Annual Meeting. 501 



The administration of the grants made to Dr. Adams and the question 

 of the unexpended balance of the vote to the late Sir David Hutchins 

 were left in the hands of the Standing Committee to deal with. 



With regard to the grant to Mr. Morrison, on the motion of Dr. Cockayne, 

 seconded by Dr. Thomson, it was resolved, That the Standing Committee 

 be instructed to ascertain from the Forestry Department whether they are 

 prepared to give Mr. Morrison facilities for carrying out his research and 

 so relieve the Research Fund of this expense. 



Report of Research Grant Committee, 1920. 



(Dr. J. Allan Thomson, Mr. Furkert, and Mr. Aston.) 



(For previous reports see Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 50, p. 333 ; vol. 51, p. 462 ; and 



vol. 52, p. 479.) 



Professor J. Malcolm, who in 1919 was granted £275, and in 1920 £150, through the 

 Otago Institute, for a research on the chemical composition and food value of New 

 Zealand fishes, reported on the 3rd December, 1920, that Mrs. D. E. Johnson, B.Sc, 

 had, under his supervision, continued this research throughout the year. Samples of 

 groper and kingfish were analysed at fairly regular intervals from February to September 

 to give some idea of the seasonal variations. Some new varieties were analysed — e.g., 

 whitebait — and a detailed qualitative analysis of the edible parts of the groper had been 

 commenced, and the results would be published in vol. 53, Trans. N.Z. Inst., as Part II 

 of the series of papers on the subject. About £220 had been expended, and liability 

 for apparatus ordered but not come to hand had been incurred up to about £50, leaving 

 a balance of about £150. Professor Malcolm desires to continue the research next year. 



Professor J. Malcolm, who in 1918 was granted £30 through the Otago Institute 

 for a research on New Zealand plant poisons, reported on the 3rd December, 1920, that 

 owing to the claims of University work and the research of the food values of fish he 

 had been unable to complete the work, and, as there still remained about £14 unexpended, 

 he would like to have the time extended for another year. 



Dr. C. Chilton, who in 1918 was granted £50 through the Philosophical Institute 

 of Canterbury for investigation on the New Zealand flax (phormium), reported on the 

 22nd November, 1920, that owing to Mrs. Dr. B. D. McCallum being still in Edinburgh, 

 and it being impossible to find any one to continue the work, no progress had been made 

 with this research. He hoped that one of the students now finishing their honours 

 course would be able to take up the work ; if not, the balance of the grant would be 

 refunded. 



Mr. H. D. Skinner, who in 1920 was granted £200 through the Otago Institute 

 for work among the South Island Maoris, reported on the 15th November, 1920, that 

 Mr. Beattie, his assistant, had been working in the field between the Bluff and Kaiapoi, 

 and had secured a large amount of entirely new material relating to Maori life in Otago, 

 Canterbury, Westland, and Nelson. In view of the scantiness of the material previously 

 recorded from the South Island, Mr. Beattie's results are of very great importance. 

 An amount of £3 10s. is still unexpended. 



Messrs. R. Speight and L. J. Wild, who in 1916 were granted £50 through the 

 Philosophical Institute of Canterbury for a research on the phosphatic limestones of 

 Canterbury, reported on the 21st October, 1920, that it had not been possible to do any 

 work in connection with this grant during the current year, and no further sum had been 

 expended, so that the amount of £7 remaining from last year is still left over, and the 

 grantees would be glad if the Board would consent to its being available for the 

 ensuing year, when it is confidently expected that the investigation will be completed. 

 It is still possible, though not probable, that one or two outlying masses of limestone 

 not yet examined may furnish material in commercial amount, and their possibilities 

 should be thoroughly determined before the research is discontinued. 



Mr. B. Speight, who in 1919 was granted £225 through the Philosophical Institute 

 of Canterbury for a geological survey of Malvern Hills, reported on the 21st October, 

 1920, that the work had been carried out during the year, and a complete examination 

 had been made of Cordys Flat and the country adjoining it. This work had been 

 facilitated by the recommencement of prospecting in the neighbourhood of Hill's old 

 mine, and the results encourage the hope that payable coal may be located in the flat, 

 but further prospecting, either by shafts or by boring, on some plan, will have to be 

 resorted to before the existence of a payable field can be established. An investigation 

 of other parts of the district is in progress, and may yet disclose the presence of large 



