PROCEEDINGS 



OP THE 



NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE. 



PART III 



PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE OF CANTERBURY. 



Third Meeting : 1th July, 1909. 

 Present : Mr. Edgar R. Waite (President) in the chair, and sixty others. 



New Members.— Messrs. C. E. Toovey. AV. D. Blair, F. T. Agar, J. H. 

 8eager, and Professor Gabbatt. 



A large number of donations were received, and laid on the table. 



The Secretary referred to the announcement of the death of Mr. J. T. 

 Meeson, a past President and Treasurer of the Institute, and a very active 

 member for many years. 



By the direction of the President, it was decided to make dne record of his services 

 on the minutes of the Institute. 



The President announced that the sum of nearly £35 had been con- 

 tributed to date for the funds of the Institute, and by private members of 

 the Institute towards the Hector Memorial Fund. 



The Pres'dent further detailed the steps which were being taken towards 



seeming the more adequate protection of our fauna. 



He mentioned that arrangements had been made for holding a conference with 

 the Acclimatisation Society, so as to secure \inited action in the matter. 



Papers. — 1. " Sand-dunes," by Dr. L. Cockayne. 



This was illustrated by a very fine series of lantern-slides of sand-dunes of the 

 Dominion and of foreign countries. ^lany of the pictures from which these slides were 

 made were taken by Dr. Cockayne himself during the course of the work on which he 

 was engaged at the request of the Government, and the Institute is indebted to the 

 Minister of Lands for granting permission to him to lecture on the subject before his 

 official re])ort has been made public. 



The lecturer drew attention, first of all, to the large area in the Dominion — no less 

 than 310,000 acres — which was occupied by sand-dunes. He dwelt upon the importance 

 of dealing properly with the area so that it might give the best return to the State, and 

 also that it might be as little a danger as possible to fertile lands. In this connection 

 he detailed instances where good agricultural land was being destroyed by an invasion 

 of sand-dunes. 



After this introduction Dr. Cockayne described the formation of sand-ripples, 

 explaining fully the action of wind-vortices, and then led on to the different types of 

 ilunes, detailing their formation and destruction. 



