630 Neiv Zealand Institute. 



more felt in the countries where the number of members is 

 small, while the field for original research is large ; so that in 

 a few years such societies languish after accumulating much 

 information in manuscript that, if published, would be of great 

 assistance in advancing the interests of the community. 



Each member of the scientific societies affiliated to the 

 New Zealand Institute receives a share of the parliamentary 

 grant in the form of an annual volume of the transactions for 

 the year of all the various societies. The presentation of this 

 volume is regarded as a substantial equivalent for the sub- 

 scriptions, and the fund which is created by local subscriptions 

 is applied locally towards the maintenance of public museums 

 in the different centres of population. 



The educational effect of this organization can hardly be 

 overestimated as a means of cultivating a love of knowledge, 

 and disseminating information. To the influence of the In- 

 stitute must in some degree be attributed the demand which is 

 now expressed throughout the colony for elementary instruc- 

 tion in science, and the general recognition in New Zealand 

 on the part of the public that it is necessary to obtain, as a 

 branch of elementary education, the qualifications required for 

 the comprehension and the utilisation of the scientific litera- 

 ture that is so characteristic a feature of the present age. 



The Institute commenced with four branch societies in 

 1869, and only 258 members, but there are now eight societies 

 affiliated, and the number of members increased to 1,327 in 

 1881, but has since fallen off to about 950, each of whom pays 

 one guinea a year, which may be considered as a voluntary 

 tax for an educational purpose. 



There have now been 1,765 original communications, 

 published in twenty-five volumes of the Transactions of the 

 Institute, nearly all of which relate directly to the colony, 

 and place on record matters of fact and observation that 

 otherwise might not have been published. Of these papers, 

 412 are on miscellaneous subjects chiefly relating to the 

 ethnology of the aboriginal races, or connected with the 

 industrial resources of the colony ; 671 are descriptive of the 

 zoology of New Zealand; 229 refer to its botany; 117 are on 

 metallurgy and chemistry in its relation to tlie colony ; and 

 229 are on its geology and physical geography. In addition 

 to these papers, which are published at length, abstracts of 

 about 1,076 different communications are given in the Pro- 

 ceedings of the societies. The total number of communica- 

 tions to the Institute has thus been 2,841. Besides which a 

 number of popular lectures are given each year under the 

 auspices of the various societies, of which no record is kept. 



The average size of the annual volume of Transactions and 

 Proceedings is 640 pages and about 40 plates. 



