556 Proceedings. 



birds and our domestic poultry. An alarming circumstance — the abnor- 

 mal development of these creatures— was pointed out by Sir James 

 Hector. A colonial-bred ferret exhibited measured 26 in. in length, his 

 British progenitors measuring only 16 in. 



Sixth Meeting: 15th January, 1901. 



Mr. G. V. Hudson, President, in the chair. 



Neic Member. — Mr. A. Quail. 



Papers. — 1. " Hymenopterous Parasite," by A. QuaiL 

 (Transactions, p. 153.) 



2. " On obtaining Lcpidoptera in Southland by the Sugar- 

 ing Process," by Mr. A. Philpott ; communicated by Mr. G. V. 

 Hudson. (Transactions, p. 166.) 



3. "On Giotto's Circle and Writing," by H. N. McLeod. 

 (Transactions, p. 491.) 



Mr. Hudson agreed that the illegibility in writing was due to the 

 angular form ; it was more easy to read the up-and-down and circular 

 forms. 



Mr. Mestayer said the subject was not new. Thirty years ago, in an 

 engineer's office, the leading draughtsman had the same idea, based on 

 the theory of circles. All the letters of his beautiful writing could be 

 resolved into circles ; he could draw a perfect circle without difficulty. 



Mr. Harding doubted whether the circular curve is the sign of 

 artistic beauty, but, rather, the elliptic. The latter was used now instead 

 of the circle. Every one had their own particular curve in writing or 

 drawing, and his work could be told by the curves and angles. 



Mr. Joynt could not quite see the connection between the title and 

 the mode of treatment adopted in the paper. If it was meant to imply 

 that in drawing a circle Giotto intended to give the weight of his 

 authority to a particular principle in art, the assumption was quite 

 false, and was contradicted by the general character of his work. So, 

 too, there was a danger of confusion in advocating the circular form in 

 handwriting : was it as being the most desirable form in itself, or as 

 most suitable for giving freedom and pliancy to the muscles of the 

 hand? As to legibility, he held that it did not depend on any particular 

 form of handwriting, but on the degree of resemblance of a piece of 

 writing to the form with which the reader was most familiar. 



Dr. Fyffe said the Phoenician circular form was not used as an O, 

 but an ellipse. An artist's work could be detected by his mannerism, not 

 by curves or angles. 



Mr. McLeod still thought the circular form would be the best for 

 writing. 



4. "On the Bite of the Katipo," by Dr. Fyffe. (Trans- 

 actions, p. 136.) 



Sir James Hector said this was the second recorded case from the 

 same locality. The first case was that of a local police constable, who 

 sucoumbed to the poison. He understood that, as in cases of snake-bite, 

 prompt application of ammonia had been found to have a powerful effect. 

 The katipo was abundant on beaches and sandhills, infesting driftwood, 

 old bones, &c. The thanks of the society were due to Dr. Fyffe for taking 

 up the subject. 



