Otagu InstiUite. 603 



Dr. Benham exhibited casts of the skull and feet of the 

 generalised fossil mammal Phenacodus. 



The changes that had gradually taken place in the form of the foot 

 of the horse, from those found on the fossil remains of the horse to that 

 of the present time, were explained by means of the casts and skeleton 

 legs exhibited. 



Dr. Benham also exhibited the peculiar spiral cases of the 

 caddis-worm Helicopsyche, received per Mr. R. Browne, of 

 Tokanui. 



Dr. Malcolm exhibited a capillary electrometer, and ex- 

 plained its action by means of sketches on the blackboard. 

 Afterwards, under a microscope, by means of the instrument, 

 the electric current in living tissues was shown in a frog's muscle. 



Papers. — 1. " An Account of some Earthworms from Little 

 Barrier Island," by Dr. Benham. (Transactions, p. 248.) 



2. " Some Additional Earthworms from the North Island," 

 by Dr. Benham. (Transactions, p. 239.) 



3. " Note on a Large Specimen of Pterotrachea,^ by Dr. 

 Benham. (Transactions, p. 245.) 



Dr. Hocken began the reading of a very interesting paper 



on " The Rev. Samuel Marsden and the Early New Zealand 



Missions." 



The author has collected a mass of very valuable data relating to his 

 subject, and during his recent visit to England gathered much authentic 

 information in the village near Leeds where Mr. Marsden was born. The 

 paper dealt with the early life, the education at the university, the ordi- 

 nation, and the appointment to an official position in New South Wales 

 of the reverend gentleman ; but the biographical sketch had not got beyond 

 the voyage out to Botany Bay in the convict ship "William," and the 

 birth of a daughter in the midst of very rough shipboard surroundings, 

 when the further reading of the paper was adjourned. 



•Seventh Meeting : lith November, 1905. 



Mr. J. C. Thomson, President, in the chair. 



The following resolution was passed : ; ' That the members 

 of the Otago Institute record their great sense of the loss which 

 the cause of biological science has sustained by the death of 

 Captain Hutton, F.R.S. As an indefatigable and earnest worker 

 in many branches of natural science he has left his mark deep 

 on the scientific records of this colony, in which his name will 

 always be remembered as one of the pioneers of biological work. 

 As teacher of biology and geology in Otago University and 

 Canterbury College, as Curator of both Museums, as President 

 of this Institute and of the New Zealand Institute, and as Presi- 

 dent of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of 



