536 Proceedings. 



Vote of £250 for Research. — A vote for the encouragement of research was placed 

 on the estimates for 1916-17 by the Hon. the Minister of Internal Affairs, in fulfilment 

 of his promise at the last annual meeting of the Board. (See Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 48, 

 p. 530.) The use of the vote was discussed by a deputation which waited on the Hon. 

 Mr. Russell in Dunedin, consisting of the President (Professor Benham), Professor Mar- 

 shall, and Mr. G. M. Thomson. The Minister inquired — (1) Under what conditions 

 could this money be most profitably spent in the interests of the Dominion ? (2) What 

 conditions is it suggested should be attached to the spending of the vote ? (3) Would 

 it be desirable to divide the money into, say, five prizes of £50 each or more ? (4) What 

 subject should be selected for research ? and asked that the matter be considered by 

 the Institute. The subject was duly referred by the President to the Standing Com- 

 mittee, with instructions to formulate proposals of a more or less definite character 

 to govern the expenditure of the vote. The Standing Committee drew up a scheme, 

 and waited in deputation on the Minister on the 20th October, Professors Easterfield 

 and Kirk, Drs. Cockayne and Allan Thomson, and Mr. B. C. Aston being present. The 

 deputation explained the scheme which had been agreed upon, and the Minister gave 

 his general approval. As a result of the meeting it was understood that- — 



(1.) The Institute would be entrusted with the expenditure of the vote of £250. 

 (2.) Any surplus unexpended on the 31st March, 1917, need not lapse, but should 

 be carried forward .to the succeeding year, the Minister hoping to be able 

 to increase the amount of the total vote for that year. 

 (3.) Portions of the vote will be paid as occasion arises on the recommendation 

 of the Institute, comparatively large items to receive the Minister's sanction 

 first. 

 (4.) The Minister is prepared to supply from a separate vote such scient'fic 



literature as may be required by research workers. 

 (5.) The two methods of distributing grants to research workers suggested by the 

 Standing Committee are approved, as follows : Preference to be given in 

 the first instance to investigations which appear to have an economic bear- 

 ing, purely scientific investigations to be by no means excluded. When the 

 research is one that leads to a direct economic advance the Government 

 shall reserve to itself the right of patenting the discovery and of rewarding 

 the discoverer ; but it is to be understood that grants from this vote of 

 £250 are not in the nature of a reward or prize, but for out-of-pocket 

 expenses incurred by the research worker. Plant, books, apparatus, chemi- 

 cals, &c, purchased for applicants are to remain the property of the Insti- 

 tute, and eventually to form a loan collection of apparatus in the manner 

 practised by the Royal Society of London. First method : Applications shall 

 be invited for grants in aid of research to be specfied by applicants. 

 Second method : The Governors of the Institute to suggest from time to 

 time subjects the investigation of which is desirable, and to ask capable 

 investigators to undertake such researches, the Institute to pay for appa- 

 ratus, material, and working-expenses, including assistance. 

 (6.) The Minister was prepared to give some relief in the matter of the Govern- 

 ment Printer's bill against the Institute, and to inquire into the method 

 adopted by the Government Printer in making his charges. The Minister 

 was prepared further to reissue certain papers individually or bound together 

 in booklet form. 

 On the 9th November, 1916, taking advantage of the presence in Wellington of 

 several Governors of the Institute, a meeting of the Standing Committee, attended by 

 the President, Professors Chilton, Easterfield, Kirk, and Segar, Drs. Cockayne and 

 Allan Thomson, and Mr. B. C. Aston, was held. Three applications from the Philo- 

 sophical Institute of Canterbury received for portions of the above vote were granted. 

 Grants have also been made to applicants through the Otago Institute, the Wellington 

 Philosophical Society, Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, and to Mr. D. Petrie. The 

 total vote of £250 has now been all apportioned. The scheme as outlined above has 

 been circulated among the incorporated societies, with the result that several applications 

 have been received. 



The matter has been put in order by receipt of a letter dated the 14th December, 

 1916, from the Under-Secretary, Internal Affairs, confirming the Minister's approval 

 of the above scheme, and stating that the question of granting some relief in the 

 Government Printer's account is receiving attention, and advising that the Philo- 

 sophical Institute of Canterbury's applications have been approved and the money banked 

 to the New Zealand Institute account. Dr. Cockayne, Professor Easterfield, and Dr. 

 J. Allan Thomson have been deputed to draw up conditions under which portions of 

 the vote shall be paid over to the grantees, to report to the annual meeting. 



Destruction of Fur Seals. — The Standing Committee has drawn the attention of 

 the Right Hon. the Minister of Lands to the case recentty reported in the daily Press 



