526 Proceedings. 



Papers. — 1. " Notes on an Insect found in some Hot 

 Springs at Taupo," by J. W. Poynton. 



The insect, which is present in large quantities all the year round, is 

 about half the size of a house-fly, but more slender and shapely, and is 

 black in colour. It apparently builds natural incubators, and is said to 

 be an undescribed species. Mr. Poynton suggested a number of ques- 

 tions for study by competent scientists, including the great possibility cf 

 the important part these insects and their habits have played and are 

 playing in the formation of terraces. 



In the course of a discussion Professor H. B. Kirk expressed the 

 opinion that Mr. Poynton's observations were of great scientific and 

 economic value. If the suggestion as to the formation of terraces was 

 correct, there was at once presented the possibility of importing these 

 flies to places where they did not now exist. In regard to insect and 

 animal life in hot springs, Professor Kirk said there was no doubt that 

 fish at Rotorua, for instance, went into water quite hot enough to cook 

 them, and though they were not cooked they grew coarse and ugly. 



Professor Easterfield thought the Research Fund might well be 

 devoted to further investigation of such an important matter as Mr. 

 Poynton's suggestion. 



2. " On Eimu-resin," by Professor Easterfield and B. C. 

 Aston. 



This paper included the results of some preliminary investigations by 

 the Professor and Mr. B. C. Aston, Chemist to the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment. The resin, when chewed, has a very bitter taste, and is very much 

 simpler than the complicated kauri resin. It dissolves very easily in 

 alcohol ; and if water be cautiously added to the solution a beautiful 

 crystalline substance comes out, which is an acid, and which has been 

 given the name of " rimuic acid." This melts at 192° Centigrade. The 

 resin consists of 75 per cent, of rimuic acid, and the greater part of the 

 remainder, after the acid has been precipitated, consists of a gum which 

 up to the present the investigators have not further investigated, while the 

 pink colouring is a vegetable bitter. Jlost of the pines when their bark 

 is cut weep resin, but the rimu, he was informed, did not do so, as it 

 had its resin right in the heart of the wood. The Professor went into a 

 detailed explanation, and said it appeared that the chemistry of this 

 resin was not so complicated as it was believed by many to be. He 

 hoped to go into the subject of kauri-resin when he had disposed of the 

 rimu. 



In the ensuing discussion the speakers emphasized the importance of 

 the investigations being made. 



Mr. Gerald Fitzgerald quoted actual experience to show that the 

 rimu did not possess the preservative qualities it was supposed to possess ; 

 but Mr. Poynton held an opposite opinion of the value of the resin as a 

 preservative, based on his own observations. 



Exhibits. — 1. Birds from Soutli Africa. 



2. Moa-bones. 



3. Bill of hornbill. 



Fifth Meeting : 7th October, 1903. 

 The President, Professor Easterfield, in the chair. 

 NexD Members. — Eev. D. C. Bates and Mr. M. H. Browne. 

 Papers. — 1. " On the Fallacies of the Metric System," 

 pt. ii., by K. Coupland Harding. 



