MANAWATU PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 



Abstract of Annual Report. 



Fifty-nine members have paid their subscriptions this year, as com- 

 pared with thirty-six last year. 



Kine meetings of the Council have been held, and eight general meet- 

 ings, at which the following papers were read : " Solidity of the Earth," 

 by Mr. Eliott Warburton ; " Astronomy," by Dr. Kennedy ; " Magnetism." 

 1a Mr Merritt; "Explanation of the Telescope," by Captain Hewitt; "Some 

 Impressions of the East," by Mr. Cohen ; " Explanation of Meteorological 

 Instruments," by Mr. Vernon ; " Alcohol in Health and Disease," Dr. 

 Martin ; " Early Stages of New Zealand Tree-ferns," by the Rev. G. B. 

 Stephenson (p. 1). 



At the request of the Society. Palmerston North has been made a 

 second-class meteorological station, and a complete set of instruments has 

 been supplied by the Government and placed in charge of Dr. Martin. 



The Museum now includes nearly a thousand exhibits, over two hundred 

 and fifty having been received during the past year, including valuable 

 collections illustrating the mineralogy of New South Wales and the west 

 coast of the South Island, and presented to the Society by the Commis- 

 sioners for those districts at the Christchurch Exhibition. The attendance 

 during the ten months that the Museum has been open has been over 

 two thousand five hundred. 



During the year a 6 in. reflector telescope, with all the necessary 

 fittings, has been bought from the Rev. Dr. Kennedy, of Meeanee, and put 

 up in a small Observatory in the Square. The telescope has been placed 

 in the care of Captain Hewitt, R.N., who is assisted by Messrs. Vernon, 

 Foote, Durward, and Elliott : and the Observatory is open on all Wed- 

 nesday evenings, when the weather is fine. 



The Council expresses its gratitude to the Mayor and Borough Council 

 for the generous manner in which they have met the wishes of the Society ; 

 to the numerous donors of gifts and loans to the .Museum; to Captain 

 Hewitt and his colleagues for the time and trouble which they have de- 

 voted to the Observatory ; to Mr. Gerand for assistance in the adjustment 

 of the machinery ; and to the caretaker of the Museum for the zeal and 

 attention which he has devoted to his work. 



The balance-sheet shows that the total receipts wore 

 £80 Is. 9d., and the expenditure £159 2s. 4d., leaving a debit 

 balance of £79 0s. 7d. 



Election of Officers for 1908. — President — Mr. M. Cohen ; 

 Vice-Presidents— Messrs. A. A. Martin, M.D.. and M. A. Eliott ; 

 Council — Messrs. J. L. Barnicoat, E. H. Cooke, W. E. Durward, 

 P. Foote, B.A., E. Larcomb, C.E., and J. E. Vernon, M.A. ; 

 Secretary and Treasurer — K. Wilson, M.A. ; Auditor — R. N. 

 Keeling. 



