HAWKE'S BAY PHILOSOPHICAL 

 INSTITUTE. 



First Meeting: 11th May, 1891. 

 H. Hill, B.A., President, in the chair. 

 The President delivered his inaugural address. 



Abstbact. 



The President regretted the departure of Messrs. Hamiltou, Harding, 

 and Macdouald, aud said that to Mr. Hamilton was due the growth of 

 the Museum, and especially of the magnificent collection of Maori 

 curiosities, which he deemed second to none in the colony. He dilated on 

 the necessity for encouraging in young people the habit of observation, 

 and deplored the general want of enthusiasm in scientific matters. He 

 considered that the New Zealand Institute did not use its great in- 

 fluence effectively in fostering and promoting science, and thought that 

 scientific workers out of reach of specialists might be much assisted if 

 they could transmit to head- quarters free of expense specimens for identi- 

 fication. Type collections, he also considered, should be distributed to 

 provincial museums by the central department. 



The President then mentioned the meeting of the Australasian As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science at Christchurch in January last 

 as the great event of the year, and called attention to the graceful and 

 complimentary remarks made by Sir J. Hector in his presidential address 

 regarding the Rev. W. Colenso, F.R.S., and his scientific labours — 

 remarks that the members would appreciate none the less that they were 

 spoken of the founder of their own branch of the Institute. 



Of events of worldwide interest, he mentioned the journeys of 

 Nansen in Greenland and Stanley in Africa. Nansen's journey across 

 Greenland, he said, points to the whole of that country south of 75° 

 lat. being covered with a vast glacial sheet, estimated by Nansen at not 

 less than 6,000ft. thick ; while Stanley's discoveries are of extreme interest 

 as making living truths of the supposed myths of old writers in long-past 

 centuries. But surpassing these is the great discovery by Professor 

 Koch, who towards the close of the year announced to a wondering 

 world that he had found a specific for the cure of consumption. When 

 Tyndall, some seven years ago, called attention in the Times to Koch's 

 discovery it was received with somethmg like scorn, as was Pasteur's 

 great discovery for the cure of hydrophobia ; and, though the expectations 

 first held out have not been entirely fulfilled, still a vast impetus has 

 been given to biological science. He then gave a succinct account of the 

 theories of Liebig and Pasteur on the causes of fermentation and putre- 

 faction. 



The President went on to say that the discovery of the lowest form 

 of animal organisms in connection with the highest opens up several 

 questions of biological interest bearing on the theories of life as enun- 

 ciated by Lamarck, Darwin, and others. Having given a summation 

 of their respective theories, he continued as follows : " In order to get a 



