Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. 107 



Eighth Meeting : 3rd November, 1909. 



Present : Mr. Edgar R. Waite (President), in the chair, and thirty-seven 

 others. 



Papers. — 1. " On the Fishes of the Kermadec Islands," by Edgar R. 



Waite. 



This paper contains an enumeration of the fishes previously known as living at the 

 Kermadec Islands, with the species recently collected and presented to the Canterbury 

 ]\Iuseum by ^Ir. W. R. B. Oliver. The majority of the fishes recorded exhibit an 

 alliance with the faimas of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, some species — as, for 

 example, Machoerope latispinis, Ogil. — not being knoAvn elsewhere. 



2. " Some Hitherto-unrecorded Plant Habitats," by Dr. L. Cockayne. 



3. " Summaries of some Recent Papers relating to the New Zealand Insect 

 Fauna published outside the Dominion in 1907-9," by G. W. Kirkaldy. 



4. " List of Recent Shells found Fossil in New Zealand," by H. Suter ; 



communicated by Dr. Charles Chilton. 



This paper is a list of recent shells that have also been recorded as fossils from 

 New Zealand, with the geological range in time of each as knowTi at present. 



5. " On an Isopod inhabiting Ants' Nests in New Zealand," by Dr. 



Charles Chilton. 



This paper gives a description of an Isopod, Trichonisms comwensalis, sp. nov., 

 that is found in constant association with two species of ants ; it has been found 

 \>j Mr. W. W. Smith in Tarauaki and by Mr. McMahon in ^Marlborough. It is pale 

 in colour, but is not blind, having fairly Well-developed eyes. Though similar in habits 

 and general appearance to the European species found in ants' nests {Plalyarthtis hoff- 

 manseggii), it belongs to a diiferent family of the Oniscoidea. 



Annual Meeting : 1^^ December, 1909. 



Present : M. Edgar R. Waite (President), in the chair, and thirty-seven 

 others. 



New Members. — Messrs. S. Hurst Seager and A. Dudley Dobson. 



The following is an abstract of the annual report and balance-sheet 



submitted to the meeting and adopted : — - ^ 



In presenting the annual report of the year 1909, the Council has much jileasure 

 in recording the continued success of the Institute in those matters which fall within 

 its special province. The year has been an interesting one in many ways. During the 

 month of April, Canterbury had the honour of welcoming back Lieutenant Shackleton 

 from his memorable voyage to the Antarctic and his determined and almost successfid 

 attempt to reach the South Pole. As the leading scientific institution of the province, 

 this Institute decided to entertain Lieutenant Shackleton, his officers, and the scientific 

 staff of the S.Y. " Nimrod " at a bancpiet. Every assistance was received from members 

 and prominent citizens, and the gathering was a gratifying success. 



Darwin Celebration. — As the year is the centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin, 

 and the jubilee of the publication of the " Origin of Species," appropriate addresses 

 were delivered on different phases of Darwin's life and work. 



Siibantftrctic Islands of Netv Zealand. — During the year the public'ation of the results 

 of the expedition to the subantarcitic islands of New Zealand has been steadily pro- 

 ceeded with under the editorship of Dr. Chilton. The reports by the various specialists 

 proved to be very much longer than was at first anticipated, and the work will consist 

 of two quarto volumes of about four hundred pages eacih, and will be illustrated with 

 numerous plates (some coloured), photographs, and text figures, and will be accompaniefl 

 by a large coloured map of the antarctic and subantai-ctic regions showing the ocean- 

 depths as ascertained by recent expeditions. It is hoped to have the work issued before 

 the end of the year. 



