Roll. With the roll now at 174, as against 157 at the end of 1956, it will be seen that there has been a significant increase in membership over the past year. This has resulted largely from a drive for membership commenced by your Council during the latter half of the session. So far, only members of the staff of the University have been approached, and the Branch welcomes those who have responded; our Society plays an important part in the scientific life of the Dominion, and it is certain that if its function were better known the membership figures would increase considerably. The drive for new members will continue.

Attendances at Branch Meetings. 24, 50, 48, 50, 51, 40, 50; an average of 44.

Otago Museum. During the past year the Branch has been represented on the Museum Trust Board by Professor Baylis. The extension to the Museum is coming much nearer to reality, and the Branch Council is keeping in close touch with the Board concerning the provision of a lecture room for our meetings. The Branch Auditorium Fund will be expended on the fitting-out of a lecture room in the extension after agreement has been reached with the Board in this matter.

As in former years, the Branch joined with the Association of Friends of the Museum in sponsoring the annual Museum Conversazione on October 16. This was a very pleasant function which was high-lighted by demonstrations on early musical instruments by Professor Platt and Mr. N. Eastgate.

Royal Society of New Zealand. Branch representatives on the Council of the Royal Society during 1957 were Miss B. Brewin and Mr. O. H. Keys.

One of the major issues which arose during the year was the question of greater financial support for the Royal Society by its Branches. A set of proposals was drawn up which, if adopted, would have made it obligatory for all Branches to contribute a proportion of their income to the Royal Society. The whole question was debated at length, both by Branch Councils and the main Council, but eventually the new proposals, though supported by Otago, were lost on the vote, and there will be no immediate alteration of the rules governing Branch finance.

Because of the amount of the Transactions levy to this Branch which, up till the present, has supplied these volumes to all its members free of charge, and because of rising costs, your Council was faced with two alternatives in endeavouring to keep British finances solvent. An obvious solution to the problem was to increase the subsription, but this did not appeal very much, especially as there had already been an increase in 1951 from a guinea to thirty shillings. The alternative was to discontinue supplying the Transactions to members on account of their subscriptions, and to charge those who wished to continue receiving them the amount levied by the Royal Society of N.Z.—viz., ten shillings per volume. The alternative seemed by far the lesser of two evils, and in May it was accordingly put to the Branch who approved the necessary change in the Constitution to make it effective. For those who still wish to receive the Transactions the cost of ten shillings per volume is indeed most reasonable, since the price to non-members of the Society is three pounds per volume.

Because our members will no longer automatically receive any printed information from the Royal Society of N.Z., vour Council feels that the existing Transactions, which include the Proceedings of the Society, such as reports of Council meetings, Presidential Addresses and other business, should be split, and the Proceedings published separately for free issue to all Branch members. This would have the valuable effect of keeping all members in touch with the work the Society is doing. Your Council has accordingly recommended this course of action to the Royal Society and the matter will be discussed in Rotorua this month by the main Council.

Branch Emblem. For some time your Council has thought there was a need for a distinctive Branch emblem to be inserted in the newspapers as part of our notice of meetings so that these might be more easily distinguished among the multitude of other notices. A subcommittee consisting of Mr. Tily and Miss Brewin worked on this for some time, and eventually recommended a plain emblem consisting of two concentric circles carrying the words “Royal Society of New Zealand. Otago Branch Founded 1869.” This device has been approved and will appear on our notices as from this month.

Natural History Prize.—Your Council has recently had in mind the institution of a special prize in natural history for school pupils. A sub-committee set up to investigate the advisability or otherwise of instituting such a prize reported favourably on the proposal, and it has now been decided to go ahead with it. The prize will be known as the G. M. Thomson Prize in Natural History, and its aim will be to further the candidates' knowledge of their particular interests in this field. A public announcement stating the conditions of award of the prize will be made in due course.

Section Activities. As will be seen from the appended reports of the Astronomical and Historical Sections, they are active and running interesting programmes. Unfortunately, however, the Microscopical Section has languished from lack of support, and its activities have had to be wound up and its assets transferred to the Branch.