496 Proceedings. 



OTAGO INSTITUTE. 



At the annual meeting (9th December, 1919) the annual report and 

 audited balance-sheet were adopted. 



Abstract. 



Seven meetings of the Institute were held. At these meetings the following 

 papers were read, and have since been forwarded to the New Zealand Institute for 

 publication in the Transactions : D. L. PoppelweU, " Notes on the Indigenous 

 Vegetation of Ben Lomond, with a List of Species," and " Notes on the Indigenous 

 Vegetation of the North-eastern Portion of the Hokonui liills, with a List of 

 Species " ; Professor J. Park, " On the Occurrence of Striated Boulders in a Palaeozoic 

 Breccia near Taieri Mouth " ; A. Philpott, " Notes and Descriptions of New Zealand 

 Lepidoptera " ; Charles E. Clarke, " New Lepidoptera," and " Lepidoptera of 

 Auckland and King-country " ; H. Beattie (communicated by H. D. Skinner), " The 

 Southern Maoris and Greenstone," and " Native Lore of the Southern Maoris " ; 

 Dorothy Johnson, B.Sc. (communicated by J, Malcolm), " Food Value of New 

 Zealand Fish " ; M. Winifred Betts, M.Sc, " Notes on the Autecology of certain Plants 

 of the Peridotite Belt, Nelson, Part 1, No. 3," and " The Rosette Plants of Cass." 



The following addresses were dehvered during the session : " Fifty Years' Science 

 Progress in New Zealand " (presidential address), by the Hon. G. M. Thomson ; 

 " Some Recent Theories on the PeopUng of the Pacific," by Mr. H. D. Skinner ; 

 "Insect-collecting in Australia," by Mr. W. G. Howes; "Revolutionary Sociahsm," 

 by the Ven. Archdeacon Woodthorpe ; "Earthquakes, and their Significance," by 

 Professor W. N. Benson ; " The Economics of Power," by Professor D. B. Waters. 



The speakers at the Jubilee conversazione were the President, Mr. Alex. Bathgate, 

 and Sir James Allen. 



Librarian's Report. — During the past year the expenditure on the purchase of 

 books has been less than usual. This is partly owing to the fact that the University 

 is now recognizing the need of adding new zoological and botanical works to their 

 library which is housed in the Museum ; while the estabhshment of a lectureship in 

 ethnology has led that institution to build up a library in this subject. As these 

 books are available to members of the Institute, there is the less need of buying books 

 of a purely scientific character : hence more money will be available for binding back 

 numbers of periodicals, &c., some of which, for one reason or another, have been 

 allowed to accumulate. Thus a good many volumes of Nature should now be bound, 

 and so relieve much shelf-room, and a number of volumes of the publications of the 

 Indian Geological Survey, and other works. 



The subscription to Science Progress has been resumed ; and a new periodical, 

 Botanical Abstracts, ha^s been added to our list. 



The Museum has received, as usual, a number of reports of various Government 

 Departments, as well as publications of museums and universities in various countries. 

 These are for the most part of a technical character. 



The- University Council has agreed to provide the money for the erection of a new 

 set of shelves for the accommodation of the rapidly-increasing collection of ethno- 

 graphical works. It is hoped that during the coming year a large lecture-room will be 

 erected for the biology class, which will be available for the Institute meetings, so that 

 part of the existing lecture-room may be utilized for a needed extension of the library. 



Membership. — -During the year three members have died and eleven have resigned. 

 Six new members were elected, so that the roll now stands at 158, as compared to 166 

 at the end of last year. 



Balance-sheet. — The year's transactions show a debit balance of £6 18s. 7d. This 

 is due to some extra non-recurring items of expenditure — viz., £10 to University 

 Council for installing electric light in the biology lecture-room ; £20 to defray part of 

 Dr. Tillyard's travelling-expenses ; and the additional expenditure due to the Jubilee 

 celebrations. 



Work of the Council. 



Seven rheetings of the Council were held during 1919. In addition to the usual 

 routine work of managing the affairs of the Institute in general, the following items 

 of special business were dealt with : — 



Fellowship of the New Zealand Institute. — At the request of the New Zealand 

 Institute, the Council forwarded a list of eighteen nominations for the election of ten 

 original Fellows. Of the eighteen, eight were subsequently elected. 



