218 Transactions. 



ciilate, simple or forked, many-flowered. Calyx hispid with, soft wliite 

 hairs ; lobes erect, linear-oblong, subacute. Corolla funnel-shaped ; tube 

 equalling the calyx, throat with 5 scales ; limb rather small. Stamens 

 inserted just below the corolla-scales ; filaments long, more than twice 

 the length of the anthers, which reach more than half-way up the corolla- 

 lobes. Nutlets ovoid, smooth and shining, dark brown. 



I describe this species with considerable hesitation, on account of its 

 evident close relationship to M. saxosa, a plant which has not been seen 

 since its first discovery by Mr. Colenso, nearly sixty-five years ago. Judg- 

 ing fiom Hooker's description, however, it differs from that plant in the 

 much larger size, more slender habit, fewer softer hairs, more numerous and 

 larger flowers, and in the anthers not being exserted. I have much pleasure 

 in dedicating it to Mr. Aston, who is doing so much towards increasing 

 our knowledge of the botany of the Tararua Range. ^ 



Art. XXIV. — The Absorption of Moisture from the Atmosphere by Wools. 



By A. M. Wright, F.C.S. 



[Bead before the Pkilosophical Institute of Canterbury, \st December, 1909.] 



Wool is very hygroscopic, and may contain from 8 up to 50 per cent, of 

 moisture, according to the conditions of the atmosphere to which it is 

 exposed. This is an important item in the sale of wool, and hence in Great 

 Britain and on the Continent the percentage of moisture contained in wool 

 to be sold must be officially determined in wool-conditioning laboratories. 



The legal amount of moisture allowed in most European countries 

 is 18-25 per cent. 



The purposes of this investigation were — (1) To determine under what 

 conditions wool absorbs moisture from the atmosphere ; (2) to determine 

 what constituents present in wool enable it to absorb such relatively large 

 amounts of moisture. 



The chemical composition of wool-fibre is nitrogenous, but we must 

 distinguish between the true wool-fibre and the incrustating and mechanic- 

 ally adhering matters. 



Pure wool-fibre consists for the most part of keratine, the characteristic 

 constituent of horn, feathers, &c., and is not of constant chemical com- 

 position, but varying in different qualities and kinds of wool. 



The incrustating and adhering matters consist of — {a) Wool-fat or yolk 

 (soluble in hot alcohol) ; (6) other fatty matter (soluble in ether) ; (c) suint, 

 which exudes from the body of the animal with the perspiration, and is 

 sometimes known as " wool-perspiration " (soluble in water) ; {d) adhering 

 impurities or dirt mechanically mixed with the above or entangled among 

 the fibres (mechanically removed after extracting the fats). 



The following are the analyses of the greasy and slipe wools of various 

 Idnds used in this investigation. The methods of analyses used are those 



