562 Proceedings. 



the Alaska record there were overlapping records. An eleotric system of 

 obtaining numerous seismograms simultaneously had been tried, but it 

 was pronounced a failure, as the lower seismograms were not aocurate. 



The President (Mr. G. V. Hudson) thanked Mr. Hogben for his 

 address, and the thanks were emphasized by the meeting. 



3. " Survey : Practical and Precise," by the Hon. G. F. 

 Eichardson. (Transactions, p. 492.) 



4. " Researches into the Action of Fusible Cutouts," by 

 E. G. Brown, A.I.E.E. (Transactions, p. 356.) 



5. "Note on Vapour - density of Mercury," by Douglas 

 Hector, student in Victoria College ; communicated by Pro- 

 fessor Easterfield. (Transactions, p. 382.) 



6. " Embryological Structure of New Zealand Lepid- 

 optera," by A. Quail, F.E.S. (Transactions, p. 159.) 



The following exhibits were laid on the table by Sir J. 

 Hector : — 



A great eel, as big as a conger — 5 ft. 6 in. in length, and 

 weighing probably over 20 lb. 



The big fish, which, as Sir James Hector remarked, would no doubt 

 account for the disappearance of a good many trout, was caught in the 

 Hutt River near Silvtrstream. It is rare in the scientific sense, though 

 Sir James had no doubt that numerous examples lurked in dark places 

 in the Hutt River. It is known to science as a New Zealand fish, 

 under the name of Angnilla latirostris ; but, though the British Museum 

 possesses a specimen, this is the only one in any collection in the 

 oolony. Four or five species of New Zealand eels required careful 

 study and description, and could give plenty of work to some of our 

 young naturalists. 



Sir James Hector gave interesting details of the habits of eels. 

 Their method of reproduction had, he said, long been a mystery, care- 

 ful examination always failing to detect eggs in the body of the female. 

 It was now known that they retired to the ocean for the breeding-season, 

 and at great depths — under the enormous pressure of some thousand 

 fathoms of water — deposited their eggs. A small, thin, translucent fish, 

 the Leptocephahis, had now been proved to be the fry of the conger, 

 and a flood of light had been thrown on the subject. Large eels like 

 this were rarely seen except when streams or ponds were drained.' This 

 one got into a backwater, and was killed in somewhat unsportsmanlike 

 fashion with a pitchfork. There was another great fresh-water eel in 

 New Zealand, found in the Waikato, the Buller, and in Lake Waka- 

 tipu, but differing from this one in important respects. In that species 

 the jaws were equal, while in this one the lower jaw projected con- 

 siderably beyond the upper ; the Waikato eel was steel-blue, and this 

 one was a brownish-olive above and below. 



A pair of skulls, male and female, of a leopard-seal (genus 



Stenorhynclius, species doubtful), from Macquarie Island. 



One of the animals, Sir James Hector explained, had suffered the 

 agonies of toothache, one of the tusks showing signs of extensive caries. 

 A curious habit of this species, who dived with difficulty on account of 

 their fat, was to swallow rounded stones for ballast. Ou dissection 

 their stomachs were usually found loaded with stones. 



A supposed true specimen of Salmo salar in the smolt stage, 

 taken in the entrance of the Motueka River, Nelson. 



