Wellington PhilosojjJiical Society. 605- 



notliing comes amiss, and tho young shoots of orchard trees sometimes 

 suffer considerably : the damaged shoots, if not killed, generally break oil 

 when the fruit begins to swell. As regarded the pupa being mistaken for 

 mole-crickets, he might say that there certainly were veritable English 

 mole-crickets in New Zealand. He had exhibited specimens which were 

 alive when received. 



Mr. MaskcU had seen twigs of fruit and other trees damaged by these 

 insects, but he did not think the urgency was so great as supposed ; still, 

 it was sufficient to make those concerned take steps to prevent it. 



Mr. H. W. Robinson would like to know if this insect was the same as 

 that spoken of by Byron as the " shrill cicala of the pine." 



Mr. Hudson : No doubt the same family : they arc very common in 

 Italy. 



The President pointed out how absurd it was to call this insect tho 

 locust — it was quite different. Mr. Hulke here gave drawings on the 

 board to show the difference. He had seen the stems of the bushes dotted 

 with the borings of the small deader. No doubt the green twigs of trees 

 also were served in the same manner. 



Mr. Hudson, in reply, said that ho had not in this paper gone into 

 the subject of the eggs of the Cicada ; indeed, he had great difhcultyin 

 procuring eggs, and would bo glad to get them from any member. 



FouETH Meeting : 13th August, 1890. 



C. Hulke, F.C.S., President, in the chair. 



Paper. — " On Some Means for increasing the Scale of 

 Photographic Lenses, and the Use of Telescopic Powers in 

 connection with an Ordinary Camera," by Alexander McKay, 

 P.G.S. {Transactions, p. 461.) 



Views taken by the new process were afterwards shown v/ith a magic 

 lantern, and comparisons were made with those taken by the ordinary 

 process. , 



Mr. W. T. L. Travers expressed the opinion that the discovery would 

 completely revolutionize photography, and would prove most valuable 

 for astronomical research and for the purposes of warfare. 



Sir James Hector considered that the thanks of the Society were due 

 to i\Ir. McKay for having brought his important discover)' before the 

 members. He had perfected his invention after years of work, and at 

 great expense. 



Mr. Field said he suspected the so-called invention was no new thing, 

 as he had seen photographs of Auckland which, taken from the North 

 Shore, showed the minutest details of the buildings and shore-line on 

 the opposite side of Waitemata Harbour. 



Mr. K. C. Harding said that the possibilities of Mr. i\[cKay's discovery 

 seemed only to have been faintly indicated in what had been said that 

 evening, and, for his own part, he was most impressed by its value in 

 connection with the graphic arts. The comparative views of the same 

 landscape as taken by the ordinary lens and by the telescopic combina- 

 tion were specially interesting and instructive ; and the question had 

 been raised as to which of the two processes was the more artistic, or 

 mere closely resembled the effect to the eye. Tho difference between 

 two such photographs was obvious, and the question raised was one in 

 dispute among artists themselves. It was the accepted practice in paint- 

 ing to give well-defined detail both to near and distant objects, though it 

 was impossible for the eye, without a change of focus, to recognize both 



