604 Proceed Ings. 



ExJilbit. — A specimen of the mantis shrimp was also 

 exhibited, which on Monday last was dredged in the harbour 

 by Mr. Mclutyre, an emj)loye of the Harbour Board. The 

 shrimp is edible, and is considered a rare visitor in New Zea- 

 land waters. The mantis shrimp is found in large quantities 

 in the Mediterranean Sea, and is highly appreciated among 

 the inhabitants of Southern Europe as an article of food. 



Third Meeting: .23rd July, 1890. 



C. Hulke, F.G.S., President, in the cliair. 



Neio Member.— 'S . W. Poynton. 



Papers. — 1. " Curiosities of Polynesian SiJeech," by E. 

 Tregear, F.E.G.S. {Transactions, p. 531.) 



Mr. E. D. Bell congratulated the author on the completion of a work 

 which had occupied so much of his time — namely, the " ]\Iaori Compara- 

 tive Dictionary." It was a great undertaking, and Mr. Tregear deserved 

 praise for having carried out such a difficult and laborious work. ]\Ir. 

 Trcgear's papers were higlily interesting and valuable. The remarks in 

 that just read regarding the absence of consonants and vowels in some of 

 the ]\Iaori words were, he thought, quite new. 



The President congratulated the members upon the fact of this paper 

 being the first one that had been offered in competition for the Society's 

 medals, although he was afraid that the author would have the field to 

 himself. As regarded this paper it was a most interesting one, not only on 

 account of the subject, but on account of the manner in which the subject 

 had been treated. Those who took an interest in these matters should be 

 thankful for any addition made to our knowledge of these dialects ; the 

 more so when such work was done as a labour of love. The way in which 

 the author had made a comparative analysis of the different Polynesian 

 dialects threw a new light entirely upon them. Some persons might 

 consider such a paper dry ; but the author, from the novel manner in 

 which he had treated his subject, had made it very interesting, and the 

 suggestions were extremely valuable. The great value of this paper lay in 

 the author's views on the reconstruction of the originals of the numerous 

 dialects in use in Polynesia. 



2. "On the New Zealand Cicadcv," by G. V. Hudson, 

 F.E.S. (Transactions, p. 49.) 



Mr. T. W. Kirk was surprised that this interesting genus had hitherto 

 been almost passed over by New Zealand entomologists. The paper just 

 read would bo extremely welcome to naturalists. As far back as 

 1872 the late Dr. Powell described in the Transactions thes tri- 

 dulating organs of the New Zealand species, and about two years ago 

 Mr. Lucas did the same for Australia. ^Mr. Hudson made no men- 

 tion in his paper of the destructive habits of the Cicada. A few days 

 after tlie female emerges she commences to lay. Making a longitudinal 

 slit in the bark of the tree, she proceeds to saw a number of V-shaped cuts 

 in the wood, so as to raise the fibres and prevent the bark from heating. She 

 then deposits her eggs in pairs in each wound. The total laying some- 

 times amounts to hundreds. The female then dies, the eggs hatch, and 

 the young grub drops to the ground, and then undergoes the transforma- 

 tion mentioned by Mr. Hudson. The Cicada prefers the manuka, but 



