370 Proceedings. 



6. " Tlie Age and Growth of the Kauri Pine." by T. F. Cheeseman. 



7. " Notes on Pittosporum Dallii," by T. F. Cheeseman. 



8. " Description of a New Celmisia," by T. F. Cheeseman. 



9. "New Genera and Species of Coleoptera" by Major Broun, F.E.S. 



Annual Meeting : 23rd February, 1914. 



C. J. Parr. Esq.. Mayor of Auckland, President, j in the chair. 



Annual Report. — The annual report and audited financial statement was 

 read to the meeting, and ordered to be printed and distributed among the 

 members. 



Abstract or Annual Report. 



Members. — The number of new members elected during the year has been unusually 

 small, amounting to five only. No doubt the reason for this is the canvass instituted 

 last year, which resulted in the addition of 162 names to the roll. The names with- 

 drawn from the roll during the year number twenty-one — six from death, and the 

 remainder from resignation or non-payment of subscription for more than two con- 

 secutive years. This leaves the total membership at the present time at 370. It is 

 satisfactory to be able to state that the Auckland Institute still retains the premier 

 place among the incorporated societies so far as regards the number of members. 



The Council have much regret in announcing the death of Mr. James Stewart, who 

 has been associated with the Institute since its formation in 1868, and who has always 

 taken a steady and consistent interest in its affairs. He has twice served as President, 

 and, with two short intervals, has been a member of the Council since 1871. In 1906 

 he was appointed a Trustee, a position which he occupied up to the time of his death. 

 The Council desire to express their high appreciation of the many services he has 

 rendered to the Institute during his long and active membership. 



All branches of the New Zealand Institute, and all workers engaged in scientific 

 research in New Zealand, will regret the sudden death of Mr. A. Hamilton, late Director 

 of the Dominion Museum, and a former President of the New Zealand Institute. The 

 Council are anxious to place on record their high sense of the valuable nature of his 

 work, more especially that portion of it dealing with the ethnology of the Maori race. 



Finance. — The total revenue of the Working Account, excluding the balance in 

 hand at the beginning of the year, has been £1,862 0s. 2d. This shows an increase 

 of £508 7s. on the receipts for the previous year, which were £1,353 13s. 2d. Half of 

 this increase is due to the payment of the Government subsidy of £250, which it will 

 be remembered was voted by Parliament during the session of 1912 in recognition of 

 an amount of £684 previously subscribed by the citizens of Auckland for the purchase 

 of certain special additions to the Museum. The total expenditure has been much 

 larger than usual, amounting to £1,590 10s. 2d., as against £1,465 5s. lOd. for the pre- 

 vious year. The increase is principally due to the expenditure on the large group of 

 flightless birds recently installed in the Museum, and to the cost of the show-cases 

 required for it and other important additions. The balance in hand at the present 

 time amounts to £379 lis. 



The legacy of £1,000 bequeathed by the late Sir John Logan Campbell has been 

 paid by the Campbell trustees during the year, and added to the invested funds of the 

 society. A further sum of £110 10s., derived partly from the sale of Museum endow- 

 ments and partly from the life subscription account, has also been received. From 

 these two sources the Capital Account of the Institute has been raised to the sum of 

 £17,626 8s. 6d., almost the whole of which is now invested in specially selected freehold 

 securities. 



Meetings. — Seven meetings have been held during the year, at which fifteen lectures 

 and papers have been contributed by various members. 



Science and Art Bill. — During the last session of Parliament a Bill was introduced 

 under the title of the Science and Art Bill, which, among other objectionable provisions, 

 included certain clauses which imperilled the future existence of the New Zealand Insti- 

 tute as a self-governing body, and which provided for changes in the mode of publishing 

 and distributing the Transactions which would have greatly hampered the operations 

 of the Institute, and which would have made it subservient to a body mainly composed 

 of the Government nominees to be set up under the Bill. The Council are glad to state 



