Hawke's Bay Branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Annual Report for Year ended December 31, 1951

Meetings. At the Annual General Meeting Mr. Peel spoke on “Cloud Formation and Precipitation”; at a Special General Meeting Dr. Archey lectured on “The Moa,” and at the quarterly meetings addresses were given by Mr. Benseman on “Frosts and Frost Fighting,” by Dr. Kingma on “The Development of Land Vertebrates,” and by Mr. George Lowe on “The New Zealand Expedition to the Himalayas.”

Membership. At present there are 108 members of the Branch.

Colenso Memorial. No decision has as yet been made for a memorial, and the money is still in the Post Office Account.

Observatory. The establishment of an Observatory in Hastings was again taken up during the year with the Hastings Borough Council, but owing to the high cost of building, the matter is still in abeyance.

Library. The books in the Napier Public Library have been catalogued, and some which were out of date have been sold.

Rutherford Memorial. The Branch is keen to assist in providing a suitable memorial, and the matter is being studied in conjunction with other local societies interested.

Sections. During the year the Photographic Section decided to become an independent body operating in Hastings.

The Historical Section had been active in making recordings of old Maori songs and in collecting data in connection with archaeological sites.

Sections of the Branch now operating are the Astronomical, Geographical, Meteorological and Ornithological, and these Sections met regularly during the year.

The Joint Historical Committee of the Royal Society and the Art Society has also had a busy year and are at present engaged in a contemporary survey of Napier.