Manawatu Philosophical Society. 653 



MANAWATU PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 



First Meeting : 19th March, 1914. 



Paper.— 1 ' The Evolution of the English House," by Mr. C. R. Ford. 



Tracing its gradual development from early Saxon times to the present, with 

 numerous lantern illustrations. 



Second Meeting : 16th April, 1914. 



Paper. — " Some Interesting Facts in Connection with the Geology of 

 New Zealand," by Mr. J. W. Poynton, S.M. 



The paper spoke of the antiquity of the rock-formation of New Zealand, the fre- 

 quency of faults therein ; the peculiarities of the flora and fauna — specially mentioning 

 among the latter the peripatus and the tuatara — and the evidence which they afforded 

 of a land connection in prehistoric times with South America by way of the Antarctic 

 Continent, and also with the tropical regions to the north. 



Third Meeting : 21st May, 1914. 



Paper. — " The Effect of Wet and Dry Epochs upon Ancient Civilizations," 

 by Mr. W. Welch, F.R.G.S. 



The paper maintained the theory that the humidity of different regions of the earth 

 varied by more or less regular pulsations, and supported the theory by the results of 

 recent investigations into the physical geography of Transcaspia, Palestine, and the 

 south-west of North America, and also by apparent variation in the growth of trees 

 as shown by the variation in their rings. The theory, if true, would account for the 

 disappearance of certain ancient civilizations. 



Fourth Meeting : 18th June, 1914. 



Paper. — " Othello, Macbeth, and Hamlet : a Comparison and a Contrast," 



by Mr. G. D. Braik, M.A. 



The paper, dealing chiefly with the working-out of the different temperaments 

 and motives of the three protagonists, was illustrated by selected passages read by Mr. 

 J, H. Primmer. 



Fifth Meeting : 29th June, 1914. 



Lecture. — " Sun-spots and Solar Physics," by Mr. J. Taylor. 



The paper maintained that the sun was simply " a vacuous central vortex where 

 all physical characteristics have entirely vanished " ; that so-called sun-spots were the 

 shadows of aggregations of numerous small bodies moving in the line of vision between 



us and the sun. 



Sixth Meeting : 8th July, 1914. 



Paper.—" The Evolution of Maori Art," by Mr. H. D. Skinner, B.A. 



The paper, illustrated by numerous lantern-slides, showed the gradual development 

 in the forms of Native weapons, instruments, and architecture. 



