554 Proceedings. 



has thus been fifty-five, the total number on the roll at the present time being 391. 

 It may be remarked that this is the highest figure yet attained during the history of 

 the society. 



The number of members removed by death is above the average, and includes 

 several active workers. In Bishop W. L. Williams the Institute loses not only the 

 leading authority on the philology of the Maori race, but also a botanist of no mean 

 rank. Mr. A. T. Urquhart was for many years the chief worker on the spiders of the 

 Dominion, and twenty-one papers are credited to his name in the Transactions. Mr. 

 E. G. 13. Moss interested himself chiefly in the Mollusca. Other members of old 

 standing are Mr. J. J. Craig, Mr. R. Cranwell, Mr. P. Gleeson, Mr. J. W. James, and 

 Mr. R. S. Lamb. 



In common with almost all societies and associations within the British Empire, 

 the Institute includes among its members no small number who are serving their King 

 and country in the cruel and terrible war which the greed and rapacity of Germany 

 has plunged the greater part of the civilized world. It has been suggested that the 

 Institute might well be proud to retain such on its roll, as dormant members without 

 payment of fees, so long as they are absent from the Dominion. 



Finance. — An inspection of the balance-sheets accompanying this report will prove 

 that the finances of the society are in a thoroughly satisfactory position. The total 

 revenue of the working account, deducting the balance in hand at the beginning of 

 the year, has been £1,741 12s. 6d., showing an increase of no less than £257 15s. Id. on 

 the amount credited last year. This is partly due to several additions made to the 

 invested funds during the last eighteen months, consequent on the sale of certain 

 important endowments, and partly to the increase in the membership of the society. 

 Examining the various items, it will be seen that the members' subscriptions have 

 yielded £373 16s., against £308 14s. realized last year. The receipts from the Museum 

 Endowment, in rents and interest, have been £754 12s. 2d., last year's sum being 

 £550 16s. The invested funds of the Costley Bccpiest have provided £429 8s. lid., 

 the amount for the previous year being £441 15s. The total expenditure has been 

 unusually large, amounting to £1,960 lis. lid. Exceptional items have been £245 

 16s. 2d., being part of the cost of refitting and rearranging both the new ethnographical 

 hall and the mineral-room, particulars of which will be given farther on ; £200 in part 

 liquidation of the loan of £600 borrowed last year from the Investment Fund to provide 

 for the cost of the above work ; and a totally unexpected item of £114 5s. for neces- 

 sary repairs to the caretaker's house. The above payments have naturally caused the 

 balance in hand (£101 15s. 3d.) to be smaller than usual, but the amount will suffice 

 to carry on the operations of the society until it is replenished by the regular income. 



With respect to the invested funds of the society, the additions alluded to in the 

 previous paragraph have raised the total amount to the sum of £22,793 7s. 5d. With 

 the exception of about £200, the whole of this is invested in specially selected mort- 

 gages or in municipal debentures. 



Meetings. — Nine meetings have been held during the year; at which fifteen papers 

 and lectures were read, and an opportunity afforded for discussion. 



Those papers which were prepared for publication in the Transactions of the New 

 Zealand Institute have been forwarded to the Editor, and will probably appear in 

 Volume 49, now being sent to press. Volume 48, containing the papers read before 

 the various branches of the Institute during the year 1915, was not received for distri- 

 bution among the members until the end of November. Delays or irregularities in 

 the appearance of the annual volume are decidedly objectionable, and authors will 

 ultimately hesitate before submitting important memoirs to a society which may retain 

 them for nearly two years before publication. 



The Council regrets that the Government has seen fit to withdraw the special grant 

 of £250 which for several years has been voted in aid of the publication of the Trans- 

 actions. This action has compelled the Board of Governors of the Institute to levy a 

 call of 2s. 6d. per volume on the copies supplied to the incorporated societies, thus 

 seriously hampering the activities of the societies themselves. 



In connection with this subject, it may be remarked that the statutory grant to 

 the New Zealand Institute still remains at the sum of £500, the amount fixed at the 

 foundation of the Institute forty-nine years ago. At that time the total membership 

 of the Institute in all its branches amounted to only 178. At present the membership 

 is about 1,100, nearly 400 of which are enrolled with the Auckland Institute. Surely 

 it is time that the Government increased its annual subsidy to an amount more propor- 

 tionate to that raised by the incorporated societies. 



Co-ordination of Science and Industry. — Throughout the British Empire the present 

 war has led to much discussion on the need of a more active co-operation between 

 science and industry, and of a fuller recognition by the State of the value of scientific 



