Wellington Philosophical Society. 721 



2. " On Anosia holina,'" a beautiful buttertlv that has 

 recently made its appearance in this district, by A. P. Buller ; 

 communicated by Sir W. Buller. {Transactions, p. 38.) 



Mr. Hudson said thi.s rare butterfly had now been found in Auck- 

 land, Nelson, and CoUiDgwood. 



3. " On the Shooting Stars in November, 1898," by Sir J. 



Hector. 



Sir James Hector said the November shooting stars originated in the 

 year 126, and were caused by a comet being drawn from its usual course 

 by the attraction of Uranus, a stream of stars thus being formed about a 

 million miles in width from side to side, about a hundred thousand miles 

 in depth, 1,885,000,000 miles in length, and 4,400,000,000 miles in circum- 

 ference. Through this immense ribbon of stars the earth passed once 

 in every thirty-throe years, and, as the stars were travelling the opposite 

 way to the earth, and at a speed of about twenty-three miles per second, 

 while the earth travelled at twenty-two miles per second, they passed at 

 the rate of forty-five miles per second. In 1833 and 1866 there were 

 magnificent displays of these shooting stars, but the appearance since the 

 last display of what was thought to be the head of the comet gave pro- 

 mise of the shooting stars of next November being a more awe-inspiring 

 sight than ever. The other day cablegrams from America announced that 

 some of the shooting stars had been seen there. That was the advanced 

 guard of next November's display. It took three days to go through the 

 ribbon, but the intense portion only occupied six or seven hours in pass- 

 ing. Sir James could not see how we in New Zealand were to suffer from 

 the shooting stars. We might see them, but they would pass at a tangent. 

 Although they looked formidable, they were not to be regarded as a source 

 of danger in any way. In the course of his remarks Sir James stated that 

 about a hundred thousand meteors fell into our atmosphere nearly 

 every week in the year, and they hardly ever reached the earth's surface. 

 An occasional one did get down. There was one at the Museum here 

 which fell at Masterton. It weighed only 91b., and consisted of alu- 

 minium, iron, nickel, and one or two of the basic ores. This was the 

 only one as yet found in New Zealand. The resistance of the earth's 

 atmosphere usually reduced them to dust before they reached the earth. 



Sir James Hector exhibited a number of additions to the 

 Museum, and made the following remarks on some of the 

 specimens : — 



The Olive. — The cultivation of the olive had not been attempted to 

 any extent in this colony, but there appeared to be some inducement to 

 undertake it. A specimen of the New Zealand olive, sent by the school- 

 master at the Upper Hutt, was produced, and evoked a short dissertation 

 on olive-growing from Sir James Hector. If the olive proper was grafted 

 on to the New Zealand olive, Sir James said, the trees would bear 

 fruit in twelve months, or at the most two years, whereas the imported 

 trees brought into the colony by Sir George Grey had taken from thirteen 

 to seventeen years before they bore. Mr. Travers agreed with Sir James 

 Hector, and thought the idea of grafting on to the local species a very 

 good one. 



Birch. — Among the birds exhibited were two cuckoos recently cap- 

 tured—one of them, in fact, was caught at Vogeltown. A peculiar feature 

 about these specimens. Sir James Hector remarked, was the fact that 

 both of them were gorged with young birds. It was well known, he said, 

 that the cuckoo made use of the nests of other birds to deposit its eggs, 

 but he did not think he had met a case before where the cuckoo had 

 eaten the young occupants before making use of the nest. 



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