Wellington Philosophical Society. 421 



Sir James Hector said this was a valuable paper, and threw a flood of 

 light on a subject little was known about. It was interesting to know 

 that we had a member capable of gathering information regarding the 

 earliest type of mankind. They must have been descended from a race 

 that acquired a written language, as was evident from their carvings and 

 their pottery. 



Mr. Harding considered the acts of the people described by the author 

 were not the property of any particular priesthood ; they occurred in 

 other countries down to the present day. The acts of the priests in 

 Egypt were just like those of the Maori tohunga. 



Mr. Phillips said the writings on the pottery were quite sufficient to 

 prove that the Polynesians had a written language. 



Mr. Tregear bad listened with great pleasure to Mr. Smith's paper. 

 It contained most valuable information about the^e old priests and their 

 customs. The story of the fire-walking, he thought, could hardly be 

 explained. He hoped they would hear other papers from the author. 



2. " On Tuberculosis in Pheasants in Wanganui," by 



S. H. Drew, F.L.S. {Transactions, p. 54.) 



Sir James Hector gave a description of the bird Phasiantis reevesii 

 and its habits. 



Several specimens, additions to the Museum, were shown 

 by Sir James Hector, among others a fine example of the 

 frost-fish (Lepidopus caudatus), presented by Mr. Petrick ; 

 and Pimelepterus dreioii, presented by Mr. Hurcombe. 



Thikd Meeting : 12th September, 1899. 



Mr. E. Tregear, President, in the chair. 



New Members. — Mr. George Hogben, Professor E. C. Mac- 

 laurin, M.A., Mr. J. W. Joynt, M.A. 



Copy of Vol. XXXI. of the " Transactions of the New Zea- 

 land Institute" and Part IV. of "Maori Art" were laid on 

 the table. 



Papers. — 1. " On Macro-lepidoptera," by G. V. Hudson, 



F.E.S. {Transactions, p. 10.) 



The President said this was a valuable addition to the information 

 already collected on this subject by the author, and contained in his 

 recently published work on the moths and butterflies of New Zealand. 



2. " On Maori Skeletons and Eelics found at Karaka 



Bay," by H. N. McLeod. {Transactions, p. 271.) 



Sir James Hector said he did not think the crushed shells mentioned 

 were decomposed, but merely the ordinary shells that grew on the rocks 

 on the shore-line. This locality was a celebrated spot for finding remains 

 of this kind. The late Mr. J. C. Crawford had written an interesting 

 account of the whole peninsula, and made large collections of Maori 

 remains. He (Sir James) described the kind of stone the weapons were 

 made of, and where it was found. 



