Wellington Philosophical Society. 7 



The section is very deeply indebted to Mr. A. Hamilton, Director of Observatories, 

 tor his kindness in placing at our disposal a fine 5 in. Cooke telescope, and tor granting 

 the use of a portion of the Time Observatory site at Kelburne for storing, and observing 

 with, the same. The telescope has been moved to Kelburne, and is now available for 

 the use of members, but we hope that it will be much more conveniently so before very 

 long. Nearly live months ago the Council ordered from England an equatorial mounting 

 for it. This should very soon arrive in Wellington, so immediate steps must be taken 

 to provide for the housing of the instrument. 



The principal object of the section is to promote and encourage in every possible 

 way the study of astronomy. As one of the chief means to that end the section 

 is striving to secure the speedy establishment in or near Wellington of a fully equipped 

 astronomical observatory, it is felt that progress in this direction will be slow unless 

 public interest in astronomy can be aroused. It is proposed, therefore, as soon as the 

 telescope is mounted and housed, to give those who desire it an opportunity of seeing 

 some of the wonders of the heavens. 



Unfortunately, the section as constituted has no direr! and permanent source of 

 revenue. Membership of the Philosophical Society carries with it the right of member- 

 ship of the section without any additional subscription. The section started with 

 uothing, and although there is now £34 12s. in the savings-bank it is in urgent need of 

 further funds. The equatorial mounting ordered from England is catalogued at £33 

 without some extras that were found essential, and, of course, the mounting will be 

 useless unless the telescope is adequately housed. Subscriptions for this purpose would 

 be very welcome now. When the section was constituted Dr. C. M. Hector opened 

 the Observatorj' Fund with a donation of £10. This was followed by donations from 

 Miss Helycr, and Messrs. J. P. Firth, W. H. Carter, jun., J. Thompson, and A. C. Gifford 

 The total subscriptions up to the present amount to £16 6s., which with the £18 6s., 

 the net proceeds of Dr. Kennedy's lecture, makes up the £34 12s. already referred to. 



The question of the best way to house the telescope was discussed at the last meeting 

 of the section, and is at present a matter for the serious consideration of the Council. 



Several interesting papers are promised for the forthcoming meetings, so, with the 

 increased interest that will doubtless be aroused by the facilities for observation that 

 will soon be provided, the section can look forward with confidence to a successful 

 season's work. 



A. C. Gifford, Hon. Secretary. 



Special Meeting : 18th May, 1911. 



A special meeting of the society was held on Thursday, 18th May, 1911, 

 at Victoria College. 



Mr. G. V. Hudson, President, in the chair, and about seventy present. 



Lecture. — Professor T. H. Laby delivered an interesting lecture on the 

 principles of gyroscopic motion, and showed a number of experiments with 

 gyroscopes and a model of the Brennan mono -rail car, which had been 

 built in the physics laboratory. 



All the experiments were most successful, and when the requisite speed had been 

 attained by the gyroscopes of the car it was run over a wire stretched across the room, 

 and maintained its equilibrium in spite of tiltings and repeated shakings of the wire. 



Mr. G. Hogben, Inspector- General of Schools, moved a vote of thanks to the lecturer, 

 and remarked on the interesting manner in which Professor Laby had explained one of 

 the newest developments of mechanics. 



Mr. A. L. Beattie, Chief Mechanical Engineer to the Railway Department, seconded 

 the motion, and said that as a railway engineer of forty-five years standing he had been 

 particularly interested in the professor's exposition. 



The motion was carried with ereat heartiness. 



