532 Proceedings. 



or near almost every Maori encampment between Cape Campbell and 

 Catlin's River in Otago ; and the question was, Were there in the South 

 Island a race anterior to -the Maoris who alone knew the moa? If so, it 

 was strange that the Maoris afterwards occupied every encampment in 

 which moa-remains were to be found. It therefore was a question of moa 

 and Maori or moa and a race anterior to the Maori. 



Mr. Tregear, in reply, said that his paper had been misunderstood by 

 most of the speakers, as it had been considered to imply that he con- 

 sidered the Dinomis to have been destroyed at an immense distance of 

 time ago. What he had endeavoured to show was that allusions in folk- 

 lore and mythology, which had hitherto been taken as evidence that the 

 Maori was acquainted with the Dinomis, were unreliable for this purpose ; 

 and he had started a new line of inquiry. As to the value of compara- 

 tive philology, whatever a single person in his audience might say, it was 

 too well acknowledged as of worth by the greatest minds of the age to 

 need defence. How to reconcile the absence of allusion in tradition and 

 the statements of old chiefs about " the days of the Deluge " with the 

 apparent freshness of the remains exhibited by naturalists the speaker 

 did not know ; but he felt certain that one day the true explanation 

 would be furnished, and then every one would be surprised at its sim- 

 plicity. In the meantime any one who could lend assistance by purifying 

 what was called "the evidence on the subject" was doing some service, 

 however slight. 



The President exhibited and made remarks upon an albino 

 sparrow (Passer domesticus) from Nelson, in which the entire 

 plumage was of the purest white. 



Fourth Meeting : 14th September, 1892. 



Sir Walter Buller, President, in the chair. 



Papers. — 1. " On the Antarctic Seals," by Sir James 

 Hector. (Transactions, p. 255.) 



Sir W. Buller had considered the specimen referred to as being 

 in Mr. Drew's collection to be an albino, but after Sir James Hector's 

 description he had no doubt about its being the sea-leopard. He had 

 some fine seal-tusks given him by the natives, which he would exhibit at a 

 future meeting. 



2. " On an Ant-like Insect (Betyla fulva, Cameron) parasitic 

 in the New Zealand Glowworm," by G. V. Hudson, F.E.S. 

 (Transactions, p. 164.) 



The author stated that he had forwarded the specimen to Mr. 

 Saunders, in England, for description. 



Mr. Maskell asked Mr. Hudson whether this might not be a parasite 

 that lays its eggs on the eggs of the insect. 



Mr. Hudson said that some were found in the eggs and some were 

 parasitic in the larvae. 



3. The President called attention to a number of articles 

 on the table made from Taranaki ironsand, which were ex- 

 hibited by Mr. E. M. Smith, M.H.E. The articles consisted 

 of buckets, bolts, carriage-steps, a fly-wheel, a ratchet-wheel, 

 also horse-shoes, and various other articles. 



