On the motion of Dr. Miller, seconded by Dr. Oliver, it was resolved: “That the question of development of National Collections, their extension, care, and housing, be referred to the Standing Committee for examination and report.”

In continuing the discussion, Professor Briggs suggested that it might be of benefit if the agenda of Standing Committee meetings could be circulated in more detail to members of the Council, to Branches, and to Fellows, some time before each meeting; it was pointed out that this was not always practicable Dr. Allan gave a note of warning that no section such as the Fellows should speak for the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Dr. Miller stated that a definition of the word “science” would be of benefit to the community.

Nominations Committee. On the motion of Professor Richardson, seconded by Dr. Archey, it was resolved “That in order to have nominations prepared for the election of representatives and of committees to be held later in the agenda, a Nominations Committee, representative of the Branches be set up to report.”

The following committee was appointed: Professor Richardson (convener), Dr. Archey, Dr. Marwick, Professor Allen and Dr. Focken.

New and Retired Members of the Council. The President referred to the retired members of the Council, namely Dr. J. T. Salmon (past representative of the Wellington Branch), who on receiving a Nuffield Fellowship had proceeded to England, and Mr. R. W. Willett (past representative of the Southland Branch, who had been appointed to an important position in England.)

He welcomed back to the Council Professor Richardson, who had succeeded Dr. Salmon, and he was glad to announce that Dr. H. H. Allan had been appointed to represent the Southland Branch.

It was resolved to send a letter of good wishes to Mr. Willett on leaving for his new appointment.

Notices of Motion were handed in

Hector Memorial Award. The President read the report of the Hector Award Committee as follows “I have to report that the Committee consisting of Professor Benson, Dr. Marwick, and myself entrusted with the matter of the Hector Memorial Award nomination recommends the award of the Hector Medal to Dr. Francis J. Turner, whose present address is Department of Geology, University of California, Berkeley (Signed) C. A. Cotton.”

The Award Committee's recommendation was adopted.

On the motion of Dr. Marwick, seconded by Professor Richardson, it was resolved: “That Award Committees when submitting recommendations for an award should state the work on which their recommendation is based.”

Amount of Hector Prize. On the motion of Dr. Marwick, seconded by Dr. Focken, it was resolved that the amount of the Hector Prize be £50.

Hamilton Award. The President read the Hamilton Award Committee's report as follows: “Dr. Focken and I have both been through the papers submitted by Dr. Marshall Laird. I conferred with Dr. Focken in Dunedin on Monday, and we agree that the work submitted is well worthy of the Hamilton Award. (Signed) G. Archey.”

The recommendation of the Hamilton Award Committee was adopted.

Amount of Prize It was resolved that the prize be £4.

T. K. Sidey Summer-time Award. The President read the report of the T. K. Sidey Summer-time Award Committee, which consisted of Professor D. C. H. Florance (Convener), Dr. F. W. G. White, and Dr. R v. d. R. Woolley, as follows: “We are unanimous in recommending that the award be made to Professor V. A. Bailey, of the Sydney University. Professor Bailey's contributions to science are so outstanding and of such international character that the question of birth-place is of secondary importance (Signed) D. C. H. Florance.”

The Award Committee's recommendation was adopted.

Amount of Prize. It was resolved that the amount of the prize be £100 as set out in the regulations.

Fellowship Election. The President read the report of the acting-convener of the Fellowship Selection Committee as follows: “In accordance with the clear-cut division of the voting the Fellowship Selection Committee unanimously recommends the election of Profesor F. C. Chalklin and Dr. F. B. Shorland to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand. (Signed) L. H. Briggs, Acting-Convener.”

The report was adopted and Professor Chalklin and Dr. Shortland duly elected.

Vacancies in Fellowship. It was resolved that four Fellows be elected in 1952 to fill the four vacancies previously declared.

Honorary Members. It was resolved that two Honorary Members be elected in 1952 to fill the vacancies declared.

Award Committees. On the motion of the President, seconded by Professor Allan, it was resolved that a cordial vote of thanks be conveyed to the Award Committees and the Fellowship Selection Committee for their work.

Report of Standing Committee. The report of the Standing Committee was considered and the following points discussed.

Paper in Transactions. Comment was made on the poor quality of the paper used in printing the Transactions, and the Standing Committee was asked to look into the matter.

Building. The possibility of using the Endowment Fund as the nucleus of a Building Fund to provide a permanent home for the Society was, on the motion of Dr. Bastings, seconded by Dr. Focken, referred back to the Standing Committee.

Financial. A question as to whether the publication of the Congress Volume would involve the Society again in providing for its payment was replied to by the President, who stated that he had asked Cabinet for a grant of £850 to meet the cost of the volume. Owing to a last-minute change of policy of Treasury in handling this matter, as well as a request for an increased grant to the Society, no decision had yet been received as to whether the request would be met Dr. Frankel stated that the Christchurch Congress Committee had determined that the Congress should be self-supporting, hence the decision to make individual charges, but a special grant to meet the cost of publishing the volume would be necessary.

Official Guests. The President read a letter from the British Council regretting its inability to bring out special guests for the Congress. On the motion of Dr. Focken, seconded by Dr. Bastings, it was resolved that the British Council be thanked for its endeavours on behalf of the Congress and assured of the Society's appreciation of the work it is doing. The President stated that he had been able to make arrangements for Dr. E. B. Ford and Professor Dobzhansky to visit New Zealand on their way to the Brisbane meeting of the A. & N. Z. A. A. S. Dr. Ford would officially represent the Royal Society of London at the Science Congress. On the motion of Dr. Archey, it was resolved to extend cordial thanks to the president and to Dr. Frankel in obtaining visits from these two eminent geneticists.

Handbook of Trichoptera. The President reported that as the Royal Society of New Zealand was unable to asist the British Museum in the publication of this Handbook, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, after consulting the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation was making a grant of £240 to the British Museum for this work. He thought the C.S.I. R.O. was also making a grant. Professor Richardson spoke strongly on the fact that the finances of the Society were so restricted that it was unable to co-operate with the British Museum in bringing out such an important work. He foresaw that unless the Society received more generous treatment at the hands of the Government in a few years' time its funds would be totally inadequate to carry out its function of publishing scientific papers and works. Dr. Frankel compared the present financial support with that of the generosity of the pioneers., stating that economy has its obvious place, but not economy in vital things Dr. Archey pointed out that the Society is a statutory body and under its Act receives assistance from public funds to carry out the responsibilities placed on it. The contributions by Member Bodies to the parent body had increased, but the Government grant had not increased in recent years. The Society serves the Dominion in focussing attention on such matters as natural resources and wild life and is disseminating throughout the world the results of scientific research through its Transactions Dr. Bastings mentioned the amount of honorary work in research and on advisory committees, etc., by New Zealand scientists who were not financially well equipped. The President compared the generous treatment meted out to the Royal Society of London by the British Government, which in 1950–51 made grants totalling £56,000 in addition to providing it with a splendid building Further discussion resulted in the following resolution moved by Dr. Allan, seconded by Mr. Keys and supported by Dr. Archey.

Lunch Adjournment. The lunch adjournment was then taken, the Council being the guests for luncheon of Professor and Mrs. R. S. Allan at their home in Cashmere.

Afternon Roll Call This was the same as in the morning session.

Index Fannae Novae Zealandiae Dr. Focken reported that two sub-committees were working in the initial stages on a revision of the Index, and he asked the Council to give its support to the preparation of the Index and that when a

At the meeting of the Standing Committee in March, Mr. Callaghan extended to Mr. R. W. Willett, representative of the Southland Branch on the Council, the congratulations and best wishes of the Society on his leaving for England to take up an appointment there.

At the same meeting a resolution of sympathy with Mr. B. C. Aston in his illness was recorded.

In conformity with “The Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Act, 1949.,” giving the Fellows power to elect two representative to the Council, action was taken along the lines laid down at the last Annual Meeting. Only one nomination was received, that of Professor F. G. Soper, who was duly elected at the Standing Committee meeting on August 22. It is unfortunate that Professor Soper will not be able to take his place at the Council table at the Annual Meeting, as he has left on a visit overseas.

Publication Matters. Transactions: The Member Bodies have been embarrassed by the time lag in the issue of Transactions, and in order to solve this difficulty the Standing Committee decided (a) to alter the title from “Transactions and Proceedings of the R.S.N.Z., Volume., for the year.,” to “Transactions of the R. S. N. Z., Vol.”, (b) to issue one volume of four quarterly parts annually. Member Bodies would thus be enabled to issue to members joining in any year the volume for that year. Further, it would obviate any necessity for Member Bodies to pay in any one year a levy for two volumes. The output of printing, however, during the year is still two parts behind, owing to delays in the Otago Daily Times Company's printing department. Volume 78 (2–3), issued in August, 1950, was somewhat larger than a normal single part and 78 (4) issued in November was rather smaller. Volume 79 (1) is well advanced, but to fulfil the Society's aim of four quarterly parts. Volume 79, Part 2, should be printed by due date.

Papers. The Hon. Editor submitted to the Standing Committee papers for publication, and those by forty-two authors were approved for inclusion in Parts up to Volume 79, Part 2.

A proposal was made that taxonomic papers from Government Departments should be handed over to the Transactions for publication and that the Government grant to the Royal Society be increased for this purpose. The Standing Committee approved the proposal in principle, but action could only be determined by Government action in increasing the Society's annual grant.

Printing Prices: Prices have again risen, this time by a steep increase Against the previous (1949) price of 1,400 copies text at 25s 9d per page, the latest quotation, dated March 20, 1951, to take effect from Volume 79, Part 1, is 1,700 copies at 37s per page text. The prices of 8pt type, tabular matter, and plates have all risen in approximately the same proportion and in future all separates are to be charged extra. Further, the printers state that the price of paper is unstable and the present cost is subject to revision at the time the work is put in hand.

Format of Transactions: Acting on instructions from last Annual Meeting, the Standing Committee set up a sub-committee to report on the proposed new format for the Transactions. This sub-committee has recommended that the size of the present Transactions be increased to crown 4to with a 5-inch column (size of page, 7¼ x 9¾, type 10pt on 11pt, body, producing about 630 words per page). The Standing Committee approved these recommendations subject to the increased cost of printing entailed being within the limitations of the Society's finances.

The printers have now submitted prices for the proposed format as follows: 10pt. text, 42s 6d per page; 8pt, text 46s 6d per page; tabular matter, 54s 6d per page; plates printed on one side, 53s 6d per page; plates printed on two sides, 44s 6d per page. Approximately 5s all-round increase on the present size.

Science Congress Volume: The printers made an allowance of £48 of their account of £1,205 for the 1947 N.Z. Science Congress Volume. To meet this cost of £1,157, to which the D.S.I.R. had contributed £500, a levy of 2s 6d per volume was imposed on Member Bodies, which brought in £139 7s 6d In an endeavour to meet the difference the participating bodies in the Congress were approached with little result except from the New Zealand Geographical Society, which circularised its members, and chiefly by this means orders for copies were received to an amount of £39 17s 3d. The balance, approximately £478, has had to be met out of the Society's funds.

Index to Transactions: The Authors' Index for Volumes 64–75 has been prepared and now only waits to be typed, and a small committee was set up to compile the classified index. It is hoped the publication of this much-needed. Index will be completed in the coming year.

G. O. K. Sainsbury's MS. on Mosses: The matter of the publication of a MS. on Mosses in course of preparation by Mr. G. O. K. Sainsbury was given consideration during the year. Illustrations for the work are being prepared and a sub-committee was set up to bring down a report on the estimated cost and the value of the work reported favourably on its value and estimated the cost in the vicinity of £727. Since then, however, printing prices have risen. At the present time the Society could not contemplate publishing the work, and the Standing Committee considered that as Mr. Sainsbury's collection of mosses is to be deposited in the Dominion Museum, the MS. should remain with it until such time as the Museum might be in a position to publish it.

A MS. by Mr. W. J. Phillips on Maori Houses has also been before the Standing Committee. It is still under consideration by a sub-committee.

Financial. Government Grant: At the Society's request, the President prepared a case for submission to the Hon. Minister showing the need for an increase to £2,000 in the Society's annual grant. This statement was placed before the Standing Committee in March, at which meeting intimation of increased printing prices had been received. It was therefore decided to amend the Society's request to £2,500.

Library. The following thirteen new exchanges were added on the recommendation of the Library Committee:

Zoology Department, Victoria University College, Wellington.

New Zealand Geographical Society.

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, California.

University of Miami (Marine Laboratory).

Atomic Energy Commission, U.S.A.

University College, Nigeria.

Sarawak Museum, Kuching.

Universitatis Palacky, Olomoue, Czechoslovakia.

Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest.

Natural Sciences of University of Stockholm.

Instituto Botanico, Madrid.

Catholic University, Lublin.

Komarov Botanical Institute Academy of Sciences, U. S. S. R.

The following books were authorised for purchase: “New Zealand, 1826–27”: an English translation of the “Voyage de l'Astrolabe in New Zealand Waters,” by Olive Wright (30s); “Fungi Analytice Delineati” (A. Ceruti), Torino (15 dollars); “List of Species maintained in the National Collection of Type Cultures” (10d); “Nomenclature of Fungi Pathogenic to Man and Animals” (7d)

At the present time the Transactions are being sent to approximately 350 exchanges and during the year many of the war numbers of their publications were received from exchanges which had been suspended during that period.

An assistant was engaged for part-time work, but unfortunately she was available for only a brief period.

For the first time for three years trainees from the National Library School were not given a project in the Society's Library. The work they did during those three years has borne fruit, however, as the Library's holdings have been recorded and lists circulated to other libraries, thereby increasing the inter-loan requests to the Royal Society's Library. Binding: Only a small amount of binding has been done during the year, in part due to shortage of labour in the bindery and in part due to the difficulty experienced by another available binder in securing supplies of suitable material. Binding costs have increased by about 50 per cent. Purchases. An opportunity presented itself to obtain at reduced rates some of the missing numbers of the Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of London, and many gaps of long standing in these series were filled, the cost being £7. The total cost of purchased books will be well within the £15 allowed annually.

Member Bodies The following reports and balance sheets have been received: Auckland Institute, for the year ended March 31, 1950; Wellington Branch, for the year ended September 30, 1950; Canterbury Branch, for the year ended October 31, 1950; Otago Branch, for the year ended October 31, 1950; Southland Branch, for the year ended March 31, 1951; Hawke's Bay Branch, for the year ended December 31, 1950.

Member Bodies' Conference. A conference of Member Bodies was organised from the Society's office and was attended by a representative of each Branch except the Hawke's Bay

Branch. The representatives in most cases, were the secretaries, but in two cases the presidents attended. An agenda covering most of the problems confronting Member Bodies was drawn up and useful discussions were held on such subjects as subscriptions, life membership transfers, levy on Transactions, and procedure for seeming nominations required by the Royal Society. The Conference recommended that a levy of 7s 6d per member taking the Transactions be made annually, not as on the present basis, and that the levy should not be amended without twelve months' notice to the branches. It also asked that sufficient copies of the minutes of Standing Committee meeting, be sent to each Member Body for its Council members.

Fellowship. Nominations were called from Member Bodies for two vacancies in the Fellowship. Eleven nominations were received and were sent to the Fellows for selection. The convener of the Fellowship Selection, Committee was advised of the result, and his Committee will make its recommendation to the Annual Meeting.

The Standing Committee regrets to record that from vacancies through death have occurred in the Fellowship.

Hector and Hutton Awards. At a General Meeting of the Wellington Branch, held on August 23, the occasion being the Hudson Lecture delivered by Professor Sir Charles Herens the presentations to Professor Ernest Beaglehole of the Hector Medal and Prize and to Dr. W. R. B. Oliver of the Hutton Medal were made In the absence overseas of the President, Mr. F. R. Callaghan, Dr. Falla made the presentations and both recipients made suitable acknowledgement.

Hutton Grant. The application of Professor Marples to divert the balance of his grant to research on vertebrate palaeontology was approved.

On the recommendation of the Research Grant Committee, Dr. E. G. Turbott and Dr. T. E. Woodward, of Auckland, were granted £20 for an entomological survey at the Three Kings Islands.

T. K. Sidey Summer-time Award Committee. At the last Annual Meeting an Award Committee was set up to make a recommendation regarding a 1951 award of the Summer-time Medal and Prize Professor Florance was appointed conveneir, but the other two members of the Committee., Professor Chalklin and Dr. M. A. F. Barnett were unable to act, as they would be away from New Zealand. At the suggestion of the conveneie, Dr. F. G. W. White, of Sydney, and Dr. R. van der R. Woolley of Canberra have been appointed to act on the Award Committee.

Trust Funds. A sub-committee consisting of Mr. Aston and Dr. Oliver was set up to look into the utilisation of the Trust Funds with instruction to investigate the possibility of using the Endowment Fund as a Building Fund Owing to Mr. Astons illness a report has not yet been submitted.

N. Z. Science Congress. The Chairman of the Christchurch Science Congress Committee asked for assistance in inviting an official guest to the Congress. The Standing Committee approved the principle of an official guest for the Congress and agreed to approach the British Council, at the same time congratulating the Council on its foresight and wisdom in arranging a visit to New Zealand of the eminent scientist. Sir Henry Dale, a visit which was greatly appreciated by the Member Bodies.

Subsequently, the President outlined further action that had been taken regarding an official guest.

Congress Volume: The President has asked the Government for a grant of £850 to enable the Congress volume to be published.

A. & N.Z.A.A.S. The President, Mr. F. R. Callaghan was invited by the Organising Committee of the Brisbane meeting of the A. & N.Z.A.A.S. to attend the meeting and officially represent the Royal Society of New Zealand, but owing to the proximity of date with the N. Z. Science Congress, Mr. Callaghan felt he should not cut short his attendance at the latter. Dr. G. Archey was therefore invited to represent the Society in his place and he has agreed to do so.

Pacific Science Council. Owing to the death of Dr. P. Marshall, a vacancy occurred in the Pacific Science Council, and Dr. Gilbert Archey was appointed to represent the Society and he has accepted this office.

Through the Pacific Science Council Secretariat, a suggestion was received from the Organising Committee of the Eighth Pacific Science Congress that in view of the international

situation the Eighth Congress be deferred until October-November, 1953. The Standing Committee agreed to the suggestion.

UNESCO. The previous sub-committee set up by the Society to deal with matters pertaining to Unesco and act as a clearing house was reconstituted as follows. Dr. Falla and Dr. Oliver, representatives of the Royal Society, two representatives of the N.Z. Institute of Chemistry, and two of the N.Z. Association of Scientific Workers. This committee was given power to take appropriate action in any emergency in the name of the constituent bodies.

It was announced that the National Commission for Unesco had set up two subcommissions—one in education and one in science. Dr. Bastings was nominated to act on the Science Sub-commission, but subsequently he found he was unable to act and Dr. E. R. Cooper was nominated in his place.

Medical Research Council. The new Medical Research Council Act, 1950, made provision for a representative of the Royal Society of New Zealand to be a member of the Medical Research Council and at a meeting of the Standing Committee on December 13, Dr. Lyndon Bastings was appointed to act in this capacity.

Overseas Conferences. Dr. H. H. Allan was appointed to represent the Society at the Seventh International Botanical Conference, held in Stockholm in June, 1950 Dr. Allan's report is appended.

Dr. C. C. Anderson was appointed to represent the Society at the International Anatomical Congress in England, but this Congress clashed with another which Dr. Anderson was attending.

Dr. J. T. Salmon was appointed to represent the Society at the Eighth International Congress of Entomology in August, 1951, to be held in Amsterdam, and he has made arrangements to do so.

Museum Management Committee. The term of the Society's representatives expired last May and the following were nominated. Dr. P. Marshall, Mr. H. C. McQueen, Dr. C. G. Morice, Professor L. R. Richardson Professor E. Beaglchole, Mr. R. A. McLennan and Mr. D. W. McKenzie.

Subsequently, Professor H. A. Murray was nominated to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dr. P. Marshall.

Board of Trustees, National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum. Mr. C. A. Fleming was nominated to succeed Dr. Marshall on the Board of Trustees.

Carter Observatory Board Dr. M. A. F. Barnett and Mr. C. G. G. Berry were appointed for a further term as nominees of the Royal Society of New Zealand on the Carter Observatory Board.

Protection of Nature Dr. R. A. Falla represented the Society at a joint meeting convened by the Forest and Bird Protection Society to consider the best means of co-ordinating effort in matters of nature protection.

The Department of Internal Affairs asked the Society's co-operation in enforcing the restrictions imposed in the Takahe area in Fiordland. This Department also asked the Society to assist in making known that Miss Noeline Bakers home, “Moturan Moana,” at Stewart Island, was available to sponsored parties wishing to undertake research.

The question of Fiordland protection was given some consideration. The Minister of Internal Affairs favourably commented on the Conservation Committee's 1949 Report.

N.Z. Oceanographic Committee Mr. C. A. Fleming was appointed to represent the Society on the New Zealand Oceanographic Committee recently set up by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

International Council of Scientific Unions. Intimation was received that in response to the Royal Society's request, consideration was being given to the manner of rating subscriptions of adhering bodies.

Plant Quarantine. The Director general for Agriculture called a meeting to consider proposals in regard to plant quarantine. Dr. W. R. B. Oliver attended the meeting on behalf of the Society Subsequently, the minutes and a report were received and the Standing Committee agreed with the findings in the report.

Fuel and Power Production and Utilisation. At a meeting of the Standing Committee in June at the instigation of Dr. L. Bastings a sub-committee consisting of Dr. Bastings (convener), Mr. R. W. Willett and Mr. S. Cory Wright was set up to prepare a report on the subject of Fuel Power and Supply utilisation. An interim report was tabled at a later meeting and was considered at the November meeting, when the sub-committee was empowered to

from which is usually less than one-half of that obtainable with more modern methods; and (b) the extravagant rate of heat-loss to the exterior revealed by investigations on most types of modern domestic building construction. One-third of our annual output of coal is used for domestic heating and similar services; and a saving of even only 25 per cent. of these losses would represent a very substantial tonnage of coal annually.

The Root of the Problem. In taking a broad view of this problem, one finds that there is at present in New Zealand no controlling authority of any kind charged with the task of surveying the whole field of fuel and power, its supply and utilisation from the economic as well as the research angle, and of co-ordinating the efforts of the various authorities and interests, to the best advantage of the country as a whole.

It appears to the present Committee that this lack of co-ordinated planning, both in the research and in the economic fields, is very largely responsible for the confused state of the fuel and power situation in this country in recent years. In the United Kingdom, the matter is considered of sufficient importance to demand a Ministry—the Ministry of Fuel and Power—responsible to a Minister of Cabinet rank.

After the recent war, an organisation for national development was implemented in New Zealand, intended to cover a number of fields including fuel and power; but it appears to have been ineffective and was consequently short-lived.

Some Further Considerations. Before any constructive proposals can well be put forward to meet these needs, it seems desirable to refer to certain other aspects of the problem, not strictly within the sphere of interest of the Royal Society of New Zealand, which, however, cannot well be neglected. The following factors are among those which appear to be relevant here.

1. The decline of the gas industry is attributed by some as being due to circumstances controlled by two State departments, State Hydro-electric and Mines. If this is true, closer co-operation would appear to be in the best interests of the nation; the country can ill afford to lose any appreciable fraction of a contribution equal in magnitude to about one-third of that supplied by hydro-electricity.

2. Approximately 30 per cent. of the hydro-electric energy utilised is employed at the present time in water-heating. While this method of providing hot water has considerable merit, it is doubtful whether New Zealand can really afford, nationally, to continue to expand the use of such a large proportion of her electric resources in this way, when there are available other methods, both cheaper and more efficient, if not in all respects as convenient. For example, it is open to question whether the policy of the State Housing Division, Ministry of Works, of supplying only electric hot water, etc (to the exclusion of gas or coal-burning methods) in most of its housing estates, is in the best national interest.

3 Quite a significant proportion of the electric energy supplied for hot water heating is wasted through inadequate lagging of storage cylinders. The application of restrictions on losses in old installations similar to those imposed on new installations would effect a quite substantial saving of power.

4. The relative merits of electric generation from coal, or of gasification on the coal-field, and the long-term problems of road versus rail transport of goods, or of coal, oil or electricity for rail haulage, are all matters of national, and not merely departmental, importance.

The following authorities and interests divide responsibility in the field of fuel and power: (1) Mines Department (winning of coal); (2) coal-mining companies; (3) the gas and coke industry (part private, part municipal); (4) State Hydro-electric Department; (5) the oil companies; (6) Railways Department (transport of fuel; also balance between coal, oil, and electricity for traction; and between road and rail transport of goods); (7) electric power boards (equitable distribution; also conservation); (8) harbour boards (storage and shipping of fuel), (9) Ministry of Works (especially Housing Division—domestic power provision in housing estates); (10) shipping companies (transport of fuel); (11) D.S. I..R. (Coal Research Committee—research into both potential supplies and also efficiency of utilisation of fuel). The present preliminary survey of the situation shows clearly that some co-ordinating authority is necessary in New Zealand. It is equally clear that a much more comprehensive investigation is desirable before any definite and permanent action should be taken.

This Committee therefore suggests that the Royal Society urge upon the Government the desirability of initiating such an investigation with the ultimate object of setting up a permanent organisation to achieve this aim of co-ordination throughout the whole field.

Suggestions for an Intensive Investigation. We would suggest the following features in regard to such an investigation.

1. Executive power to conduct such an investigation should be placed in the hands of a small full-time working party, under direct Ministerial direction.

Notice of Motion. On the motion of Mr. Buchanan, seconded by Dr. Archey, it was resolved. “That the Hawke's Bay Branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand, having now become an incorporated body under ‘The Incorporated Societies Act, 1908,’ this Council do now recognise the Hawke's Bay Branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand (Incorporated) as the immediate successor in all respects of the Hawke's Bay Branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand, in terms of the motion of this Council of 25th May, 1948.”

In speaking to this motion, Mr. Buchanan asked the Council if it could arrange an extension of scientific lectures, addresses, etc., in country districts. The Hawke's Bay Branch appreciated deeply the visits it had received from Dr. Falla when President and from other scientists.

Dr. Archey suggested that a symposium on Conservation matters relevant to Hawke's Bay would be one way in which the Branch might focus attention on the need for a National Conservation Council. Other suggestions for symposia, such as Unesco brings forward each year, were made.

Notice of Motion Adult Education: On the motion of Professor Richardson, seconded by Mr. Buchanan, it was resolved: “That the Council emphasizes the importance to the community of better understanding of the effects of scientific discovery on economic progress and the influence of scientific thought on intellectual life; it recommends to Branches and to scientific workers a close interest in all means of dissemination of scientific knowledge and of extension of popular understanding of scientific method and thought”

Election of Officers. The following officers were elected:

President, Mr. F. R. Callaghan (re-elected).
Vice-Presidents—on the recommendation of the Nominations Committee appointed at last Annual Meeting, Dr. R. A. Falla and Dr. J. Marwick were re-elected.
Hon Treasurer, Mr. S. Cory Wright (re-elected).
Hon. Editor, Dr. W. R. B. Oliver (re-elected).
Hon. Returning Officer, Mr. A. T. Pycroft (re-elected).
Hon Librarian, Professor L. R. Richardson (re-elected).
Co-opted Member, Dr. J. T. Salmon.

Election of Committees and Representatives. On the recommendation of the Nominations Committee appointed earlier in the meeting, the following were appointed:

Representative on Tongariro National Park Board, Mr. J. H. Rose.

Representative on Royal N. Z. Institute of Horticulture, Professor H. D. Gordon.

Representative on Great Barrier Reef Committee, Dr. W. R. B. Oliver.

Hector Award Committee: Professor P. W. Burbidge (convener), Professor H. G. Forder, Dr. L. H. Martin (University of Melbourne).

Fellowship Selection Committee: Professor L. H. Briggs, Dr. D. B. Macleod, Professor R. S. Allan, Dr. D. Miller, Dr. H. D. Skinner.

Library Committee: Professor L. R. Richardson, Professor C. A. Cotton, Dr. J. Marwick.

Conservation Committee: Dr. W. R. B. Oliver (convener), Dr. G. Archey, Dr. R. A. Falla, Mr. C. A. Fleming, Dr. J. T. Salmon, Mr. N. H. Taylor.

Nominations Committee The President, Mr. F. R. Callaghan, Dr. R. A. Falla, Dr. R. S. Allan, Dr. C. M. Focken, Dr. D. Miller, Mr. J. D. H. Buchanan.

Charles Darwin and Dumont D'Urville. The fact that these men, so prominent in the scientific life of Britain and Europe, had visited New Zealand and had found it a rich field for the study of natural history, exerted a permanent and profound influence on the future of its scientific progress and history.

With the sporadic settlement occurring in New Zealand, mostly by whalers and traders subsequent to 1800, and with the overseas settlement urge developing in Britain and Europe, where certain groups were making plans for overseas colonisation, there also came a change in the scientific approach, and the geologist, replacing the botanist, becomes more prominent. Charles Dana, an American geologist, paid a brief visit to the Bay of Islands in 1840, but in the previous year Dr. Ernest Dieffenbach had arrived in Wellington on the Tory, commissioned by the New Zealand Company to explore New Zealand's resources and its potentialities for settlement. In two years he travelled extensively and reported on the mineral resources, anthropology and thermal regions of the North Island. In his Travels in New Zealand he has left a fascinating record of this country in its primitive stage. In the Acheron Survey expedition, which the New Zealand Company assisted financially, the geologist Charles Forbes and the botanist David Lyall explored further the resources of New Zealand.

In 1840 the French expedition to Akaroa brought as surgeon of the Aube the eminent botanist Raoul, whose name is commemorated in a number of New Zealand plants.

Provincial Government Interest in Science

It is interesting to note that the Provincial Governments of New Zealand followed the lead given by the New Zealand Company and used scientists to survey the natural resources in the districts under their control. Ferdinand von Hochstetter, arriving in Auckland on the Austrian warship Novara in 1858, was commissioned to survey the coalfields in the vicinity and also the thermal regions. In his expeditions he covered most of the province between Helensville, the Mokau River, Lake Taupo, the Bay of Plenty, and the Coromandel Peninsula. This survey was done in the company of Julius von Haast, with whom he later, at the request of the Nelson Provincial Government, surveyed the area from Cape Farewell to the Buller River, in the course of which valuable coal deposits were located near Westport.

Reference has already been made to the visit paid by Joseph Dalton Hooker to the Bay of Islands in 1841. There he met the Rev. William Colenso, and during the long lives of both men a remarkable period of collaboration in botanical work continued between Hooker in the United Kingdom and Colenso, Sinclair, Travers, Hector and Buchanan in New Zealand. The fruits of this collaboration were seen in the publications Flora Novae Zealandiae, two volumes, 1853 and 1855, and later, in 1864, the Handbook of the New Zealand Flora. Hooker, as an advanced thinker in botanical classification, had, in these publications, put New Zealand botany on a sound basis and had given a stimulus to its further study by Cheeseman and Cockayne.

The economic value of geology was recognised by most of the Provincial Governments, and Moorhouse, Superintendent of Canterbury, striking difficulties in the piercing of the Lyttelton tunnel, appealed to Haast for guidance. Haast in nineteen days of December, 1860, examined the geology of the interrupted tunnel, and the nature of his report was such that Moorhouse decided to resume its construction. This was the age of gold discoveries in the United States of

America and Australia. The Canterbury Provincial Government, considering it should have its territory thoroughly examined for mineral resources, offered Haast the position of Provincial Geologist. There then ensued seven years of remarkable geological explorations of the Southern Alps, the results of which were published in 1879 as the Geology of Canterbury and Westland. While the economic results of the surveys conducted by von Haast in company with Dr. Sinclair, A. D. Dobson and others were not regarded as great, the scientific fruits were of the first order and included the discovery of the moa skeletons at Waipara, vast collections of specimens of rocks and plants and the records of the geological structure of the Southern Alps and Banks Peninsula.

Otago followed Canterbury's example in 1862, when it appointed James Hector provincial geologist, and brought to this country one who for forty years exercised a profound influence on every branch of New Zealand scientific activity. From 1862 to 1865 he demonstrated his remarkable capacity by completing a geological survey of the Otago Province at a time when gold discoveries were of considerable interest.

By this time F. W. Hutton had arrived in Auckland, and after an unsuccessful venture at flaxmilling, was employed by the Provincial Government to survey the Lower Waikato coalfields, Coromandel Peninsula, and Great Barrier Island. His military and scientific qualifications resulted in his being called upon to report on the harbour defences of New Zealand's main ports His capacity as a scientist was recognised, and in 1871 he took up an appointment in Wellington as assistant to Hector in the recently established Geological Survey.

The years 1865 and 1867 represent dates of considerable importance to New Zealand science. They mark the end of an unco-ordinated pioneering period and the beginning of a new period of progressively co-ordinated activities. The torch lit by the Royal Society and transported to New Zealand by Captain Cook was carried on by the New Zealand Company, which brought Dr. Dieffenbach to this country, and was continued by the Provincial Governments of Auckland and Nelson, which employed first Hochstetter and von Haast and later Hutton. Canterbury and Otago Provinces, realising the value of von Haast and Hector, completed the list down to the year 1865.

Establishment of Geological Survey

In 1865 when Sir George Grey was Governor of New Zealand and Frederick Weld Prime Minister, recognition by the Central Government of the value of geological science to New Zealand prompted it to co-ordinate the geological work then being done in three of the Provinces, through the establishment of a central Geological Survey Office in Wellington, to which Hector was appointed Director. With him were associated Haast, Hutton, Cox, McKay, Park, Skey and Buchanan In 1870 Haast became curator of the Canterbury Museum, which he made the best of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere; Hutton after a period as Provincial Geologist, Otago, became Professor of Geology at Canterbury College and in 1893 Curator of the Canterbury Museum.

The establishment of the Geological Survey in 1865 was a very important step in that it linked the Government with scientific effort for the first time, and under the inspiring guidance of Hector, geological activities developed steadily. When Skey was appointed analyst, the way was opened for the interest to be extended to chemistry and physics and ultimately to the founding of the Dominion Laboratory of to-day.

The year 1868 is another scientific landmark, for it is the year in which the predecessor of our Royal Society of New Zealand, the New Zealand Institute, was founded, largely owing to the interest of Sir George Grey and Sir James Hector, who framed the New Zealand Institute Act passed in 1867. Hector was appointed to the position of Manager, provided for under the Act, and occupied this position for a period of thirty-five years.

In 1862 Haast had founded the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. In 1868 Hutton was instrumental in promoting the establishment of the Auckland Philosophical Society.

From 1867 onwards there was a very real trend away from scientific work done in isolation towards that done in association. In the Transactions there was provided in New Zealand a medium for publication of papers dealing with the investigations carried out locally. In the regular meetings of the local Philosophical Societies opportunity was provided for discussion to take place on scientific topics—a priceless opportunity which meant very much in a community then very isolated.

Hector, with his appointment as Director of the Geological Survey in 1865, his curatorship of the Colonial Museum and Manager of the New Zealand Institute, became the leader in both Government and civilian spheres of science. In 1885 he was appointed Chancellor of the University of New Zealand. In view of the fact that the University Colleges established in the 1870's were regarded as centres and promoters of scientific effort in a wide range of subjects, the importance of the influence of Hector on New Zealand science of his period can be appreciated. There is no doubt that Hector's strong personality and his pursuit of many lines of science did make itself felt in both Government and Institute affairs till his retirement in 1903.

The Hector period was one of remarkable activity, and evidence of this can be seen in the papers published in the Transactions. New Zealand was proving a rich field of activity for those who followed the pioneers. Hector, himself, though regarded primarily as a geologist, was contributing papers on a wide variety of subjects. In biological fields the number of workers was considerable. Sir Walter Buller was engaged on the work which has given us his remarkable publication, History of the Birds of New Zealand. Sir William Benham had commenced work on earthworms; F. W. Hutton, besides his geological work, was studying bird and fish life: G. V. Hudson and W. M. Maskell and Broun were engaged on insect studies: G. M. Thomson, A. Dendy, Charles Chilton, T. W. Kirk and T. J. Parker covered a wide range of work in marine and freshwater life; R. M. Laing's work in botany and especially seaweeds was very notable; Henry Suter was immersed in his work on New Zealand mollusca: in bird studies, the work done by T. H. Potts, W. T. L. Travers and H. Reischek was of great significance.

In the field of botany there occur a number of famous names. Rev. W. Colenso, whose botanical collections, made in the North Island during his long life, together with his long association with J. D. Hooker, was indeed a very fortunate circumstance for New Zealand botany, resulting as it did in the publication of the first Flora. This work was the forerunner of the later publication by T. F. Cheeseman of the standard New Zealand Flora based upon a wealth of original work done during this period. J. Buchanan and D. Petrie did extensive botanical research, but are best remembered for their original works on native grass species, as also are the brothers J. B and J. F. Armstrong, who studied indigenous grasses

in Canterbury R. Brown, another Christchurch man, did foundation work on New Zealand mosses at this time, and Dr. Leonard Cockayne had commenced that remarkable series of ecological studies which showed an originality in approach that attracted international attention. There was probably no more active worker in this period than T. Kirk, who was indefatigable both in his field studies and in his publications, leaving a rich legacy of new knowledge relating to the botany of New Zealand.

The names of Haast, Hector, Hutton and McKay dominate the geological field for the early and middle years of this period, though J. C. Crawford in Wellington, L. Cussen and S. P. Smith in Auckland, rendered valuable contributions on a number of local problems. In the middle and latter part of the period Professor J. Park and Dr. P. Marshall, Professor R. Speight, Professor A. P. Thomas and Henry Hill were notable for their investigations of geological problems of the districts in which they resided.

Studies of human racial problems were very actively pursued at this time, as it was recognised that the opportunities were fast disappearing with the rapid settlement of the country. Canon Stack, Sir Frederick Chapman, Edward Tregear, Augustus Hamilton and Elsdon Best were among those who did much to preserve for us the anthropological knowledge of our Maori people.

In the realm of physics, chemistry and mathematics, New Zealand could scarcely claim to present the novel and unique fields such as were available to other branches of science. Nevertheless, Professor A. W. Bickerton, a foundation professor of Canterbury College, stirred up much interest in astronomical physics by his theories of partial and cosmic impact, and his pupil Rutherford showed experimentally for the first time the possibility of detecting radiation impulses at a distance.

Professor C. Coleridge Farr and G. Hogben were very active in the new science of seismology, which enabled New Zealand's earthquakes to be studied scientifically. W. Skey, the assayist in Hector's Geological Survey staff, pioneered chemistry in New Zealand and laid the foundation of what is to-day the Dominion Laboratory. His investigations covered a very wide range of materials both minerals and plants. In an age when fresh progress was being made in analytical methods he was alert to these advances, critical in their application, and left his successors a wealth of valuable guidance in his numerous papers. J. S. Maclaurin followed Skey as Director of the Dominion Laboratory. J. A. Pond in Auckland, T. H. Easterfield and B. C. Aston at Wellington, developed work on the chemical composition of our native flora, and A. M. Wright of Christchurch laid the foundation of the chemistry of New Zealand meat products. Professor W. P. Evans had commenced investigation of the chemistry of New Zealand coals.

This outline does scant justice to the important work done in this period of forty years when the natural phenomena of the country were closely studied and classified by a group of very eminent men, many of whom were naturalists and devoted their energies to several spheres of scientific interest. Many, too, had only their own financial resources to draw on for the long journeys frequently involved, while library facilities were sadly deficient. This was the period when the museums were established in the four main centres and provided the all-important role of being repositories for wonderful collections of specimens, preserving for posterity the treasures of an age which rapidly passed. In almost every field of study, collaboration proceeded with workers overseas, an excellent example being the J. D. Hooker-Colenso association. The volumes of the Trans-

actions contain numerous papers written by overseas authorities of almost every nationality to whom specimens had been sent by collectors in New Zealand. The New Zealand Institute, out of its scant funds, was able on occasion to help finance some of the workers in their projects.

The Period 1903–1926

The next period which merits consideration extends from 1903–1926. Its beginning was marked by the retirement of Sir James Hector and the reconstitution of the New Zealand Institute. Its end saw the establishment of the Council and Department of Scientific and Industrial Research It was a period of quickening interest in scientific matters in all fields, but new applied fields, more economic in character, were arousing attention. The influence of the University Colleges and their science graduates was becoming apparent. Agriculture and industry, both tempered in the fire of years of depression, were showing great vigour and expansion, as prices improved and exports increased, thanks to refrigeration. This expansion brought with it new difficulties, new frustrations. The Department of Agriculture had been established and its officers were expected to answer questions on a wide range of problems which required some chemical or biological attention. Gradually it became apparent that these questions could not be completely answered from the store of knowledge in existence or from overseas experience. Fortunately there were a few officers who appreciated the need for a scientific approach and who found time to do some independent investigation themselves in a small way. For the most part, however, it could be said that the State scientific institutions—Geological Survey, Colonial (Dominion) Laboratory, Magnetic Survey, Chemical and Biological Laboratories of the Department of Agriculture—were engaged on service work arising out of day to day problems; this work, however, was serving a very useful purpose in indicating to the public in a modest way the economic uses of chemistry and biology and geology.

An increasing number of independent workers were still continuing investigations on their own account, discussing their results in the regular meetings of the various Philosophical Societies, and having their papers published in the Transactions. Over forty were engaged in various spheres of biology; geology and botany were the interests of over twenty workers, at least twelve were actively engaged in original work in physics and chemistry, and seven in anthropology and entomology. The natural history of New Zealand was being very thoroughly investigated by many who had commenced during the previous Hector period and by a steady influx of younger workers. In 1904 Hutton's systematic work, Index Faunae Novae Zealandiae was published by the Canterbury Philosophical Institute. In physics, Farr, Hogben, Skey and Adams were following closely the seismological records of New Zealand earthquakes; T. H. Easterfield, H. G. Denham and A. M. Wright were active in chemistry. In botany, B. C. Aston, H. Carse, T. F. Cheeseman, L. Cockayne, J. E. Holloway, D. L. Poppelwell, R. M. Laing, D. Petrie, and G. M. Thomson were doing notable work: R. Speight, P. Marshall, C. A. Cotton, J. A. Bartrum, G. L. Adkin, H. Hill, J. Park, J. Henderson and G. H. Uttley were leaders in the large team of geologists, as were Elsdon Best, Augustus Hamilton and Johannes Andersen in anthropology. In biology and entomology figure the names of leaders such as E. R. Waite, Henry Slater, W. R. B. Oliver, H. B. Kirk, G. Archey, J. Drummond, T. Brown, G. V. Hudson, D. Miller and Charles Chilton, to mention only a few of those who were generous contributors to knowledge in this sphere.

This period was marked by World War I, which occupied its middle years. Events in England, however, were closely followed, and in 1917, the New Zealand Institute passed resolutions urging the need for more generous endowment of science both pure and applied. The Board of Science and Art, the General Council of Education, the Auckland Institute, and various special committees all in varying terms urged the need for dealing with the many pressing scientific problems awaiting solution. The diseases threatening the flax industry, the need for scientific investigations of coals, peats, oils, clays, timbers and other natural resources and the intensive application of science to the problems of agriculture—were all quoted in support of these resolutions. Progress appeared slow—there was no clear plan as to how to proceed, though in many quarters the needs were realised. Government was busy with post-war problems which were many and difficult In the midst of these uncertainties Thomas Cawthron died in Nelson, bequeathing a large estate to found the Cawthron Institute, to which T. H. Easterfield was appointed first Director in 1919 Thus was established the first scientific research institute in New Zealand, the primary duty of whose staff was to pursue investigations which would benefit the industries of the Nelson Province.

Establishment of Department of Scientific and Industrial Research

In 1925 Sir Frank Heath, who had persuaded the British Government in 1916 to establish a Department of Scientific and Industrial Research to overcome some of its wartime difficulties, was asked by Australia to visit that country and report on its scientific needs. The New Zealand Government invited Sir Frank to extend his visit to the Dominion, and this he did in February-March, 1926, and furnished a report upon which the Scientific and Industrial Research Act of 1926 was based. The establishment of the Council and Department of Scientific and Industrial Research followed at the end of the year.

In 1926 there commenced a period of organised science sponsored by the Government through the Council and Department of Scientific and Industrial Research on a pattern similar to that already established in Great Britain. This marked a big advance particularly in the fields of applied and economic science. Nevertheless, the number of those who were engaged in investigations of the natural history of the Dominion and in fundamental science increased and a still greater volume of papers was submitted for publication in the Transactions. In 1933 the New Zealand Institute Act was revised, and with this revision came the change in name to Royal Society of New Zealand.

Under the vigorous and able direction of Dr. E. Marsden, the new Department of Scientific and Industrial Research progressed rapidly. To it was transferred the existing Government scientific activities hitherto distributed among various Departments. The Geological Survey. Dominion Laboratory, Dominion Observatory, Meterological Office and the Magnetic Survey represented almost the total of the Government scientific bodies existing in 1926 and formed the nucleus of the new Department.

Representations from farming and industrial interests soon resulted in the establishment of Research Committees and laboratories dealing with dairy, wheat and leather problems Generous financial help came from the Empire Marketing Board to promote research on biological control of insects and plants, and mineral contents of pastures; the scope of the original laboratories was extended and gradually research organisations dealing with fruit, hops, and tobacco were established Close collaboration was developed between the Department, the University Colleges and Cawthron Institute.

In 1936, with the establishment of the Plant Research Bureau, staff was transferred from the Department of Agriculture to direct new organisations to cope with the growing needs of the farming industry. The Plant Diseases, Grasslands, Botany, Entomology and Agronomy Divisions were formed at this time and in 1938, when there was an exceptionally serious outbreak of facial eczema disease in North Island stock, the Plant Chemistry Laboratory was established to study particularly the composition of pasture species. One of the most baffling problems of the century was bush sickness, which rendered vast areas of potentially useful soil in Rotorua useless for stock raising. This had been studied for years with some success by Mr. B. C. Aston, who first developed the idea of deficiency diseases. A study of the nature and boundaries of the volcanic ash showers in the thermal regions showed distinct correlations between the occurrence of the disease and soil types. This was the beginning of the Soil Bureau, an offshoot of the Geological Survey, which has expanded its activities so that to-day reconnaissance surveys have been completed of both Islands and detailed surveys made of many local areas. Prior to this, Sir Theodore Rigg at Cawthron Institute had completed soil surveys of the Waimea County and other parts of the Nelson province.

It was intended that Massey College in the North Island and Lincoln College in the South Island should act as centres for agricultural research, consequently the Dairy Research Institute, Grasslands Division and Plant Chemistry Laboratory were grouped round Massey, while the Wheat Research Institute and the Agronomy Division were set up at Lincoln. Early in World War II the Department of Agriculture established the Animal Research Division with its main stations at Wallaceville and Ruakura.

The war and post-war years saw a rapid expansion of research in a physics and engineering character as exemplified in the establishment of the Dominion Physical Laboratory, now the largest branch of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, at Lower Hutt, the Auckland Industrial Development Laboratory, and the Canterbury College Industrial Development Department.

Immediately following the end of World War II the Manufacturers' Research Committee was formed to develop research in relation to manufacturing industries. To-day, Research Associations dealing with Fertilisers, Pottery and Ceramics. Woollen Manufacture, Laundry Dry Cleaning and Dyeing are in operation.

Research in the University Colleges has been promoted by grants from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and again further in very recent years by the provision of a Government grant of up to £15,000 for fundamental investigations.

Expansion has been a feature in every phase of science in this period. In what may be defined as fundamental science, largely individualistic effort, the volumes of the Transactions in this period bear eloquent testimony to the activity of a large group of workers from University Colleges, Museums and Government Departments. Departmental journals, bulletins and reports give proof of a greater and newer activity in many fields of applied science, and it is well known that many scientific authors have had recourse to overseas journals for publication of their papers.

In this period scientific work developed as a profession or full-time occupation for ever-increasing numbers of university graduates till at the present time there are probably some 600 whose livelihood depends upon whole-time teaching of

scientific subjects, or the provision of scientific service or research in New Zealand. Research as a full-time occupation, continuous, as distinct from spasmodic research effort, the provision of greatly improved facilities, and the integration of science with the community, were characteristic of the increasing tempo of scientific activity in this period. The increase in the demand for scientific graduates arising from manufacturing firms in the post World War II years is an indication of the extent to which scientific help in industry is appreciated.

During the period of almost forty years after 1865, local scientific effort exerted a comparatively small effect upon the national welfare, which drew considerably on the results of developments from abroad. New Zealanders have always been keen observers of events happening overseas and very apt at applying discoveries and inventions developed abroad. In 1882 from Port Chalmers sailed the Dunedin with a cargo of frozen mutton which it landed in London in good condition, one of the first cargoes to make use of refrigeration, then a new piece of applied science on which our national prosperity virtually has been built. The vast number of labour-saving machines, including the oil and gas engine, harvesting machinery, the motor car, telegraph and telephones soon found their way to New Zealand. Thus in the period up to 1926 and later the influence of overseas scientific progress predominated in every section of New Zealand life and industry.

Meantime, however, there developed a realisation of the need for more local scientific effort to deal with local problems. For example, Dr. Cockayne and his son, Mr. A. H. Cockayne, Thomas Kirk and Dr. Hilgendorf, were initiating the move to apply botanical knowledge to the study of our main agricultural crops and hence to the scientific work of Levy, Frankel, Calder and others which is bearing fruit to-day. Since 1926 with generous State financial support there has been a marked expansion in a wide range of scientific activity in New Zealand directly affecting our national welfare and permeating the farming and manufacturing industries to a remarkable extent. In no period in New Zealand's history has science become so real to so many and the movement seems yet to be only in its infancy. But we must not forget that for the whole period of sixty years which preceded 1926, the New Zealand Institute, the University Colleges, the Geological Survey and the Museums, by the enthusiasm of their members and on very slender financial resources, carried the burden of scientific activity which laid the foundations which have made possible the flourishing conditions which prevail to-day.

The Present Role of the Royal Society

If perchance someone should think that with the scientific organisation which has grown up in New Zealand to-day, there is no longer any need for the Royal Society because its original spheres have been narrowed, I would like emphatically to challenge such a thought. The growth, the diversification, the specialisation which has occurred, often indeed by the initiative of the Society itself, the whole circumstances of the times through which science is passing, renders greater than ever the need for a body which can take that disinterested philosophical view, which can be expected of our Society untrammelled as it is by this or that attachment and possessing as it does both that freedom and that responsibility appropriate to science.

By its very nature the Royal Society is bound to take a wide view of science. Science is international and so we cannot think readily of science as circumscribed by our shores New Zealand has drawn freely on the results of overseas science,

We hope that in some fields at least we have now reached the stage when we may be able to give something in return. Again, science cannot be considered as standing alone, for its impact on human welfare has been growing increasingly strong during the present century and this growth has not yet reached its height.

I desire now to refer to a number of matters which have a bearing on science to-day, on our human welfare and on the Royal Society itself.

Specialisation has been one of the very distinct progressive developments of science in this century, a move, moreover, that shows every prospect of continuation. Physics, chemistry, botany, biology have developed within themselves special divisions that have to-day assumed the status of new sciences each capable of demanding the full-time attention of the ablest brains. Nuclear physics and genetics are examples of such developments in recent years. The years have become increasingly difficult for the naturalist, the scientific man, whose interests lie in a number of different subjects, as was the case with so many of the pioneer scientists of New Zealand. At the same time this specialisation and the technical developments arising out of it have provided for science generally, a wealth of new methods, new instruments and apparatus whose adoption and application render progress much easier. From this and from other reasons, too, there has arisen a policy of integration of scientific activity, of team work, of recognition that most problems require to be tackled from a number of different angles. It was not until many of our New Zealand problems were the subject of continuous study by a group comprised of personnel of divergent scientific skills that results were secured.

The economic influence of science on our national welfare has already been mentioned in connection with refrigeration. This might readily be extended to cover a host of other advantages which have come to us from abroad to confer benefits on our health, our industries and our homes.

Some mention of economic advantages which have arisen as the result of recent local scientific effort is apposite and a few examples with a Canterbury significance will be chosen. Lincoln College and the Wheat Research Institute, through the efforts of Dr. F. W. Hilgendorf and Dr. O. H. Frankel, have developed wheat varieties such as Cross 7 and Hilgendorf which produce flour of much higher protein quality than Tuscan, at no reduction in per acre yield, which are more easily handled by modern harvesting machinery and which also resist lodging in wet seasons. Dr. Hilgendorf and Mr. J. W. Calder developed a much improved strain of Akaroa cocksfoot which is now extensively used, and Mr. R. A. Calder's swede turnip has shown remarkable capacity to resist dry weather and its accompanying fungus and insect ravages. At the Agronomy Division, Lincoln, strains of rape were developed which as fodders, have proved to be far superior to those grown from imported seed, and this has led to the establishment of a local seed-growing industry for this crop. In original investigations at the Agronomy Division, Mr. J. W. Hadfield acquired the basic knowledge upon which the linen flax industry, which served the Empire so well in World War II, was developed. The improvements in pastures resulting from the work of Mr. E. B. Levy have given immense monetary advantages to Canterbury pastoralists and seed growers Miss L. B. Moore's researches on seaweeds, in which she had the guidance of earlier work done by Mr. R. M. Laing, led to the establishment in Christchurch of a useful and profitable agar industry, which draws upon seaweed resources of the North Island coastline. Within the last year Mr. J. Kelsey and Mr. J. M. Hoy, at the Entomological Station, Ashburton, after working for some years on

the extremely difficult problems of grass grub and Porina control, have shown that these pests, which have caused untold losses to New Zealand farmers in the past, are apparently capable of control at a cost well within range of economic possibilities.

These few examples, taken at random, must suffice to show some of the achievements of science in Canterbury in recent years, and will serve to indicate how real are the economic advantages which have been accruing to such effort. It is impossible to put a money value on even the few simple examples quoted above, but even a modest estimate would provide a figure far in advance of the actual cost of the effort involved.

It is easy both to forget and to fail to appreciate how much these economic results owe to fundamental research done in earlier years and which, at the time, would appear to possess not the remotest sign of having any real value at all, and which might well be described as something of a scientist's foibles. This aspect of scientific activity is all important and it is imperative that our Royal Society of New Zealand do everything in its power to champion the cause of fundamental scientific work in every field in order to replenish that all-important but very unimpressive reservoir, which may be drawn upon to solve applied problems of ever-increasing complexity.

On this occasion Lord Rutherford is to be commemorated. In the last decade of last century he, a student in Canterbury College, was pursuing knowledge for knowledge's sake without any idea of what purpose it would serve. He was doing fundamental work, deeply interested in the newly discovered Hertzian waves. Who at that time could have foreseen the vast results of these very modest earlier approaches to what we now know as nuclear physics? Truly, the results of fundamental science are unpredictable.

Rutherford's work lay in the realm of physics. Biology, chemistry and geology are fields in which there must exist comparable opportunities for advances, and advances which though less spectacular than those of Rutherford, may ultimately be of great economic value when applied to New Zealand's problems, which are so wrapped up in her resources of soils, plants and animals. Research on our pasture plants has already shown how greatly their productivity can be increased through better understanding of the inter-relationships existing between soil, plant and climate. This knowledge is as yet very imperfect, but I am confident fundamental studies of the functioning of the plant cell and its utilisation of solar energy, will ultimately pay handsome dividends. The cell is to the biologist what the atom is to the physicist and the chemist, and its study possesses potentialities equally great.

A review of world scientific activity during the past century and particularly during the past fifty years undoubtedly reveals the period as one of unparalleled progress with an ever-increasing tempo following the lapse of years. The fruits of much of this progress have affected human life to a profound degree. Cast the mind over the changes which have taken place in the means of conveyance, in communications, in power utilisation, in surgery and medicine, in farming, during the past half-century and a picture of extraordinary development is evident In no period of history has there been anything like this progress. In the aggregate an even greater total of change has occurred in a whole multitude of less spectacular matters affecting our daily lives. To-day many large industries exist which were undreamt of in 1900. It is indeed easy to forget that scientific effort, often very obscure, has been vital to these advances! It is also easy to forget

the achievement of the applied scientists, the technicians who have developed the laboratory findings so that they could be brought to a stage when they could be readily and widely used. The electric light, the aeroplane, the radio set, D.D.T., the refrigerator, the plastic wrap, the motion picture film, all embody in themselves a wonderful scientific content of fundamental work brought to fruition by remarkable technical ingenuity.

Less often perhaps is thought given to how scientific discovery has altered unconsciously our whole welfare and our attitude to life.

Fundamental work done by Faraday and Lavoisier led to knowledge which showed to others how refrigeration could be made of practical use. Ultimately here in New Zealand this enabled us to produce and export profitably meat, dairy produce and fruit, and so to farm land that would otherwise have never been brought into use. A moment's thought will reveal how much our prosperity is wrapped up with refrigeration, but it would take a long time to follow through all the ramifications associated with it. The chemical work done by Lawes, Gilbert and Liebig, about the time New Zealand was founded, resulted in the production of superphosphate. This fertiliser was little used in our country until eighty years afterwards, but since then it has become an essential ingredient of our pasture land farming, and were it not for superphosphate many an acre now occupied by successful farmers would be waste land. Again, the ramifications in New Zealand of the effort spent in the laboratories of Lawes, Gilbert and Liebig take some time to think out.

At the beginning of the century so few people were engaged in scientific activity and so little money and facilities were made available for its development and there was so little realisation of its potentialities for every walk of life that discoveries came very slowly. With the more rapid progress of science it has become increasingly difficult for our society to assimilate the effects of all the new discoveries. Perhaps, if the social scientists and the philosophers had paid more attention to the implications of the advances in chemistry, physics and biology, they could have helped us in maintaining a better balance between our material and moral progress.

The half-century which has seen such remarkable scientific progress has unfortunately also seen an extraordinary deterioration in human relationships paralleled by a falling off in the recognition of religious and spiritual values. Is it that the succession of dazzling material discoveries has blinded mankind to its appreciation of these values, or is it that they have come so rapidly that mankind has been unable or unwilling to adjust itself to new and ever-changing conditions so that it becomes impossible to integrate the new ideas into our existing philosophy. This half-century has seen two major wars and a third is now threatening. No half-century has such a record of wars and with them numerous events which might lead to the conclusion that the human race is on the eve of one of its periodic lapses into a state of modern barbarism.

Some positive effort seems to be called for to obviate this situation so deplorable to the true goal of the scientist which must always be the the improvement both of the dignity of man and of the welfare of mankind. Every encouragement, therefore, should be given by our Society to the study of the social and philosophical significance of science, so that there may be available some means of guiding human progress on sound lines through the problems to which developments in material science itself give rise. Perhaps such study will in this new age help to restore the balance, and going beyond the material, bring a new spiritual

attitude to life, such as that which led those who founded this Canterbury Province to dedicate to God the best site in this Cathedral City, and which also induced the founders of that shrine of science, the Canterbury Museum, to have carved in the stone of its portico the words, “Lo, these are parts of His ways, but how Little a portion is heard of Him!”

A great deal of consideration is being given to-day to the question of freedom for the scientist to pursue his inquiries untrammelled. Freedom certainly is a sine qua non for research and scientific work, for in environments where freedom is absent, warping and stultification occur and the results are disastrous; this has been made plain under the Communist, Nazi and Fascist regimes in Europe, where the mind and all activity works in a materialistic strait jacket. The confused position of attitudes, philosophies and thinking in the world to-day will undoubtedly react very adversely on the progress of material science, and reveals plainly the need for more attention to be paid to the philosophy of science. While on the one hand immense sums are being devoted to research for war, the threat of which is ever present to-day, on the other, vast expenditure is being incurred in endeavours to apply the results of science to help food production, the health and prosperity of many backward peoples. Even this is done for the most part in an atmosphere of fear, lest the recipients of this assistance in the future turn hostile on their benefactors of to-day. Scientists of great ability and cleverness loudly asserting the perfectly justifiable claim for scientific freedom are at the same time subscribing to and supporting philosophies which make no provision for such freedom While the case of freedom cannot be too strongly urged for scientific work, due recognition should be given to the all-important essential that with freedom goes responsibility. The two are inseparable.

Because of the progressive tendency of the State to assume more responsibility, and because of the need of large Government grants to meet the increasing cost of scientific work, freedom of science even in our democracies runs some danger of being curtailed. A heavy responsibility rests with the Royal Society to ensure that this does not happen. On this question we might well consider the relationship which exists in Great Britain between the Royal Society and the British Government. Despite the fact that the United Kingdom Government makes generous annual grants to the Royal Society and provides it with a splendid home, these provisions carry no tags and the Society retains all its freedom. It is difficult to realise the great value which the British Government over the centuries has received from the Royal Society, whose Fellows have unstintingly given valuable guidance and active assistance in many problems which have arisen. In New Zealand the Government has always adopted a somewhat similar attitude towards the Royal Society, but the New Zealand society does not enjoy the same status or the same degree of financial support as its sister organisation in Great Britain.

When the New Zealand Royal Society was founded in 1868 it received a Government grant of £500 annually. At times this grant reached a maximum of £1,750 for a few years, and the Society then was able to encourage a series of investigations by making small grants to a number of workers, in addition to publishing scientific papers in the Transactions. To-day the Government grant is £1,250 per annum, and this barely suffices for the publication of the Transactions I would like to suggest that a leaf be taken from the United Kingdom, where in the past the Government has provided splendid accommodation for the Royal Society at Burlington House and in the near future is to make great improvements on this, by the erection of Science House on the south side of the

Thames to provide for more commodious quarters. Perhaps the provision of funds for a Science House for the headquarters of the Royal Society of New Zealand might appeal to some generous benefactor of science in the Dominion.

In the future it seems most likely that the costs of scientific effort will be borne to an increasing extent by Government funds. It is therefore necessary that every possible means be adopted to carry the public interest intelligently along with scientific progress so that it will realise all the implications and possibilities. There then devolves upon legislators to an increasing extent the duty of understanding the purposes for which they are asked to allocate public funds for the promotion of science in the public interest. It is not easy for busy legislators in the midst of many calls made on their time to acquire this necessary knowledge. In Great Britain the need for close understanding between the legislature and science is recognised in the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, comprised of members of the Lords and Commons on the one hand, and representatives of the Royal Society, British Association and selected scientists on the other. The Committee meets regularly to consider the scientific implications of any legislation proposed and to hear addresses on scientific matters of national importance. Thus is the thought and opinion of science brought to the notice of the British Parliament. It is of importance that modern legislators should be aware of the scientific implications inherent in so many of the measures with which they are called upon to deal.

In the past, the Royal Society of New Zealand, apart from its ordinary functions, has undertaken a disinterested responsibility for guiding public opinion on current matters in which there was a scientific aspect. It was the Society's efforts and recommendations over a number of years which led to the development of organised science supported by State funds and the establishment of the Council and Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. It focussed attention on the National Parks problem and promoted scientific investigations of the Sub-antarctic Islands of New Zealand. At the first Scientific Congress, held in Christchurch in 1919, that far-seeing President, Dr. Leonard Cockayne, made a plea for the promotion of fundamental scientific studies and in support quoted the following example.

“Suppose for example such characters as we wished could be bestowed at will upon certain fodder plants or food plants, i.e that the plant breeder could by methods now unknown create exactly the plant suitable for a special environment, just as one can forge a special tool. Experiments of seemingly the most worthless kinds in genetics might lay the foundations for such knowledge, the value of which is beyond our wildest dreams.”

This was said in 1919. Dr. Cockayne's dreams have already been realised here in Canterbury, where Drs. Hilgendorf and Frankel have produced wheats such as Cross 7, Fife Tuscan and Hilgendorf which suit local conditions remarkably. R. Calder's swede turnip and L. Corkill's H.1 ryegrass are likewise answers to Dr. Cockayne's hopes.

On the same occasion he made another suggestion that scientific studies of our soils merited consideration. Now thirty-two years later the combined efforts of the Soil Bureau and Cawthron Institute have produced soil maps on a scale of four miles to the inch for the whole of New Zealand; detailed maps of many localised areas where intensive farming is practised and have solved many of the mineral deficiency and fertility problems attached to our wide range of soil types.

The promotion of explorations has always been of great scientific value, for such activities have an invigorating influence and give scope to the energies of the younger group of scientists. The Fiordland expedition was the last example of a combined effort, the published results of which are yet awaited. Less ambitious efforts would be very appropriate for the scientific study of the reservations on the mainland and for islands in the vicinity of New Zealand, a number of which are visited only rarely and whose changing conditions possess much of scientific interest which should be studied and recorded.

New Zealand has responsibility for one of the largest sectors of the Antarctic continent and sea. It has been the stepping-off point for a number of expeditions which have explored the Antarctic, but it is a long time since any scientific work has been done in the area. The marine and bird life, the geological, meteorological and physical studies remaining to be done are considerable and though the expenses of a modest expedition would be large, this should not be beyond our resources. Australia is pursuing an active exploration of the comparatively small section of Antarctica which comes under her jurisdiction.

The presence of several survey vessels (Discovery II and Lachlan) in New Zealand waters has stimulated interest in oceanographical science and all its branches. This is a sphere in which knowledge is particularly scanty and in which the issues are of such importance as to merit every possible encouragement of a thorough study.

As yet little real progress has been made with the proper establishment of National Parks which will be worthy conservations of our heritage, as well as localities for scientific studies and recreation. Too many of these are suffering from neglect through lack of interest on the part of the public and through lack of funds, even to provide for ordinary protection against animal and plant invasion. The idea of custodians possessed of scientific qualifications being appointed to National Parks merits consideration, as their studies would help bring to public notice the real value of these reserves, and render it easier to safeguard them for the future.

The Royal Society of New Zealand, in its position of disinterested freedom, which should be strongly maintained, and with its deep sense of responsibility both to science and to the national welfare, holds a position and a status which is pre-eminently suited for guiding along sound lines the scientific philosophy of our country. In this work by far the greatest amount is done by the development of sound thinking through discussions at scientific meetings and at congresses such as this which opens to-day. This is not a time for complacency, a blight which might easily vitiate by very subtle means our scientific philosophy. The great problem of a future which shows no sign of any diminution at present of scientific effort and output, will be to see that this is fitted appropriately into a civilisation which will have for its ideal the advance of the dignity of man and of his welfare both spiritual and material Science must, as it has such great potentialities for so doing, help in advancing our civilisation to higher standards. This is a grave responsibility achieved only by full recognition of the complexity of our existing way of life, and of the fact that due balance has to be ensured between the spiritual and material affairs of mankind.

I have endeavoured in this address by tracing in very broad outline the scientific history of New Zealand to pay homage to a few of the many scientists whose labours have enriched our heritage to-day. At the same time I have hoped in this outline to draw attention to some of the historical trends in science which

Sir Peter Buck (died December, 1951) was a Fellow of the Society and also an Honorary Member and in 1932 he was awarded the Hector Medal and Prize for Maori Ethnology.

Mr. George Simpson (died May, 1952) was a Fellow of the Society. He was an authority on the native flora and in association with the late Mr. J. Scott Thomson was awarded the Loder Cup.

Dr. Herbert Gregory (died January, 1952) was an Honorary Member. He attended the Seventh Pacific Science Congress held in New Zealand in 1949. He had been associated with the Pacific Science Association since its inception, being President of the first Congress held in Honolulu in 1920.

Dr. Theodore Mortensen (died April, 1952) of the Zoological Museum of Copenhagen had visited New Zealand and the publications in connection with his Pacific Expeditions were of the utmost importance to research students in zoology. He had only just completed the last volume of a great monograph on the Echinoidea, a group he had studied over the last fifty years and on which he was a world authority. This work can be compared only with the Challenger Reports. He was an Honorary Member.

Sir Leonard Hill (died April, 1952) was awarded the T. K. Sidey Summertime Medal and Prize in 1936.

The Council stood in respect to the memory of the above members, Fellows, and Honorary Members.

President's Remarks. The President, in his remarks from the chair, outlined the measures that had been taken to deal with matters arising from the last annual meeting such as the present function and status of the Fellows, National Collections, Fuel and Power Position in New Zealand.

Another matter which he now wished to bring forward was the possible expansion of the Society by the formation of new Branches especially in the Manawatu and in Hamilton where there were a number of resident scientists attached to scientific and agricultural institutions. In the discussion which followed members expressed their approval of the suggestion put forward and on the motion of Professor Richardson, seconded by Mr. Pycroft, it was resolved:

“That the Wellington Branch undertake to encourage and to assist in the formation of a Branch in the Manawatu and that the Auckland Institute undertake to do likewise in regard to the Waikato district.”

The President then referred to two new societies, the Entomological Society and the Ecological Society, which had been formed at the New Zealand Science Congress held in Christchurch last year, and the relationship of the Royal Society to new societies such as these.

Dr. H. H. Allan stated that the Ecological Society wants to be joined to the Royal Society, but under the Royal Society's constitution there is not provision for such affiliation.

Further discussion ensued on the advantages that might accrue to such societies affiliating with the Royal Society and finally on the motion of Professor R. S. Allan, seconded by Professor Richardson, it was resolved:

“That a Committee be established to investigate the relationship of the Royal Society to other scientific organisations in New Zealand and to report

to the next meeting of the Council, taking into consideration possible amendments of the existing Regulations of the Society.”

On the motion of Professor Allan, seconded by Professor Richardson, the following committee was appointed with power to co-opt:—Mr. F. R. Callaghan, Dr. G. Archey (Convener), Dr. H. H. Allan, Dr. R. A. Falla, and the President-elect.

On the motion of Dr. Salmon it was resolved that the Royal Society officially welcome the formation of the Ecological and Entomological Societies and that this resolution be conveyed to the Ecological Society at present holding its first annual conference in Wellington.

New and Retired Members. The President welcomed to the Council table Professor W. E. Adams, representing the Otago Branch, Dr. M. A. F. Barnett, representing the Wellington Branch, and Mr. C. E. Fenwick representing the Canterbury Branch.

He paid a tribute to the work on the Council of Dr. C. M. Focken and Dr. O. H. Frankel who had resigned to take up positions in Australia and to Dr. L. Bastings who had resigned on account of his absence overseas for some months and to Dr. Marwick who was retiring from the Vice-Presidency.

Notices of Motion were called for and handed in.

Hector Award. Professor Burbridge, convener of the Hector Award Committee wrote stating that in view of the fact that a good deal of correspondence between the New Zealand and Australian members of the Committee and between the Committee and England had been necessary the Award Committee's recommendation was not ready.

On the motion of Dr. Archey, seconded by Professor Richardson, it was resolved to authorise the Standing Committee to make the award when the recommendation comes from the Award Committee.

Amount of Hector Prize. On the motion of Professor Briggs, seconded by Dr. Marwick, it was resolved that the amount of the prize be £50.

Fellowship Election. The President read the report of the Fellowship Selection Committee as follows:—

“As convener of the Fellowship Selection Committee I wish to report on the election of Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand for 1952.

“Part of the voting was very close and an actual tie occurred in the preliminary voting and it was necessary for the Fellowship Selection Committee to vote preferentially on a selected number of candidates. As a result of the preliminary voting and the preferential voting of the Fellowship Selection Committee, we recommend that Dr. Muriel Bell, Mr. C. A. Fleming, Professor E. Percival, and Dr. R. S. Duff be elected Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand. L. H. Briggs.”

On the motion of Professor Briggs, seconded by Professor Allan, Dr. Muriel Bell, Mr. C. A. Fleming, Professor E. Percival and Dr. R. S. Duff were elected Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Vacancies in Fellowship. It was resolved that two Fellows be elected in 1953.

Fellowship Rule No. 5. A discussion, introduced by Dr. Briggs, on the following Rule took place:—

“No person shall be nominated or elected a Fellow unless he is a member of the Royal Society of New Zealand and has been a member for five years immediately preceding his nomination or for five years at any period preceding his nomination.”

Dr. Briggs then moved and Professor Soper seconded:

“That the Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand may be awarded to any scientific worker in New Zealand provided he has been resident in New Zealand for the last five years. In considering his qualifications for election emphasis should be placed on his research work actually carried out in New Zealand.”

Mr. O. H. Keys, seconded by Dr. H. H. Allan, moved:

“That Rule 5 be amended by adding the following sentence:—‘Provided that this Rule shall not debar the election of a non-member by the unanimous resolution of Council upon special recommendation in an exceptional case’.”

After further discussion Professor Allan moved, and Dr. H. H. Allan seconded, and it was carried:

“That Dr. Briggs' proposal re alteration of Rule 5 and Mr. Keys' amendment thereto be referred to the Branches which shall report to the Standing Committee.”

Election of Honorary Members. The voting for two Honorary Members resulted in Dr. Anton Bruun and Sir Henry Dale being elected.

Declaration of Vacancies. The following vacancies were declared:—Dr. Peter Buck, Dr. Theodor Mortensen, Dr. Herbert Gregory.

It was resolved that three Honorary Members be elected in 1953.

Votes of Thanks. On the motion of the President, seconded by Dr. Falla, it was resolved to thank the Hector Award Committee and the Fellowship Selection Committee for their work.

Report of the Standing Committe for the Year Ended 31 st March, 1952.

Meetings. Five meetings of the Standing Committee were held during the year, the attendance being as follows:—

The President, Mr. F. R. Callaghan, Wellington, 5; Dr. R. A. Falla, Vice-President, Wellington, 2; Dr. J. Marwick, Vice-President, Wellington, 4, Dr. G. Archey, Auckland, 1, Dr. L. Bastings, Welling on, 5, Mr. S. Cory Wright, Wellington, 2, Dr. W. R. B. Oliver, Wellington, 4; Professor L. R. Richardson, Wellington, 5, Dr. J. T. Salmon, Wellington (overseas), 1.

Obituary. It was with sincere regret that the news of the death of Mr. B. C. Aston, C.B. E.., F. R. I.C, F. R. S. N. Z., on the 31st May, was received.

Mr. Aston's association with the Royal Society dates back to 1910 when he was appointed Honorary Secretary of the then New Zealand Institute. In 1915 he was appointed one of the four Government representatives on the Council, and he retained this position until the time of his death. In 1919 Mr. Aston was elected on of the 20 Original Fellows. Subsequently, he held office as President (1926–27), being reappointed in May, 1928, on the death of Dr. J. Allan Thomson, until the expiry of the latter's term in 1929. In 1932 Mr. Aston was appointed Vice-President, holding that position until 1935.

The first of Mr. Aston's papers was published in the Transactions in Volume 31 (1899) and this was followed by many more papers, botanical and chemical, including several on his important work on bush sickness.

In 1925 Mr. Aston was awarded the Hector Medal and Prize for the investigation of New Zealand chemical problems. In 1949 he was included in the New Year Honours by the bestowal of the Order C. B.E.

An Obituary Notice will appear in Volume 80.

Sir Peter Buck. News was received early in December of the death of Sir Peter Buck, M. D., Ch. B. (N.Z.), F.R.S.N.Z., a distinguished Maori who had achieved fame in many fields, but more especially in Polynesian ethnology and anthropology Many of his early papers are published in the Transactions and in the Polynesian Journal. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1921, and an Honorary Member in 1934. In 1932 he was awarded the Hector Medal and Prize for his researches in Maori Ethnology.

Arrangements have not yet been made regarding an Obituary Notice.

Council. During the year Dr. O. H. Frankel, who represented the Canterbury Branch on the Council since 1943, resigned from that office on account of his appointment to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization at Canberra. Dr. Frankel was President of the local committee of the Seventh New Zealand Science Congress, and to him must be attributed a large measure of the success of that Congress.

Dr. C. M. Focken, who had served on the Council for a long period, representing the Otago Branch from the year 1938, also resigned to take up a position in Melbourne as Head of the Museum of Applied Science of Victoria.

Dr. L. Bastings, who had represented the Wellington Branch since March, 1949, resigned on account of his impending absence overseas.

To fill these vacancies, Mr. C. E. Fenwick was appointed by the Canterbury Branch; Professor W. E. Adams, President of the Otago Branch, was appointed representative of that Branch; Dr. M. A. F. Barnett was appointed to succeed Dr. Bastings (Wellington Branch).

Government Representatives Dr. R. A. Falla was appointed by the Government to succeed the late Mr. B. C. Aston as Government Representative, and Dr. W. R. B. Oliver, whose term expired in March, 1932, was reappointed.

Honorary Editor At a meeting of the Standing Committee in March. Dr. W. R. B. Oliver, who had been Honorary Editor of the Transactions since the resignation of Miss Fyfe, in 1949, tendered his resignation as from the date of the annual meeting. Dr. Oliver's resignation was accepted with great regret and he was warmly thanked for his services.

The matter of the successor to Dr. Oliver was held over until the annual meeting in May.

Publication Matters. During the year the Hon Editor submitted to the Standing Committee which is the Publications Committee lists of approved papers in hand, and from these selections were made for Volume 79 (¾), and Volume 80, Parts 1, 2 and 3 or ¾ if it is to be a double number as in the previous volume as seems desirable from the point of view of completing the volumes more rapidly.

In June, the Standing Commitee decided to adopt the new format (provisionally approved by the Annual Meeting) to commence with Volume 80 The Proceedings of the 1951 Annual Meeting, which are printed, indicate “the new look” and the lighter coloum used on the covers is an improvement.

With a view to keeping the cost of publishing within the Society's resources, the Standing Committee has taken a firm stand in regard to authors who run up costs by an excessive use of illustrations in their papers and extravagance in the size and setting of then plates and line drawings.

In addition to the increased printing prices, a new scale of charges for blocks came into force with the publication of Volume 79.

As a further economy it was decided to issue Separates to authors without covers. They may, however, if they so desire, purchase covers at a cost of 10/- per 100 copies.

Selling Price of Transactions. In June the Standing Committee decided on an increase in the selling price of the Transactions from 10/- to 15/- per Part.

Financial. In 1950–51 the President placed before the Minister and Treasury the pressing need of the Society for an increased grant An amount of £2.500 was asked for, but on the 4th December it was reported that £1,750 had been placed on the Estimates.

If the printers ever get back to their output of four or even three parts in each financial year this amount will be entirely inadequate Furthermore, it leaves no margin for any expansion in the work of the Society or in its Library.

Library. Many more exchanges have resumed during the past year, and the number of periodicals coming to hand would appear to indicate that other institutions in other countries do not have the same difficulty in then printing output as does the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Owing to the distribution of the Proceedings of the Seventh Pacific Science Congress being undertaken by the Royal Society's Office less time than usual could be devoted to Library work.

The Library, however, is fulfilling a good work, approximately 600 loans being issued during the past year to research workers and institutions.

Member Bodies. The following reports have been received from Member Bodies:—

Auckland Institute, for the year ended 31st March, 1951.

Wellington Branch, for the year ended 30th September, 1951.

Canterbury Branch, for the year ended 31st October, 1951.

Hawke's Bay Branch, for the year ended 31st December, 1951.

The Wellington Branch celebrated its centennial, and reports in general seem to indicate increasing membership and a lively interest in Branch activities.

Fellowship. Nominations were called from Member Bodies for the four vacancies in the Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and eleven nominations were received.

Voting papers for the selection of the four required were sent to Fellows in November, and the result of the voting was conveyed by the Returning Officer to the Fellowship Selection Committee, which will report to the Annual Meeting in May.

Fellowship Representation on the Council. Under the rules laid down for the representation of Fellows on the Council, Fellows were asked to nominate two and have their nominations seconded by a Fellow.

There was such a poor response to this request that the Standing Committee gave authority for a second request and an extension of time for receiving nominations. Only three more Fellows responded and the total number of Fellows who either proposed or seconded nominations was eleven out of a possible thirty-four resident in New Zealand.

This would indicate that some further machinery such as the calling a meeting of Fellows in each centre for discussion of matters of specific interest is necessary.

T. K. Sidey Summer-time Award. Arrangements had been made at short notice for the presentation of the Sidey Summer-time Medal and Prize to Professor V. A. Barley, of the School of Physics. University of Sydney, at a function in Canberra. The High Commissioner for New Zealand at Canberra held the annual Dominion Day Reception on the 24th September, at which were present 400 guests, including the Prime Minister and the Minister for External Affairs, and a number of other members of the Cabinet, and all the prominent citizens of Canberra, so that it was a fitting occasion for the presentation of a New Zealand medal. The High Commissioner, Mr. Lisle Alderton, gave a short resume of the award and its conditions, and Sir Douglas Copland. Vice-Chancellor of the National University, himself a New Zealander, made the presentation.

Professor Bailey wrote acknowledging the congratulations and good wishes of the President, Mr. Callaghan, stating that he was very sensible of the honour conferred on him and mentioning his association with Lord Rutherford and with the late Professor Coleridge Farr.

Hector Award. It was a happy coincidence that Dr. F. J. Turner should be visiting New Zealand in 1951. This made it possible for the Hector Medal and Prize to be presented to him in Otago, where so much of the actual work for which he received the award had been done.

The presentation took place in December, and unfortunately, the President, Mr. Callaghan, was unable to be away from Wellington at that time. Professor W. E. Adams, President of the Otago Branch, made the presentation to Dr. Turner at a most successful function.

Hamilton Prizes. At the same Otago Branch function, the Hamilton Prize awarded to Dr. Elizabeth Batham, was presented to her. This presentation had been deferred on account of Dr. Batham's absence in England for post-graduate study.

Arrangements for the presentation of the 1951 Hamilton Prize to Dr. Marshall Laird have been made. This will take place at a meeting of the Wellington Branch on the 23rd April.

Hutton Grants. The following applications for grants from the Hutton Fund were received during the year and were dealt with by the Standing Committee:—

Mr. Maxwell Gage., £25 for research on the glaciers of Canterbury and Westland. Approved 7th June, 1951.

Mr. E. D. Hatch, for assistance in the cost of drawings for his papers. £18 18s approved 29th August. 1951.

Mr. F. J. F. Fisher, £40, for a study of the cytogenetic relationships of the New Zealand species of Ranunculus £25 approved 29th August, 1951.

Dr. M. Laird, £45, for a field trip to Norfolk Island to study protozoan parasites there Approved 29th August, 1951.

Mr. J. D. Campbell, £20, for collecting material for research in New Zealand T [ unclear: ] assie and Jurassic Brachiopoda. Approved 4th December, 1951.

Seventh New Zealand Science Congress, 1951. The Treasurer of the Congress, Mr. G. Stokell, submitted a financial statement of the Congress held last year. This revealed that the Canterbury Committee's aim to make the Congress self-supporting had been more than fulfilled. The Congress Committee received £150 from the Royal Society. This was insufficient to meet running expenses, and the Committee made a charge on members attending the Congress for morning and afternoon teas and for most of the entertainments, in addition to their subscriptions. This decision would appear to be a wise one in that it has left a credit balance of £280 19s 1d instead of a debit, which in the past has been a drain on the resources of the Branch holding the Congress.

Mr. Stokell submitted a useful report with suggestions for future Congresses, and these will be of value.

The Standing Committee ruled that the credit balance should go towards the cost of publishing the Congress volume, together with a grant of £850 made by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for this purpose, and that the cost of the volume should not exceed this total amount.

Science Congress Resolutions. The resolutions carried at the Congress were referred to the appropriate bodies. One which has a bearing on future Congresses is recorded.

“That the Organizing Committee of the Eighth Science Congress be recommended to consider including in the programme symposia which, instead of containing a number of papers by different authors on different facets of the problem, shall consist of a single paper by a selected speaker (whose address shall be circulated before the Congress) and be followed by discussion”

Eighth New Zealand Science Congress, 1954 The locale of the 1954 Science Congress is referred to the Annual Meeting in May It was ascertained that the Nelson Philosophical Society is not in a position to undertake the organization of the Congress, and the Auckland Institute has been approached with a view to its being held in Auckland.

A. and N.Z.A. A. S. The next meeting of the A. and N. Z. A. A. S. will be held in Sydney in August, and member bodies have been asked to advise which of then members will attend in order that the Society's delegation may be appointed.

Pacific Science Congress Proceedings. The 1st Volume of the Proceedings of the Seventh Congress, held in 1949, was published and distributed to those entitled to receive it. The price of this volume was fixed at 15/-

Volumes 3 and 5, dealing with oceanography and meteorology and with botany are still in the press. The cost of these two volumes will exceed by approximately £800 the balance in the Congress Account, and the measures for meeting this deficit and for printing the remainder of the volumes has been frequently discussed by the Standing Committee.

A deputation consisting of the President, Dr. Archey, Dr. Falla, Dr. Marwick, and Professor Richardson, was set up to wait on the Minister and place the position before him. The deputation was arranged for 28th April.

Kalinga Prize for Science Writing. The Standing Committee submitted the name of Professor C. A. Cotton for the Kalinga Prize of £1,000, and specimens of his published works were sent to UNESCO for the jury set up to decide the winner of the Prize. The jury which was appointed is as follows:—Dr. Julian Huxley, Dr. M. N. Saha, Mr. Paul Gaulthier.

Overseas Conferences. Dr. J. T. Salmon had been appointed to represent the Society at the International Congress of Entomology in Amsterdam, but he found he was unable to spare the time from his studies in London.

Dr. L. Bastings was appointed to represent the Society at the General Assembly of the International Council of Scientific Unions in Brussels if he is able to do so.

Professor C. A. Cotton was appointed to represent the Society at the International Geological Congress in Algiers and the International Geographical Congress in Washington.

Visiting Overseas Scientists. The Society's Branches had the privilege of hearing lectures from distinguished scientific visitors during the year. On notification from the Society's office arrangements were made for Sir Edward Mellanby, who was accompanied by Lady Mellanby, to address combined meetings in the four centres.

Professor D. R. Hartree, F.R.S. addressed meetings, his subject (the calculating machine) being of specific interest to physicists and mathematicians.

Branches were also advised of the visit of Mr. C. F. Publow, assistant engineer of the Hydro-electric Power Commission, Ontario. This visit, however, was of more interest to the Engineering Societies, and, moreover, it came during the holiday recess.

International Union for the Protection of Nature. As a result of considered opinion by the Society's Conservation Committee, the Forest and Bird Protection Society and the Pacific Science Council, the Standing Committee approached the Government urging it to become an affiliated member of the IUPN. The Minister of Internal Affairs replied that arrangements were being made for an officer of the Wild Life Branch of his Department to attend a meeting of the working committee of the Union, and Dr. C. S. M. Hopkirk had last year attended a meeting of the General Assembly of the Union as Government observer Any decision of the Government regarding membership of the Union is deferred pending consideration of these reports when they come to hand The Society would be advised later on the position.

Conservation Committee's Report.—The report presented to the last annual meeting covering proposals for the establishment of a National Conservation Council for New Zealand were submitted to the Ministers concerned. Later, the Minister of Works, in acknowledging receipt of the report, stated that serious consideration is being given to the question of organizing and control of soil conservation and that the Society's report will be taken into account. He stated that it may even be necessary before amending legislation is drafted to hold a conference of interested parties.

Fuel and Power Utilization. The report presented at last Annual Meeting was redrafted for submission to the Rt. Hon. the Prime Minister, who replied that he greatly valued the findings of the Society's Committee on the fuel and power position in New Zealand, and that he had referred the matter to the Government's advisers for study and report.

As no further reply had been received the matter was again placed before the Prime Minister. In the absence of the Prime Minister the Hon. Mr. Fortune, assistant to the Prime Minister, had referred the report to the Ministers concerned for direct reply.

Rutherford Memorial. A sub-committee consisting of the President, the Hon. Treasurer, and Dr. L. Bastings (convener) was set up by the Standing Committee in June and ultimately advice was received from the Canterbury Organizing Committee that the University Colleges in the centres had been asked to act as committees in conjunction with other interested organizations. Dr. Bastings was appointed convener of the Wellington committee, and at the March meeting of the Standing Committee he reported that Wellington had raised £2,230, and it was hoped that New Zealand would raise approximately £10,000.

Matters Arising From Last Annual Meeting. Several matters which were briefly discussed at the last Annual Meeting were referred to the Standing Committee for consideration and report. In some cases there has not been time nor the opportunity to do more than set up sub-committees to bring down preliminary reports;

(a) Present function and status of Fellows: A sub-committee consisting of Dr. Archey (convener), Dr. Salmon, Professor E. Beaglehole. Dr. Barnett, was set up to report This has not yet been received.

(b) National Collections: An exploratory committee consisting of Dr. Marwick (convener), Dr. H. H. Allan, Dr. Miller, Dr. Oliver, was set up to report when, if necessary, a larger and more representative committee could be set up. An interim report was received.

(c) Endowment Fund: The Hon Treasurer and the Secretary were asked to report on this Fund. No action is yet reported.

(d) Obligations and needs of the Society: Research Grants Fund A committee to deal with these matters was set up at the annual meeting but it has not yet reported.

Archaeological Sites: The Hawke's Bay Branch submitted proposals for the preservation and marking of archaeological sites in Hawke's Bay. These were approved by the Standing Committee and the Branch was advised that action in this direction could well be patterned on similar schemes adopted in Great Britain and Canada with much success.

Storage Accommodation: The store-room in the basement of the General Assembly Library in Parliament Buildings for many years in use by the Society is now required by the Assembly Library, but so far no alternative accommodation has been found by the Standing Committee.

Revision of the Index Faunae Novae Zealandiac. Some observations on the preparation and publication of this work made by Dr. Miller were referred to the Otago Branch's Revision Committee for consideration.

Sainsbury's MS. On Mosses. This work has now been undertaken by the Dominion Museum as it holds the collection of Mr. Sainsbury's mosses.

Annual Meeting, 1952. It was with regret that the Standing Committee decided against holding the Annual Meeting in Nelson. On an examination of comparative costs of a meeting in Nelson and Wellington it was felt that the Society was not justified at the present time in accepting the cordial invitation from Dr. D. Miller, Sir Theodore Rigg and the Nelson Philosophical Society to hold it in Nelson.

The President moved and Dr. Falla seconded the adoption of the Standing Committee's Report.

Matters arising out of the report:—

Obituary Notice. It was agreed that the Otago Branch should be asked to arrange for an Obituary Notice of Mr. George Simpson.

Publication Matters., Members expressed their approval of the new format of the Transactions as indicated by the separates of the Proceedings which were distributed to members.

A. and N.Z. A.A.S. Dr. G. Archey was appointed to represent the Society at the 1952 meeting of the A. and N.Z. A. A. S.

Pacific Science Congress. Dr. Marwick reported on the position of the printing of the Proceedings of the Seventh Pacific Science Congress and he suggested that a deputation to the Government Printer might assist in hastening the completion of the volumes in the press and succeeding volumes.

The President read a letter from the Hon. Minister of Scientific and Industrial Research which stated that Cabinet had approved a special grant from the Consolidated Fund to defray the cost of the remaining volumes of the Proceedings. Further it instructed the Royal Society of New Zealand to endeavour to secure the best terms for the printing of these volumes.

Gratification was expressed by Dr. Archey and others that it will now be possible for the remaining volumes to be published.

On the motion of the President the Council's thanks were conveyed to the deputation for its successful work.

The President had already expressed to the Minister and to Cabinet the Society's sincere thanks for the grant, approximately £8,500.

Rutherford Appeal. Professor R. S. Allan reported that the amount of the Appeal now stood at £8,700. He paid a tribute to Nelson for its response to the appeal. Dr. Miller stated that a large proportion of the amount had been raised by a Science Exhibition for which Sir Theodore Rigg was largely responsible.

Function and Status of Fellows. The committee set up to report on this matter presented its report as follows:—

“The Committee appointed to consider possible functions and activities of Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand, having in mind that Fellows are elected solely on account of their research achievement, that already over half of the present Fellows serve in office or on the Councils of the Royal Society or its Branches, and that Fellows are also entitled to elect two representatives on the Council of the Royal Society, is of opinion that no further formal activities or service should be expected of them, except that, because of

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The Audit Office having examined the Balance Sheet and accompanying Accounts required by law to be audited, hereby certifies them to be correct.

C. J. ATKIN,

Controller and Auditor-General.

NOTE: The Controller-Auditor-General's certificate has also been attached to the 1951–52 Balance Sheet published in Volume 80, Part 1, before being audited.

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S. Cory Wright, Honorary Treasurer.

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S. Cory Wright, Honorary Treasurer.

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an Archaeological and Historical Board, with the necessary authority to control and encourage the investigation of such sites in New Zealand.

2. That the Royal Society of New Zealand suggests that the functions of the Board should include

3. That the Royal Society of New Zealand suggests that the constitution of the Board be:

Two members appointed by the Minister of Internal Affairs, one of whom it is suggested should be a member of the N.Z. Geographical Board.

Two members appointed by the Minister of Maori Affairs, one of whom it is suggested should be a representative of the Maori race.

One member appointed by the Minister of Lands and Survey.

One member nominated by the Polynesian Society.

One member nominated by the Art Galleries and Museums Association.

One member nominated by the Royal Society of New Zealand.

One member nominated by the Dept. Scientific and Industrial Research.

Dr. Falla stated that a private individual had recently prepared a very comprehensive report along the lines suggested by the Notice of Motion. He also referred to the measures adopted in Canada and Great Britain as being worthy of emulation.

It was resolved that the following paragraph be added:

4. That the Society will regard its wishes as expressed in paragraphs 1 and 2 met if the above proposals should be considered as better embodied in any wider organization that may result from closely allied resolutions from other bodies.

The motion as amended was adopted.

Science Congress, 1954. Dr. Miller explained that it was because of the difficulties of securing adequate hotel accommodation in Nelson that the Nelson Philosophical Society could not see its way to undertake the organizing of the next Congress.

Dr. Archey stated that the Auckland Institute was not yet ready to report as to whether it would undertake the Congress.

The matter was held over pending a decision from the Auckland Institute.

Election of Officers. The Nominations Committee reported that it had met and it recommended that Dr. W. R. B. Oliver be elected President and Mr. F. R. Callaghan and Dr. D. Miller be elected Vice-Presidents.

Carried by acclamation.

President, Dr. W. R. B. Oliver.

Vice-Presidents, Mr. F. R. Callaghan and Dr. D. Miller.

Honorary Editor, Dr. J. T. Salmon.

Honorary Treasurer, Mr. S. Cory Wright.

Honorary Librarian, Professor L. R. Richardson.

Honorary Returning Officer, Mr. A. T. Pycroft.

Co-opted Member, Dr. J. T. Salmon.

Fishes,” by Dr. Harold W. Manter. June: “A Study of a Herd of Mule Deer in California,” by Mr. T. A. Riney. July: “An Evaluation of North American and New Zealand University Instruction in Biology,” by Professor L. R. Richardson. August: “Some Botanical Effects of the Introduction of Opossums Into New Zealand,” by Mr. L. T. Pracey. September: “The Bounty and Antipodes Islands Expedition, 1950,” by Mr. R. K. Dell.

Geology Section. October, 1950: “Petroleum in New Zealand,” by Mr. H. E. Fyfe. June: Discussion on “Structure of the Southern Half of the North Island,” led by Dr. E. I. Robertson. July: “Magmatism,” by Mr. J. Bradley. August: “The Upper Pliocene of Cape Kidnappers and its Correlation with Wanganui,” by Mr. C. A. Fleming. September: “Post-Hokonui Orogeny and the Pre-Notocene Surface,” by Professor C. A. Cotton, and “New Zealand Pleistocene Tectogenetic Chronology,” by Mr. M. T. Te Punga.

Physics Section. April: “Engineering Seismology,” by Mr. J. B. C. Taylor. May: “Cosmic Ray Research Projects at Manchester University,” by Mr. N. V. Ryder. June: “An Attempt to Investigate the Propagation of Sound in Solid Media,” by Dr. F. F. Evison. July: (Combined with Astronomy and Geophysics Section) “Physics in Geothermal Investigations,” by Mr. C. J. Banwell and Mr. B. H. Olsson (first paper in symposium on “Geothermal Power”). August: “Solar Radiation and the Energy Supply for Atmospheric Circulations,” by Dr. J. F. Gabites. September: (Combined with Astronomy and Geophysics Section): “Geophysical Prospecting of the Thermal Area,” by Mr. N. Modriniak and Dr. E. I. Robertson (second paper in a symposium on “Geothermal Power”).

Social Science Section. April: The commencement of a symposium of papers on “Social Problems of Health in New Zealand.” (1) “One Hundred Years of Health in New Zealand,” by Dr. J. P. Kennedy. (2) “Changes in the Health of Children in New Zealand,” by Dr. Thos. C. Lonie. (3) “Social Implications of Some Infectious Diseases,” by Dr. J. M. Wogan. (4) “Health Problems Among the Maori People,” by Dr. G. M. Smith. (5) “The Social Medicine of Old Age,” by Dr. G. L. McLeod. (6) “Mental Health in New Zealand,” by Dr. R. W. Medlicott. The last paper in the symposium, still to be delivered, will be (7) “Industrial Health in New Zealand and its Social Implications,” by Dr. T. O. Garland.

Technology Section. May: “The Heat Pump,” by Mr. N. W. Vere-Jones. August: “Timber Preservation,” by Mr. D. B. Carr. September: “Some Modern Mining Conditions,” by Mr. H. R. Schoen. Two visits were arranged, in April to the Wellington Railway Station, and in June to the New Zealand Free Lance printing works.

Papers for Printing in the Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. (a) Papers read by title at meetings of the Branch Council: “New Haemogregarines from New Zealand Marine Fish,” by Dr. Marshall Laird, October 25, 1950; “Notes on the Apparent Absence of Haematozoa from the Warm Blooded Vertebrates of Macquarie Island, with a New Host and Locality Record for an Endoparasite of Flies, Herpitomonas calliphorae Swingle, 1911,” by Dr. Marshall Laird, October 25, 1950; “Studies of the Earthworm Fauna of New Zealand, Part I,” by Mr. K. E. Lee, October 25, 1950; “Studies of the Earthworm Fauna of New Zealand, Part II,” by Mr. K. E. Lee, November 29, 1950; “Ammonoids from Beaumont Station, Wairakei Survey District (with an Appendix by Dr. J. Marwick),” by Mr. R. A. S. Browne, November 29, 1950; “A New Species of Myxine from Cook Strait,” by Professor L. R. Richardson, November 29, 1950; “An Example of Hernia in Hyla aurea, and its Interpretation,” by Professor L. R. Richardson, November 29, 1950; “The Early Post-larval Stages and Systematic Position of Eurynolambrus australis M.E. and L. (Brachyura),” by Miss Shirley Krefft, November 29, 1950; “A New Species of Erythroneura (Typhlocybinae, Hem.-Hom.) from Arundo conspicua Forst. (Toetoe), by R. A. Cumber, March 15, 1951; “A Revision of the Genus Dracophyllum Supplement,” by Dr. W. R. B. Oliver, April 26, 1951; “Studies on the Earthworm Fauna of New Zealand, Part III,” by Mr. K. E. Lee, May 30, 1951. (b) Papers read by title at Biology Section meetings (prior to 1951 and not recorded in a previous Branch Annual Report): October, 1949, “The New Zealand Flycatchers of the Genus Petroica Swainson, Part I,” by C. A. Fleming; April, 1950, “Remarks on the Blood Vascular System of the Frog Leiopelma hochstetteri—Fitsinger,” by Dr. H. Szarski (communicated by Dr. K. Wodzicki); October, 1950, “New Marine Mollusca from the Cook Strait Area and of Southern New Zealand,” by R. K. Dell; “Studies on the Amphipoden Fauna No. 1—Family Cyamidae—The Whale Louse,” by Mr. D. E. Hurley, May 29, 1951; “The Genus Codium in New Zealand, Part I, Systematics,” by Miss Vivienne Dellow, August 28, 1951; “The Genus Codium in New Zealand, Part II, Ecology, Geographic Distribution,” by Miss Vivienne Dellow, August 28, 1951; “The Occurrence of Aquatic Oligochaetes in Soil,” by Mr. J. D. Stout, August 28, 1951; “A Preliminary Study of the Land Operculate (Murdochia pallium),” by Mr. J. E. Morton, August 28, 1951.

Before World War II Mr. J. W. Hadfield was investigating the possibilities of linen flax as a crop for certain cropped out areas in the South Island. New varieties of linen flax were tested out in relation to soil and climatic conditions throughout the South Island and a stock of proved seed had been built up. When Britain called for additional supplies of linen flax fibre, the scientific work done in the growing and the processing of the crop, both in New Zealand and overseas, was utilised to establish an industry which supplied thousands of tons of fibre and how to meet Britain's requirements. To-day the industry remains, and is quite a profitable one to the Corporation which controls it and to the farmers who grow the linen flax.

All three examples refer to new industries established as the result of local scientific investigations.

Next for consideration are examples of some existing industries which have been greatly assisted by local research work, or by local scientific effort in applying and adapting overseas scientific results to the needs of New Zealand industries.

During World War II the Dairy Industry was faced with the problem of disposal of second grade and whey butter, because only first-class butter could be shipped in the limited refrigerated space then available in the reduced number of ships trading between New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The problem of converting this second grade butter into dried butter-fat was tackled by the Dairy Research Institute. Within a year it was solved by Dr. McDowall and commercial plants were in operation converting and packing this dried butter-fat for shipment in ordinary non-refrigerated ships, thereby greatly assisting in relieving the pressing shortage of fats in Britain. The expenditure of a few thousand pounds of effort in research provided a saving estimated by the New Zealand Dairy Board at the time to be worth £400,000 to the industry.

Cheese manufacture is very dependent upon supplies of efficient starters for coagulating the milk. There are many strains of these starters and their efficiency is very variable and apt to be spasmodic. The work of Dr. Whitehead of the Dairy Research Institute has ensured the supply of very good cultures to the cheese factories and the value of this assistance can never fully be assessed.

Dr. Whitehead was also responsible for overcoming the serious recurring problem of non-acid milk which refused to curdle in cheese vats after starters had been added. He discovered for the first time that this was due to the presence of bacteriophage, an organism which actually destroyed the starter culture, and whose control requried long and patient study before methods of dealing with it were devised. To-day cheese factories can control what was an increasing and most vexatious problem.

Recital of these achievements tends to under-estimate what was required to attain them Both were solved by the efforts of workers who had behind them a wealth of knowledge and experience in a very wide sphere of chemistry and biology as it applied to dairy produce.

The Dairy Industry provides further examples of how a combination of effort between local and overseas scientists has enabled results to be applied which have been of very real value The Herd Recording Association has for years accumulated evidence of the serious losses caused through two diseases, mammitis and contagious abortion. Sir Alexander Fleming's penicillin tested

out by the staff of the Animal Research Division has proved so effective against mammitis, that fat production has been increased by approximately 3lb. per cow, worth some £650,000 of butter-fat annually. The penicillin necessary to achieve this is estimated to cost some £50,000, leaving a very handsome annual profit of £600,000. For over 25 years research in the control of this disease had been patiently followed and is estimated to have cost some £90,000 in all. The knowledge gained, although perhaps negative in character, thereby enabled the advantage of the new antibiotic to be very soundly and speedily applied throughout the New Zealand dairy industry.

Contagious abortion disease was known to have an incidence of 5% in dairy herds and to reduce by 30% the production of each cow affected. The Animal Research Division introduced from the United States of America a vaccine known as Strain 19, and tested it out thoroughly under New Zealand conditions. So effective has it been that the incidence of the disease has been reduced from 5% to 1%, giving an increase in butter-fat worth £656,000. With the vaccine costing £26,000 a net gain of £630,000 is left for the advantage of the industry.

Though the tobacco industry had long been established in various districts it had never been particularly prosperous. In 1936 the industry underwent a re-organization and the newly constituted Tobacco Board promoted the establishment of a Tobacco Research Station. A programme of field and laboratory work was mangurated in 1939 by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in association with Cawthron Institute, in the centre of the main tobacco growing area at Motueka. The results of fifteen years of investigation, which have been intelligently used by the growers have made this one of the most prosperous of New Zealand's rural industries. The area in tobacco in the Nelson province has doubled in this period and the yield per acre almost doubled. In the four years prior to the establishment of the Research Station the yield of leaf per acre averaged 659lb. In the four years 1947–50 the average has been 1,155lb which at the price of 3/- per lb. represents a gain of £74/8/- per acre, or an increase of £297,600 on the 4,000 acres grown in Nelson. The details of the research developments in fertilizing, disease control, curing and propagation need not be listed, but thanks to a well-organized and appreciative industry this knowledge has been well applied with the beneficial financial results to which reference has been made. The total cost of research to the tobacco industry since the establishment of the station has been £15,716.

The wheat industry provides another example of the value of scientific research from the work of biologists and chemists. The results affect all three groups, wheatgrowers, flourmillers and bakers who constitute this industry. The Tuscan variety a high yielding, wind resistant, but poor flour quality wheat predominated in Canterbury and Otago. Lincoln College and the Wheat Research Institute bred Cross 7, a variety yielding high quality flour for baking and possessing a number of qualities such as high yield, short straw and wind resistance, which made it very acceptable to farmers who were then moving rapidly towards the use of header harvesters. To-day Cross 7 occupies nearly 70 per cent. of the wheat area, having displaced Tuscan. The cost of the breeding and testing of this new variety was approximately £3,000. Further varieties, Tainui, Fife Tuscan, Hilgendorf and Yielder have been bred by the Wheat Research Institute. The cost involved would be of the order of £3,000-£5,000 per variety and the annual value of the increased yield derived from any one variety would be of the order of £75,000.

Laboratory studies have shown how sprouted wheat damaged by rain can be reclaimed and used for milling and baking with little loss of quality and many bushels have been saved in wet years thanks to this knowledge. Further, the Vitamin content of flour and its suitability for baking has been improved by research work which showed the value of sorting out from the flour stream certain of the germ sections found to be high in vitamin content for incorporation into the main stream This practice was extensively adopted by New Zealand flour mills which were obliged by shortages of wheat to extract a higher than normal percentage of flour from the grain.

New Zealand's principal crop is pasture. Its problems have been the subject of investigation by a number of organizations, but principally by the Grasslands Division. Effort has been concentrated first on producing improved strains of ryegrass and clovers and secondly on their management and utilization Short rotation ryegrass, a composite pedigree variety, has in association with white clover shown its capacity to produce high yields of high protein fodder during the lean periods of the year Its spread among the farming community has been phenomenal, and in recent years alone, the seed produced of this variety has averaged at least a value of £150,000 annually. The cost of the research associated with it is estimated at some £6,000 in all. It is impossible to assess the far higher value of this ryegrass strain as measured by the increased feed it provides for cattle and sheep.

Improved strains of ryegrass and clover properly managed have shown a productive capacity of as high as 16,000lb of dry matter per acre annually. 4,000lb of dry matter production per acre represents a butter-fat production of 200lb per acre. The yield from properly managed pastures comprised of the best strains of ryegrass and clovers could thereby be doubled or trebled in terms of butterfat. As an example a 78 acre farm which in 1948 produced 8,000lb of butter fat from 45 cows by only a limited application of Grassland's Division's methods increased its production in 1950 to 19,000lb of butterfat from 60 cows.

Experiments were initiated to ascertain whether pasture methods which had proved highly successful on ploughable flat land could be applied to unploughable hill country. Within 4 years the carrying capacity of unploughable hill country was increased from 1 ½ ewes to 3 ewes per acre. Similar improvement is possible on 7,000,000 acres of this class of country in the North Island.

The Fruit Industry is very dependent for its prosperity on export Apples and pears, unlike meat and butter, are living entities whose metabolism continues during refrigerated storage and transport. Some are so sensitive that they cannot remain sound for the duration of the voyage to the United Kingdom. Studies of the respiratory action of apples in cold storage at the Low Temperature Research Station, Cambridge in association with shipboard trials arranged in New Zealand have now provided data which has led to very extensive changes in the equipment of the carrying vessels, so that temperatures, ventilation and the gas content of the holds can be varied to suit the requirements of the particular variety of apple or pear. This association of United Kingdom and New Zealand scientific effort has solved some very stubborn problems which often led to very large losses amounting to many thousands of pounds each season These occurrences are now a thing of the past and the total cost of the research work done in New Zealand would quite easily be met by an expenditure of £5,000.

The fruitgrower wages continual war against pests and diseases which are ever ready to take a heavy toll of his crop. The Plant Diseases Division has for some years had these diseases under very close investigation and from these a constant stream of scientific knowledge of their control by the use of sprays has emerged, and is widely applied by fruitgrowers who through the “Orchardist” and the officers of the Horticulture Division are kept advised of the progress made. The investigations have also provided at the same time much information about the efficacy of sprays which have been helpful to manufacturers and growers alike. The list of certified therapeutants issued twice yearly provides most valuable guidance to all orchardists in the Dominion.

For years prior to 1936 orchardists on some 1,800 acres of Moutere Hills apple growing land found their apples afflicted with corky pit disease which rendered them unfit for marketing. In some seasons over 45,000 cases worth perhaps £25,000 were rendered unmarketable. As the result of a very comprehensive series of experiments, J. D. Atkinson traced the trouble to a deficiency of boron in the soil, and for a cost of perhaps £1,000 solved a minor element deficiency which was depriving the fruit industry of £25,000 annually. Within three years, as the result of further work on boron usage by the Plant Diseases Division and Cawthron Institute there was no excuse for corky pit in a Nelson orchard seeing that the cost of treatment was only 25/- per acre. This discovery had worldwide significance for boron deficiency was actually affecting apples and pears in most of the world's fruit producing areas.

The Northern Spy rootstock has been extensively used for apples in New Zealand orchards in order to combat woolly aphis. This stock possesses a number of disadvantages and research work at East Malling has revealed the presence of three or four other stocks which tend to increase the yields of the scions grafted on to them. The Sturmer variety, one of New Zealand's main apples, grafted on to Malling 12 stock has been shown to give a yield of 300 bushels in excess of what it does on Northern Spy stock To implement the results of the findings of the Plant Diseases and Fruit Research Divisions on the important question of fruit tree stocks the New Zealand Fruitgrowers Federation has established a nursery from which some 60,000 pedigree true-to-name trees worth £8,500 are issued each year to fruitgrowers.

Some reference must be made to the important part played by science in the saving of losses to our main industry, agriculture, through the depredation of fungus and virus diseases and insect pests.

Two very serious pests of pastures were the grass caterpillar and the grass grub. The damage they caused annually must have ment a loss of £1,000,000 to New Zealand farmers and the loss was increasing as more valuable pasture grasses and stock were established. Both constituted admittedly most difficult problems for entomologists. The combined result of most intensive study in New Zealand and of chemical research overseas led to both of these pests being mastered within the past three years by the use of D.D.T., Gammexane and lead arsenate. The task too can be achieved at an economic cost of some 15/- per acre. The combined efforts of the staff of the Entomological Research Station and overseas chemists which probably cost New Zealand less than £15,000 provided a result which will save farmers from a loss of at least £1,000,000 annually, and bring New Zealand's major economic noxious insect, grass grub, under control.

Similar investigations on crickets which spoilt dairy pastures on the Hauraki Plains to the extent of some £45,000 annually, showed that a simple D.D.T. or Gammexane bait was an efficacious means of destroying the insects. The cost of the trials was some £40, and their value in application and saving of losses, therefore, gave a very high return to the scientific efforts of the Plant Diseases Division staff.

Malting barley and wheat used to be affected with strains of smut, the mere trace of which rendered them unsuitable for malting or milling. Plant Diseases Division staff, after investigations of the fungi, devised measures for their elimination, and the gain to the industries concerned with these two grains has been estimated as of the order of £140,000 annually. Many diseases of economic crops have been brought under control. Dry rot of swedes and turnips, grease spot of passion fruit, smut and yellow dwarf of onions, bacterial spot of plums are five diseases now brought under control and losses of an annual value of some £290,000 avoided as the result of investigations costing some £9,000 altogether.

The whole future of the phormium industry has for years been threatened by the menace of yellow leaf disease, which had already completely wiped out phormium plants from once extensive swamps. Yellow leaf had not yielded its secret to the many who had attempted to probe it over many decades. Three years ago a combined attack on it was made by officers of the Botany, Soil, Plant Diseases, Plant Chemistry and Entomology Divisions, using all the latest knowledge, approaches and techniques Success attended their efforts just when hopes were being abandoned, and as a result, this obscure disease is now known to be caused by a special N.Z. virus, transmitted by an endemic insect, oliarus, from infected to healthy phormium plants. It remains now to test out the efficacy of control measures and this major threat will be removed to this industry. The cost of the research work was of the order of £9,000 to £10,000, and the value of the industry saved cannot be assessed.

To grow a lucerne crop successfully in New Zealand the seed must be inoculated with culture prior to sowing The Plant Diseases Division in 1929 was successful in isolating a strain of culture which has proved efficacious ever since Last year 2,854 farmers paid £1,496 for culture to treat seed for sowing about 39,000 acres of lucerne. Had they inoculated their fields by the former method of spreading soil from old lucerne fields the cost of doing the inoculation would have been of the order of £78,000.

Many more examples could be quoted of the application results of New Zealand scientific effort offered in the agricultural industries, but these quoted must suffice.

(2) New Zealand manufacturing industries.

The wrapping of newspapers is generally done manually in New Zealand. The Auckland Development Laboratories undertook the design and fabrication of a machine to do the job, and a prototype was produced which had an output of 3,000 papers per hour, which was far in excess of the achievement of any other machine known to be available in the world This machine is now in production and is employed by several firms.

Chewings fescue seed is a very valuable product of the light lands of Southland, for there is a good overseas demand for the seed, which is used extensively for playing fields, and golf courses. Unfortunately the seed loses its vitality