New Zealand Institute. 445 



JVIiscell.aneous 



Zoology 



Botany 



Geology 



Chemistry 



Proceedings . 



Ajipendix 



576 608 



Copies of Vol. XL were presented to Parliament on the 8th September, 1908. 



In accordance with resolutions passed at the last annual meeting, the volumes of 

 the Transactions now stored in the vault of Parliament Buildings have been insured 

 for the sum of £500, and the Institute's books stored in the Dominion Museum. Wel- 

 lington, have been insured for £2,000. 



As decided at last annual meeting, the Standing Committee has given consideration 

 to the question of reprinting papers which have appeared in the Transactions. After 

 going carefully into the subject, the committee has come to the conclusion that it is not 

 desirable for the Board in the meantime to undertake the reprinting of papers. 



A question which has engaged the attention of the Standing Committee, and which 

 seems deserving of consideration by the Board as a whole, is that of the constitution 

 of the committees which are sometimes appointed by the Board for the conduct of special 

 business. Several such committees were set up at last annual meeting. These were 

 composed of members residing in widely separated districts of the colony, but in no 

 instance was a convener or an executive officer a^jpointed. The result has been unsatis- 

 factory. Each member of a committee has been in doubt as to who was to take the 

 initiative, and in consequence great difficulty has been experienced by the committees 

 in getting to work. 



The Standing Committee has found it impracticable to make the arrangements 

 necessary for holding, in terms of the resolution passed at the last annual meeting, a 

 special general meeting of the members of the Institute on the 29th January. 1909, 

 and, in consequence, the meeting in question must lapse. 



It seems advisable that the practice of granting diplomas of membership to gentle- 

 men who are elected honorary members of the Institute should be revived. Such 

 diplomas were regularly issued under the original Act, and were appreciated by the 

 recipients ; but the passing of the Act of 1903 rendered the wording of the old form of 

 clii)loma obsolete, and no diplomas have been given during the past five years. With 

 a few unimportant alterations the ])hraseology of the old form could be adapted to 

 present-day requirements, and the siipply of amended forms coidd be printed for a 

 triffing sum. 



On the 16th December. 1908, the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury gave notice 

 that Professor Charles Chilton had resigned his seat on the Board, and that Mr. R. Speight, 

 of Christchurch, had been elected in his place to represent the Christchurch society. 



The Secretary, Mr. Thomas King, has explained to the Standing Committee that 

 he finds that the secretarial work takes up very much more time than he anticipated, 

 or than he can spare, and that he has therefore, with regi-et, decided not to seek re-elec- 

 tion. 



The amount standing at the credit of the Carter Bequest Fund with the Public 

 Trustee on the 31st December, 1908, including interest accrued to the 31st December, 

 1908, was £2,735 16s. 5d. The Public Trustee also holds on account of the bequest 

 scrip in the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company (Limited) of the total 

 face value of £32 5s. 5d. His certificate accompanies the present report. At the last 

 annual meeting it was decided that the Hon. Treasurer should be asked to endeavour 

 to arrange with the Public Trustee for the payment of interest on this money at 4i per 

 cent., instead of 4 per cent, per annum. On inquir}', however, the Treasurer ascertained 

 that as a matter of fact 41 per cent, was being allowed on the deposit, that being the 

 rate paid by the Public Trust Office on sums not exceeding £3,000. There was there- 

 fore no occasion for the Treasurer to take action. 



A duly audited statement of the Institute's receipts and expenditure for the past 

 year, showing a credit balance of £392 10s. lid., is presented with this report. 



Geo. M. Thomson, President. 



