Mr. Thomson moved, and Mr. Speight seconded, That this meeting respectfully requests the Government to give effect to the recommendations 1–4, inclusive, of the report of the Museum and Scientific Departments Committee of the House of Representatives, presented to the House 10th September, 1912, with the exception of the words in paragraph 3, “the ‘Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute.’” —Carried.

It was proposed by Professor P. Marshall, seconded by Mr. Hesse, That paragraphs 5–10, inclusive, of the report of the Museum and Scientific Departments Committee, with the substitution of the words “the library of the Board of Governors” in place of the word “that,” in the second line of paragraph 7, be adopted, except that in paragraph 8, line 4, after the word “President,” and before the words “of the New Zealand Institue,” there be inserted the words “and two representatives.”—Carried.

Mr. Thomson read letters from the Prime Minister (dated 23rd December, 1912) saying that the matter of the proposed Scientific Board of Advice would be considered by Cabinet at an early date; and from the Hon. the Minister of Internal Affairs (24th January, 1913) stating that the preparation of a Bill making provision for the conduct and control of the Dominion Museum, and separately for the control of the scientific publications published under authority in New Zealand, was contemplated.

Fishes of New Zealand.—With reference to the proposed catalogue of fishes, Mr. Thomson reported that on the 4th August, 1912, he asked the following question in the House of Representatives:—

Mr. G. M. Thomson asked the Minister of Marine, Whether he will take the requisite steps to have a full and illustrated catalogue of the fishes of New Zealand prepared and printed? (Note — The knowledge of this important group of the fauna of New Zealand is in a very imperfect and scattered condition, while the Dominion possesses in Mr. Waite, Curator of the Canterbury Museum, the most competent ichthyologist in the Southern Hemisphere.)

The Hon. Mr. Fisher, replied: Mr. E. Waite, Curator of the Museum at Christchurch, who accompanied the trawler “Nora Niven” when that vessel was carrying out experimental trawling for the Marine Department, prepared drawings of New Zealand fish, which were published in book form, the cost of publication, amounting to £195 5s. 6d., being paid by the Department. The preparation and publication of a full and illustrated catalogue of the fishes of New Zealand would cost between £600 and £700. Such a catalogue would be valuable, but in view of the fact that a considerable sum of money is being expended in the introduction into the Dominion of food fishes, and that the money available for fishery purposes is limited, it is suggested that the preparation and publication of a catalogue is a matter that might stand over for the present.

Mr. Thomson stated that he would bring up the matter again in the House next session.

Finances of the Institute.—Mr. Thomson reported that an additional £450 was promised by Mr. Allen, Minister of Finance, but only £250 had been voted. He moved, That this meeting respectfully recommends to the Government that section 10 of the New Zealand Institute Act be amended in the direction of omitting the words “five hundred pounds,” with the object of substituting the words “seven hundred and fifty pounds.”

Mr. Speight seconded the motion, which was carried.

The Hon. H. D. Bell here stated that some remission of the Government Printer's account against the Institute might yet be made.

The Hon. the Minister later addressed the meeting as follows: With regard to the increase of the grant, he had no doubt that would be dealt with next session of Parliament, So far as his memory went, it was not necessary to limit the allowance for last year to £250, because there was a sum due to the Government that might be the subject of further representations. The matter of immediate exigencies of finance, however, could, he thought, be disposed of to the satisfaction of the Board and the Government. The control of the Museum was distinct from the construction of the building and the establishment of the Museum in a suitable home. The Government was in unison with the Governors of the Institute and the Committee of Parliament, and he did not doubt that a measure would be introduced next session that would be satisfactory to the Institute. He was not satisfied, personally, with the Board of Control proposed by the Committee of the House. There could be no doubt that the Scientific Board of Advice for Government publications would be attended to. Numbers of matters would require the consideration of all Departments of State in order that a satisfactory decision might be arrived at. The size of the volume at present published by the Institute might not suit all Government Departments. He hoped that an agreement between the Departments might be arrived at. He should like to ask the Judges of the Supreme Court to elect one of their number to sit on the Scientific Board of Advice, and also on the Board of Control of the Museum. He was now collecting information with a view to having a measure drafted to put before the House next session.

President's Address.—The President then delivered his annual address. (See page 420.)

Incorporated Societies' Reports.—The report for the last financial year of each Society was laid on the table.

Standing Committee's Report.—The following annual report of the Standing Committee was received:—

Four meetings have been held during the past year, the attendance being as follows: Mr. Cheeseman, 2; Mr. Ewen, 3; Mr. Petrie, 1; Mr. Young, 3; Mr. G. M. Thomson, 2; Mr. Hamilton, 3; Professor Kirk, 3; Mr. Chapman, 1.

Hector Memorial Award.—The presentation of the award to Dr. Cockayne was made at the celebration of the Jubilee of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, on the 30th August, 1912. A supply of ten medals has been received from Messrs. Wyon, and one, suitably inscribed, has been forwarded to the first recipient of the prize.

Award for 1913.—The Committee of Award — Professors Orme-Masson, F. D. Brown, Evans, and Mr. G. M. Thomson, M.P. (convener)—have forwarded their recommendation in a sealed envelope, to be opened at the annual meeting on the 29th January, 1914. The Hector Memorial Declaration of Trust has been duly executed by the Institute and the Public Trustee, and deposited with the latter.

Hutton Memorial Fund.—The last award was made in 1911, and, unless under exceptional circumstances, the medal may not be awarded oftener than once in every three years. The next award may therefore be made in 1914, the Committee appointed to recommend a recipient being Professors David and Benham and Mr. Maiden. No applications for grants from the fund have been received during the year.

Dr. Chilton reports that, following on his former report of the expenditure of a grant from the fund, he has had several additional drawings prepared, some of which have been used in papers already published; that he has been working out some Antarctic Amphipoda, and, as a result, has been able to clear up several points in regard to New Zealand species.

Publications of the Institute.—Copies of Vol. 44 of the Transactions for 1911 were laid on the tables of both Houses of Assembly on the 2nd July, 1912. The volume was posted to every member of the Institute entitled to it during the week ending 10th July, 1912. The Secretaries of incorporated Societies of the Institute are requested to see that the full postal addresses of members are supplied to the Secretary. The Institute cannot be expected to supply additional volumes of Transactions when the originals have been lost owing to faulty or incomplete addresses supplied.

Proceedings: At the last annual meeting it was resolved that the publication of the Proceedings should be discontinued in the event of the Government declining to increase the statutory grant. The receipt by the Institute of an additional grant for the year has necessitated that the matter shall be further considered Mr. Hamilton has given notice to move, “That the publication of the Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute be continued in the annual volume, and not published separately, and the Editor be requested to severely edit the publication.”

Finance. — The efforts of the Standing Committee, which have been ably seconded by Messrs. G. M. Thomson and A. Myers, Ms.P., to obtain an increase in the annual grant derived from the Government have been at last successful; an additional £250 was placed upon the supplementary estimates this year, and that sum has now been received by the Institute. It has been found impossible, in the present unsatisfactory condition of the library, to determine what books are owned by the Institute and what by the Museum and Wellington Philosophical Society. It is hence not possible to prepare a complete statement of assets. Any estimate of the value of the assets would, moreover, be of such a vague nature as to be practically valueless. A statement of liabilities will, however, be prepared in addition to the usual statement of receipts and expenditure.

The attention of the Standing Committee has been called by the Treasurer to the excessive cost of some papers in the Transactions. It was resolved, That after 1913 the Publication Committee submit to the Board of Governors at the annual meeting an estimate from the Government Printer of the cost of publishing each paper selected for the annual volume.

British Association Australasian Meeting, 1914.—The Institute's Committee was not reappointed at the last annual meeting, but the British Association Reception Committee, on which the Institute is well represented, is carrying on the work of organizing a visit to New Zealand by some of the British Association members at the Australasian meeting, as well as by a number of Canadian and American men of science. The meeting in New Zealand will, it is anticipated, be held in September, 1914.

Exchange List.—The Committee was not reappointed at the last annual meeting of the Board, but the Standing Committee has carried out the recommendations of the late Committee (Messrs. Hamilton and Easterfield), as follows: Sixty recipients of the Institute's Transactions on the B revised list of the Committee's report have been circularized, and informed that the Institute could not continue to send the annual volumes unless something was received in exchange. Of these sixty, some twenty have replied, and after discussion the Standing Committee adopted, with some alterations, the Librarian's recommendations, the result being that some forty-five names will be removed from the list of those who now receive the volume.

Formulation of Rules and Regulations.—The Committee was not reappointed at the last annual meeting of the Board. It was not found possible to carry out the wish of the Board to gazette the new seal of the Institute.

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Hector Memorial Award.—Mr. G. M. Thomson, convener of the Award Committee, reported that it was the unanimous opinion of the Committee that the award of the Hector Medal for 1913 should be to Professor Easterfield, of Victoria College, Wellington, for his distinguished work in chemical research, especially in connection with New Zealand products.

He said this work had a direct as well as an indirect bearing on the scientific knowledge, the health, and the prosperity of the community. He read a letter from Professor Evans, expressing the opinion that the original intention of the Trust was to make the award for work done in New Zealand, whether it had a bearing upon New Zealand or not. Professor Orme-Masson agreed with this.

The recommendation of the Hector Award Committee was adopted.

Hector Deed of Trust.—It was proposed by Dr. Cockayne, seconded by the Hon. H. D. Bell, That the opinion of counsel be obtained as to—(1) Whether the deed of trust, which is drawn in contravention of the report of the Hector Memorial Committee, advocated by the Board of Governors, can be altered so as to accord therewith; (2) if not, whether the deed or the resolution of the Board of Governors prevails as defining the objects of the award.—Carried.

Publication Committee Report.—The following annual report of the Publication Committee was received:—

The Publication Committee begs to submit the following report for the year:—

Fifty-five papers were forwarded for consideration; of these, forty were printed in the Transactions, eight were printed in the Proceedings along with abstracts of three others, two were held over, and two others were definitely declined. The authors of some of the papers were requested to shorten them considerably, and this was done without any serious detraction from their merit.

A long paper by Major Broun on the New Zealand Coleoptera was divided into two parts, and the first part alone printed, while the second part was reserved for next year's volume, this step being taken owing to the great length of the paper and the somewhat straitened finances of the Institute. The second half is now in the hands of the printer. The Committee recommends that another long paper by Major Broun on the same subject, already in hand, as well as others to follow, should be issued in bulletin form.

Mr. H. N. Dixon, of Northampton, has been revising the moss material collected by the late Robert Brown, and deposited in the Canterbury Museum. The first part of this work has been forwarded, and the Committee recommends that this also should be published in bulletin form, and that subsequent parts, as they are finished, should be issued in like manner, and paged in sequence, so

that when the work is complete the bulletins may be bound together, and thus be practically equivalent to a moss flora for the Dominion. Mr. Dixon is doing the work of revising Brown's collection without payment, and the country is very fortunate in thus securing a valuable monograph by an eminent specialist for the mere cost of publication.

Included in the Appendix to. Vol. 44 (1912) of the Transactions is a list of earthquakes recorded in New Zealand for the years 1906–11. This list was accepted under a misapprehension, and without knowledge that there was on record a resolution of the Board disapproving of their inclusion in the Transactions. An arrangement was therefore made with Mr. Hogben whereby the Education Department bore the cost of printing the list. The Committee is of opinion that the Board might well reconsider its decision as to publishing these lists. They are certainly the results of original investigation, which should find a place in a publication which aims at giving a record of the scientific work done in the Dominion, providing that they are not published elsewhere.

It has been customary up to the present to publish photographs in the Transactions without any indication on the print as to its author. Your Committee thinks that it would be of advantage to give the author's name, if he does not expressly object. It increases the value of certain photographs if the author has either taken or supervised the taking of the picture, or if it has been taken by a person of experience in the subject under consideration, and it also allows of a simple means of acknowledgment if the author is indebted to another for the print.

There appears in the minds of some an uncertainty as to what year should be cited in reference to back numbers of the Transactions of the Institute; the difficulty arises from the fact that the year printed on the title-page of the volume is that of the year in which the papers are read, and not the date of publication. It should be clearly understood that the latter date is, according to convention, the only correct one, and it would save the Editor and the Printing Office much trouble if this convention were generally observed by all authors. It has been suggested that this mistake might be prevented by omitting the date from the title-page.

It has been further suggested that the authors who desire their papers to be illustrated by a larger number of blocks than the state of the finances allows should be permitted to supply further illustrations on the payment of the additional cost, subject to the approval of the Editor for the time being. As this procedure introduces a principle foreign to the usual practice of the Institute, the Committee would be glad to receive from the Board an expression of opinion on the point.

Your Committee would also like to emphasize the necessity for authors eliminating from their manuscript all useless verbiage and irrelevant matter, and further to emphasize the uselessness of submitting for publication material which neither brings forward fresh scientific facts nor suggests new ways of looking at old ones. In this connection it might be as well to adopt rules for the guidance of referees to whom papers are submitted for report, and your Committee would suggest that the following instructions, as used by the Linnaean Society be formally approved and adopted by this Institute: (1.) Is it desirable that the paper as it stands should be published by the Society as contaming facts, or new views of the bearing of admitted facts, not already published? (2.) Is it desirable that any part of the paper should be omitted, altered, or abridged, as merely general observations, as unnecessarily controversial, as containing expressions liable to give just cause of offence by reason of their personality, or for any other reason? If so, you will please mark in pencil the parts which in your opinion may be so omitted, altered, or abridged. (3.) If illustrations accompany the paper, can any of them be dispensed with? (4.) Would an abstract only give all that is important in the paper, and would such abstract require any woodcut or other illustration, regard being had to previous publications?

R. Speight, for the Committee.

The following resolutions, arising out of the report, were carried:—

Moss Flora.—Mr. Speight moved, and Mr. Hamilton seconded, That Mr. Dixon's material on the New Zealand Mosses be published in bulletin form.—Carried.

Major Brown's Papers on Coleoptera.—Mr. Speight moved, and Mr. Petrie seconded, That the second half of Major Broun's paper be published in this year's Transactions, and that future papers be published in bulletin form as funds allow.—Carried.

Seismological Returns.—It was proposed by Mr. Petrie, seconded by Mr. G. M. Thomson, That lists of earthquakes recorded in New Zealand should be included in the annual Transactions of the Institute.—Carried.

Mr. Suter's Paper on Mollusca.—Mr. Petrie proposed, and Mr. G. M. Thomson seconded, That the incoming President be directed to communicate with the Geological Survey Department with a view to having the cost of printing Mr. Suter's paper on the Tertiary Mollusca paid for by that Department.—Carried.

Citation of the Transactions.—It was agreed that the Hon. Editor should insert a short instruction to authors showing how to correctly quote the volumes, and that the size of the letters showing the date of issue be increased.

Cost of Illustrations.—It was resolved to allow authors of papers to contribute towards the cost of publishing such illustrations as were approved by the Hon. Editor.

Instructions to Referees.—It was decided that the Linnean Society's instructions be adopted.

Librarian's Report.—The following report was read and received:—

I have the honour to report that the library remains much in the same condition as in my last report.

I think it is time that some decided steps were taken in regard to this important collection of books. It must be remembered that the exchanges of the “Transactions of the New Zealand Institute” have been received from various parts, and also a large number of what may be called complimentary presentations. During the whole of that time no competent person has been placed unreservedly in charge of the collection, and it has suffered accordingly. It certainly requires the whole time of a competent individual to put in order the works now in the library, and to ascertain how far they are complete, and to add with regularity the books that are received in exchange. I would draw the attention of the Board of Governors to the recommendations of the Committee which sat during the last session of Parliament, and which strongly recommended the formation in Wellington of a library of scientific books, under the care of the Government. I think that, so far as the Institute is concerned, they should do all in their power to push forward such a scheme, to have a proper library properly supervised and kept together. With regard to the actual property of the books themselves, I may draw your attention to the fact that the Gazette notice that restores the property of the Museum by the present Act of 1903 only gives a certain number over which the Institute are to have a claim as property. These, however, have never been set aside or distinguished from the others, which remain the property of the Government just as much as those which are not so included.

From another point of view, the library of the Institute is not arranged in an accessible manner, and cannot be under the present conditions. I may also point out for your consideration that the Institute have no other right than the permission of the Minister to use the room. I hope that some steps will be taken either to support the proposed scientific library or to take some steps as may be deemed desirable for the better arrangement and custody of the books.

The cards of the receipts have been carefully kept during the year, and the number received during the year is 982.

Separate copies of the Transactions have been forwarded to those on the exchange list.

A catalogue is in existence, printed in 1900, but it is of little use, because it does not indicate the completeness or otherwise of the items included.

A. Hamilton, Librarian.

Exchange List.—The report of the Librarian on the exchange list was adopted, as follows:—

The Exchange List Committee begs to recommend that of those institutions which have replied to the Committee's circular:—

A. The following be struck off the list of exchanges: The Geological Survey of Australasia, Queensland Branch; Adelaide University; Royal Asiatic Society,

London; School, Library, Eton College; Institute of Jamaica; Entomological Society of London; Society of Natural Science, Batavia; National Library, Honolulu; College of Literature, Imperial University of Japan; Philippine Museum, Manila; Natural History Museum, Central-Park, New York; American Museum of Natural History, New York; Societá Africana d'Italia, Naples; Museo di Geologia e Paleontol. del R. Inst. di Studi, Fl.; Biblioteca ed Archivio Tecnico, Rome; Société de Géographie, Paris; Société Entomologique de France, Paris; Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Bordeaux; Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève; Redaktion des Biologischen Central-Blatts, Erlangen; University of Christiania; Public Library of Tasmania, Hobart; Victorian Institute of Surveyors; Gordon Technical College; Geelong; Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, New South Wales Branch; Public Library, Sydney; Botanic Gardens, Brisbane; South African Museum, Cape Town; South African Philosophical Society, Cape Town; Free Public Library, Cape Town; Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society, Ottawa; Literary and Historical Society of Quebec; Victoria College, Manchester; University Library, Edinburgh; School Library Committee, Rugby; Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh; Philosophical Society of Leeds; Norfolk and Norwich Naturalist Society; Natural History Society, Marlborough College, England; Linnean Society, London; Leeds Geological Association; Geological Magazine, London; Clifton College, Bristol

B. The Transactions be sent to the following institutions, notwithstanding that no direct return is received from them. Sydney University; Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Coln, Germany; Bodleian Library, Oxford University; International Catalogue of Scientific Literature, 34 Southampton Street, Strand, London.

G. The following be added to the list, having promised to exchange: North of England Institute of Mining Engineers, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Nederlandsche Entomologische Nereeniging, Rotterdam; Zoologisch Museum, Berlin; Geological Survey of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia: University of Melbourne; Public Library and Museum of South Australia; Engineering Institute of New South Wales; Stazione Zoologica di Napoli, Naples.

D. The following be retained on the list Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain; 50 Russell Street, W C., London; Royal Geographical Society of London, 1 Savile Row West, London; Geological Society of London; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia; Stanford University, California; Museo Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Royal Institution, Liverpool; University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America; Patent Office. 25 Southampton Buildings, W.C., London; Nature, London; Imperial Institute, London; Colonial Office, London; Norfolk and Norwich Naturalist Society, Norwich; High Commissioner for New Zealand, London

E. That the following, suggested by Mr. Cotton, be communicated with and asked if they are agreeable to exchange: Geological Society of America, New York; Société Géologique de la France, Paris; Department of Geology, University of California; Deutsche Geologische Gesellschaft, Berlin; Geological Institute, University of Upsala, Sweden; Geological Survey of Scotland, Edinburgh; Geological Survey of Ireland, Dublin, Service de la Carte Géologique de la France; Service de la Carte Géologique de la Suisse; Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Edinburgh; National Geographic Society, Washington; Geographical Society of Philadelphia; Justus Perthes' Geographische Anstalt, Gotha; Carnegie Institute, Washington; American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston.

That all those who have not taken any notice of the communication be erased from the original B list in addition to the present A list.

A. Hamilton

Correspondence.—Letters were read and received from the ex Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. G. W. Russell, with reference to the offices for the New Zealand Institute; and from Dr. Hilgendorf, resigning his position on the Board.

Hector Medal.—The report of the Committee for obtaining the Hector Medal was received, as follows:—

On behalf of the Hector Medal Committee, I beg to report that nearly twelve months late Messis. Wyon have duly forwarded the medal. The medal appears to be well executed, and the likeness is a fairly good rendering of the photograph supplied. We have to thank Professor Thorpe for generally supervising the design and attending generally to the matter. The medal awarded in January last has been engraved with the following inscription—“To Leonard Cockayne, Ph.D.,

a saving of slightly over £100 on the cost of the volume for the previous year, which was £648 12s. 6d.

At the last meeting of this Board a motion was adopted to the effect that the separate publication of the Proceedings should be discontinued if the Government declined to increase the statutory grant. As no decision of the Government was available until the month of October, it was found impossible to issue any part of the Proceedings in advance of Vol. 45 of the Transactions, now being printed, and they will consequently appear together, as was the uniform practice until a few years ago. Personally, I trust that no attempt will be made to revive the plan of issuing the Proceedings in parts in advance of the Transactions proper, especially as it inevitably leads to greatly increased expenditure on the least important part of the Institute's publications. As I remarked in my address of last year, the greater part of the material printed therein is of ephemeral value. No particular interest and no scientific importance can be attached to the minutes of the meetings of the various incorporated Societies; and the abstracts given of scientific papers printed outside the Dominion need not be nearly so long as many of those which have been printed. In most cases the title of the memoir and the name of the publication in which it appears is all that is required. And any short papers which possess permanent value should form part of the Transactions proper, and should not be consigned to the comparative obscurity of the Proceedings. Almost a quarter of the last-issued volume is composed of the Proceedings, a proportion which appears to be extravagantly large. In my opinion, it would be far better to cease publishing the Proceedings altogether, and to apply the funds thus saved to the quarterly or half-yearly publication of the Transactions.

The report of the Publication Committee, which has been duly placed before you, contains several matters which require careful attention. I quite agree with the Committee in considering that the list of earthquakes recorded in New Zealand in each year should find a place in the Transactions, in which such lists were printed for many years in succession. Their absence from recent volumes has to my own knowledge caused inconvenience to several inquirers.

The suggestion made that Mr. H. N. Dixon's papers on the Mosses of the Dominion should be published in bulletin form will, I hope, be favourably entertained by the Board. The opportunity of having a practical review of our moss flora made by an acknowledged authority at no expense beyond the cost of publication is not one which should be allowed to pass by. The proposal to print Major Broun's papers in bulletin form stands in a precisely similar position. After the highly favourable report on the character of his work placed before the Board last year it is certainly desirable that his papers should be printed as rapidly as the funds of the Institute will allow.

The reference made to the uncertain practice of authors in citing the annual volumes of Transactions should be followed by some definite action. Why should not a clause drawing attention to the facts be inserted in the “Memorandum for Authors of Papers” which is now regularly prefixed to the Transactions? As matters are at present, the incorrect practice of quoting the year during which the paper is read, instead of the year of publication, causes much unnecessary trouble, and gives rise to wrong ideas on questions of priority.

Among the reports presented to you is one from Mr. Hamilton, as Librarian of the Institute. Now, I need say but little about the condition of the library. We all know that it is most inadequately housed and inconveniently arranged; that it is stored in a wooden building that might any day be destroyed by fire; that it requires the constant care and attention of some competent person. To my mind, the present state of the library is a disgrace to both the Government and the Institute, and should be rectified as soon as possible. Mr. Hamilton has suggested that the Institute should support the proposal made to Parliament in the report of the Museum and Scientific Departments Committee, where it is recommended that the whole of the scientific literature belonging to the Government, together with the library of the Institute, should be conjoined to form a general library of scientific works. There is much to be said in favour of such a scheme, for the Institute is without any funds from which it could erect a library building of its own; in fact, it cannot even provide for the proper superintendence of its library. The subject is a little complicated on account of the number of independent libraries which it is proposed to include in the scheme, and also from the uncertainty respecting the ownership of some of the books; but these are difficulties which tact and careful negotiation would probably remove. In any case, the subject has to be faced, and I commend the report to your earnest consideration.

I regret that I have no fresh information of my own respecting the proposed visit of the British Association in 1914. I understand, however, that two members of this Board who have recently visited Sydney have had an interview with the