was seen over all England such a sign in the heavens as no man ever before saw. Some men said that it was the star Cometa, which some men called the haired star; and it first appeared on the eve of Litania major, the viii th of the Kal. of May [24th April], and so shone all the seven nights.” This was regarded after the event as William's lucky star.

“Ordericus Vitalis” (Book v, chap. ix) contains the following lines in reference to this comet :—

History's ancient annals fix
The year one thousand sixty-six:
Then a fiery comet whirled,
Dreadful omen, round the world,
As the time when England's lord
Fell before the Norman's sword.

—Forester.

Henry of Huntingdon, in concluding his account of William the Conqueror's reign, writes,—

What though, like Caesar, nature failed
To give thy brow its fairest grace!
Thy bright career a comet hailed,
And with its lustre wreathes thy face.

—Forester.

On one of the first coins struck by William I there appears a star, and authorities consider it possible that this star was a representation of the visit of this comet, and was adopted as a distinguishing mark for that issue of the coinage.

Chatham Islands.—I still hope that we may be able to organize an expedition for the purpose of studying the natural history of the Chatham Islands. At the time when I first brought this before you we were unable to get the co-operation of the other scientists in New Zealand, mainly because they were engaged in working up the material which they had accumulated in the visit to the Auckland and Campbell Islands; and you will no doubt have seen the two volumes which have been issued by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury containing an account of the expedition and the scientific results. We must all join in the congratulations which have been offered to the editor, authors, and printer on the satisfactory result of their labours. I hope it will not be long before we shall have a volume of the same character on the Chatham Islands.

Library.—And now a few words with regard to a matter which requires attention in the affairs of the Society itself. We have in this room a very considerable number of books, and we subscribe as a Society to about twenty periodicals, and I think we should take steps to make provision for the proper binding of the numbers as soon as the year is complete. I think we have not expended any money in this direction for some considerable time. A year or two ago I was fortunate enough to get some binding done by the Government in the library in general, and possibly some of these periodicals may have been bound at that time; but it would be better if there were some general instructions to the effect that a certain amount of money should be expended on binding in each year. You may recollect that last year I drew your attention to a scheme which I had under discussion for the purpose of making the libraries of the branch Institutes available to students. There has been a good deal of correspondence on the matter, and there are some points still to be decided upon; but one of the main objects of the scheme has been attained, and it is now possible for any member of this Society to borrow from any of the other libraries, if they happen to possess it, any book that is not in this library that may be required by the member for the purpose of scientific research. This arrangement is, of course, subject to certain restrictions which are absolutely necessary, and which no reasonable person would dream of objecting to. The other main point which has not yet been settled is the question of a joint card catalogue. This entails preparation by an expert, and should be as far as possible uniform. The question of the cost has not yet been settled, and I am trying to find the cheapest and best way out of the difficulty. This catalogue should be compiled on the same basis by all libraries, and, although this may appear to be a simple matter, it has its difficulties. It is only, however, when this catalogue is satisfactorily made that we can proceed to consider the question of how far we can effect economies in the purchase of books. This is not, apparently, a burning question at the present time, as I find that the expenditure on books is not very great, the average number of new volumes added being small. I am more than ever convinced of the necessity for some united action, and more particularly with regard to scientific journals. I am frequently asked for the loan of volumes containing papers of importance in the leading periodicals; but in many cases we do not possess a complete set. This is to be regretted, as, though the libraries housed in this room have had exceptional opportunities during the last forty years, members have been unable to utilize their privileges to the best advantage, there being no regularly trained librarian, the care of the books having to be undertaken by the Museum officials. It is time that this was brought to an end if the library is to fulfil its functions properly.