6 Proceedings. 



tives had been elected by the societies aflfiliated to the Institute : Messrs. D. Petrie 

 aud J. Stewart (Auckland Institute) ; Professor T. H. Eastertield and Mr. Martin Chap- 

 man, K.C. (Wellington Philosophical Society) ; Professor Charles Chilton and Dr. C. C. 

 Farr (Philosophical Institute of Canterbury) ; Professor W. B. Benham and Mr. G. M. 

 Thomson (Otago Institute) ; ^Ir. H. Hill (Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute) ; Dr. L. 

 Cockayne (Nelson Institute) ; Mr. T. H. Gill (Westland Institute) ; and Mr. Kenneth 

 Wilson (Manawatu Philosophical Society). 



|> i The following officers were elected for 1909 : President, Mr. G. M. Thomson, 

 F.L.S., F.C.S. ; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Martin Chapman, K.C. ; Secretary, Mr. Thomas 

 King ; Hon. Editor of Transactions, Mr. G. ^L Thomson ; Hon. Librarian, ]Mr. 

 Augustus Hamilton ; Publications Committee, Professor C. Chilton, Professor W. B. 

 Benham. Dr. C. C. Farr, and the Hon. Editor. 



The honorary members elected were Dr. L. Diels, of Berlin ; the Rev. T. R. R. Steb- 

 bing, F.R.S., of Tunbridge Wells ; and Mr. E. Meyrick, B.A., F.R.S., of Marlborough 

 College, Wilts. There are now twenty-nine honorary members on the roll, and the 

 meeting will therefore be asked to elect one new member. 



K I In accordance with resolutions passed at last annual meeting, Professor T. W. E. 

 David, Professor W. A. Haswell, aud Mr. J. H. Maiden, all of Sydney, were asked to act 

 as a committee to suggest a suitable recipient of the Hutton Memorial Medal. The two 

 last-mentioned gentlemen have consented to act, but no reply has yet been received 

 from Professor David, who is absent in the far south as a member of the " Nimrod" 

 Antarctic Expedition. The dies for the medal, and several specimens of the medal, 

 have been received from England, and (by permission) have been lodged by the Secre- 

 tary in the Dominion Museum for safe keeping. 



The Committee set up at last annual meeting " to examine the books of the library 

 with a view to determining their ownership" has never met, two of the members being 

 resident in the South Island ; consequently the position remains unaltered. 



The same committee was set up to revise the exchange list ; and Professors Benham 

 and Chilton submitted suggestions to Mr. A. Hamilton, the W^ellington member of the 

 committee, as to the alterations recpiired in the list. The matter is dealt with in the 

 report of the Hon. Librarian, presented at. this meeting. 



At the last meeting a committee was set up to go into the matter of the delay in 

 the issue of the 39th volume of the Transactions. This committee interviewed the 

 Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister in charge of the Printing Department, and the Government 

 Printer, and obtained a promise from those gentlemen that steps would be taken to 

 expedite the issue of future volumes. The delay in the past year was in part attributed 

 to the unprepared manner in which ]iapers intended for publication were sent in ; and 

 the Government Printer undertook to supply a memorandum on the subject for the 

 guidance of Secretaries of affiliated societies and of authors of papers. This memorandum 

 was received by the Editor in February last, and copies were forwarded to the Secre- 

 taries of the several affiliated societies. It is, however, evident that the delay was largely 

 due to the block of parliamentary business ; and to obviate this in future it is advisable 

 that the volume should be printed as early in the year as possible. 



The committee appointed to make arrangements for the preparation of an index 

 to the forty volumes of the Transactions has not been able to come to a final decision 

 as to the course to be pursued. The committee has obtained specifications from two 

 persons ciualified to undertake the work, and is in communication with a third, but so 

 far is unable to report definitely. 



A geographical difficulty similar to the one spoken of in the paragraph referring to 

 the Ownership of Books Committee has prevented the Hector Memorial Committee of 

 the Institute from meeting. The members of the committee live in different ]iarts of 

 the Dominion, and have not found it practicable to assemble in Wellington. They are, 

 however, co-operating with the main Hector Memorial Committee, which has the matter 

 in hand. That committee has been reconstituted, and is in correspondence with the 

 other bodies which are acting in the interests of the movement. The amount so far 

 collected by the committees is, unfortunately, too small for the end in view. The main 

 Hector Memorial Committee, at the instance of the Standing Committee of the Board 

 of Governors, has therefore suggested to the Memorial Committee of the Institute, and 

 to the allied committees in Auckland, W^ellington, Christchurch. and Dunedin, that a 

 joint circular shordd be issued, signed by representatives of all the committees, appeal- 

 ing for further subscri])tions to the fund. This suggestion has been adopted. A draft 

 circular has been drawn up by the main ^Memorial Committee and submitted to the 

 other committees, and its terms are now being discussed. Members of the Christchurch 

 and Dunedin committees have stipulated for one or two fundamental changes in the 

 wording of the circular. This has temporarily delayed matters : biit it is hoped that 

 agreement will shortly be arrived at ujjon the points at issue, and that as soon as the 



