Wellington Philosophical Society. 563 



Sir James Hector said the specimen was received on 10th December, 

 and was submitted for examination by Mr. J. R. Macdonald, hon. secre- 

 tary of the Nelson Acclimatisation Society, who wrote that it was sup- 

 posed to be the young of some true salmon turned out in the Motueka 

 River two years ago, their length being then from 4 in. to 11 in. and their 

 age two years, and that they had been reared from the eggs in the 

 Nelson ponds. Some apparently similar fish have been caught in the 

 Maitai River, in Nelson, which is thirty miles distant from the Motueka 

 River, alongside of which are the breeding-ponds of the Nelson society. 

 The specimen was in bad condition. The spirit used was too strong, and 

 the delicate scales were stripped. It was the nearest approach to the 

 smolt of the true salmon he had seen, except a few from Whanganui. 

 It was desirable that good specimens should be preserved next November, 

 when these fish might probably reappear, and perhaps also a run of grilse 

 later on in the seasoD. Specimens for examination should be most care- 

 fully handled, and at once wrapped in butter-cloth that had been soaked 

 in a 5-per-cent. solution of formalin, and packed lightly in a jar or 

 kerosene-tin containing a similar solution reduced to 3 per cent. Total 

 length of specimen submitted, 14 in. ; of head, 3 in. ; of gill-opening, 2 in. 

 Anal rays, 10 (the Californian salmon has 14); L.L., 108; L.T., |g. 

 Opercular spots, 4. Covered with pearly-white scales, with a few minute 

 black x spots. Back fins, black ; belly fins, white. Ray formula : B, 11 ; 

 D, 11 ; A, 10 ; P, 13 ; V, 9. 



A beautiful specimen, sent by Mr. W. Timperley, of 

 Wairoa, Hawke's Bay, of the coral lichen, with which the 

 ground in the beech forests of that district is densely covered. 



A series of six photographs (Plates XVIII. -XXIII.) of the 

 reserves at Dusky Sound. 



These pictures, said Sir J. Hector, were received from Mr. Henry last 

 year, but too late for inclusion in the volume. The most interesting is that 

 of Captain Cook's camp on what he named " Astronomer's Point, " and 

 where the stumps of the large-sized trees which he there cut down to 

 secure a solid foundation for his observinginstruments still remain. 

 One of these was removed in 1863 and placed in the Otago Museum. 



