Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. 109 



Meetings of the Iiislitute. — During the year eight ordinary meetings of the Institute 

 and one additional ortlinary meeting have been held, and the a^■erage attendance has 

 been eighty-live. 



During the session twenty- three papers have been received. These may be classified 

 as follows : Zoology, ti ; botany, o ; geology. 4 ; chomistry and physics. (5 ; miscellaneous, 2. 

 Several of these papers have been contributed by ]iersons residing outside the Dominion. 

 In addition to the papers of technical nature, live addresses of more general interest 

 were delivered. 



Membership. — During the year fourteen members have been elected and seventeen 

 have resigned or been struck oft', so that the number now stands at 1 Wl. 



Balance-sheet. — The balance-sheet shows a credit balance on the ordinary actount 

 of £155 7s. 7d., after an exjjenditure of £(iO lOs. 7d. on the library and an additional 

 contribution of £10 10s, to the Hector Memorial Fund. A further sum of £20 7s. 8d. 

 has been expended on the Otira Pass Tunnel investigation, and the balance to the 

 credit of the Tunnel Account is £14!» 7s. lid. 



Election of Officers for 1910. — President — Mr. R. M. Laing ; Vice- 

 Presidents — Mr. A. M. Wright, Dr. L. Cockayne ; Hon. Secretary — Mr. R. 

 Speight ; Hon. Treasurer — Dr. Charles Chilton ; Hon. Librarian — Mr. Edgar R. 

 Waite ; Council — Mr. J. Drummond, Dr. W. P. Evans, Dr. C. Coleridge 

 FaiT, Mr. E. G. Hogg, Mr. J. B. Mayne, and Mr. S. Page ; Representatives 

 on the Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute — Dr. C. Coleridge 

 Farr and Mr. R. Speight ; Hon. Auditor~Mv. G. E. Way, F.I.A.N.Z. 



Papers. — 1. " Glacial and Geological Memoranda from McMurdo Sound," 



by T. V. Hodgson. 



This paper embodies the results of observations made by 'Mr. T. V. Hodgson, bio-ogist 

 to the National Antarctic Expedition, and deals chieflj^ with the varying effects of pres- 

 sure on the ice near the ship's winter quarters, as well as with the occurrence of heaps 

 of rubble which cover the ice in certain localities. The author attributes the latter 

 indirectly to volcanic action. 



2. " Notes on New Zealand Fishes," by Edgar R. Waite. 



The paper states that the local species of Cejjhaloscyllium should be known as 

 C. sabella, Broussonet, this name antedating C. laticeps, Dumeril. Cenirophorus plunketi 

 is a new species, and the first record of the genus in New Zealand. Triarcus is a new 

 genus proposed for Maurolicus australis. Hector. A Centrolophus identified by Hutton 

 with C. hritannictis is described as new under the name C. hutioni. Cheimarrichihys 

 fosteri. Haast, is redescribed, and its known range extended. 



3. " Additions to the Terrestrial Isopoda of New Zealand," by Dr. 

 Charles Chilton. 



A supplement to the paper iniblished by the author in the " Transactions of <he 

 Linnean Society " for 1901, containing additional information with regard to the group. 



4. " The Absorption of Moisture from the Atmosphere bv Wools," hv 

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



Absteact. 



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

 according to the condition of the atmosphere to which it is exposed. The moisture 

 content is an important consideration in the sale of wool, and in Great Britain and on 

 the Continent the percentage of moistin-e contained in the wool to be sold is officially 

 determined in " wool conditioning " laboratories. The legal amount of moisture 

 allowed in most Euro])ean countries is 18-25 i)er cent. 



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

 wool absorbs moisture from the atmosphere ; (2) to determine what constituents pre- 

 sent in wool enable it to absorb such relatively large amounts of nioisture. 



The chemical composition of wool fibre is nitrogenous, but in addition to the true 

 wool-fibre there are normally present the following encrustating and mechanically 

 adhering matters : (a) Wool-fat or yolk ; (6) other fatty matter ; (c) suint. which exudes 

 from the body of the animal with the persjiiration. and is sometimes called " wool-per- 

 spiratioir " ; (d) adhering impurities, or dirt mechanically mixed with the above, or 

 entangled among the fibres. 



