Seventh Annual Meeting. 95 



The Hon. Editor moved, " That the report be received and adopted." 

 Mr. Petrie seconded the motion, which was carried. In moving the adop- 

 tion of the report, the Hon. Editor congratulated the Government Printer 

 on the excellent mannejr in which the Transactions are printed. 



Mr. R. Speight moved, and Professor Benham seconded, " That the 

 Publication Committee consider the advisability of issuing monographs, 

 apart from the Transactions, embodying the results of research." Carried. 



Professor Benham moved, and Mr. K. Wilson seconded, " That it be an 

 instruction to the committee to consider the question of publishing Major 

 Bromi's papers on New Zealand Beetles as a separate publication, uniform 

 with his ' Catalogue of Coleoptera.' " Carried. 



Mr. G. M. Thomson announced, with regret, that he was unable to con- 

 tinue to act as Hon. Editor. On the motion of Dr. C. C. Farr, seconded 

 by Mr. R. Speight, it was resolved, " That the hearty thanks of the Institute 

 be accorded to Mr. G. M. Thomson for the active and energetic way in which 

 he has carried out the laborious duties of Hon. Editor for the past two 

 years." 



Mr. G. M. Thomson moved, and Professor Benham seconded, " That 

 this Institute suggests to the Government the desirability of having an 

 illustrated and descriptive catalogue of the fishes of New Zealand prepared 

 and printed. Carried." 



J? 



Report of the Index Committee. — The report of the Index Committee 

 was read, as follows : — 



The Index Committee rojiort that they have been in communication from time to 

 time with Mr. Riddick, and decided in August last to recommend the Standing Com- 

 mittee to accept his tender to compile an index, the first part of which will be an alpha- 

 betical list of authors, with the papers that tliey have written. The price agreed u])on 

 for the compilation of this portion was £30. Mr. Riddick is a person well qualified for 

 such work, having prepared the index for Dr. Hocken's " Bibliography of New Zea- 

 land," besides having had considerable experience in connection with the indexing of 

 Hansard. The cards on which the work is done are now in my hands, and ready for 

 the printer. The original estimate was that such a list would occupy about 100 pages, 

 and form Part I of the proposed index. 



The committee consider that Part II should be much more elaborate, and should 

 be arranged under subjects. Such an index would recpure considerable time for pre- 

 paration, and the manuscript of each section would have to be carefully revised by 

 those best acquainted with the various branches. 



As it was decided at the last annual meeting that the Index Committee were 'to 

 arrange for the cataloguing of the volumes after XL year by year on a definite scheme, 

 it is desirable that the committee should be reappointed, and should continue their 

 work, and report to the next annual meeting. 



The committee are prepared to hand over the material for the first part of the index 

 to the Publication Committee for printing, as ordered by the Board of Governors. 



The committee have been in constant communication with Mr. Riddick, and are 

 of the opinion that the ])art already done will be found satisfactory. 



A. Hamilton, President. 



The President (Mr. A. Hamilton) moved the adoption of the report. Mr. 

 Young Seconded the motion, which was carried. 



Report of the Hon. Librarian. — The report of the Hon. Librarian was read, 

 as follows : — 



The Hon. Librarian beg.s to rejiort that the number of pieces received during the 

 year as exchanges and presentations amoimted to 907. 



The number of members using the library is again very small. As I mentioned 

 in my last report, I think to a large extent the small number of books taken out by 

 members is due to the comparative inaccessibility of the books. 



