636 Proceedings. 



honoured Secretary that in his long experience he has rarely 

 known it otherwise, yet that as the session went on members 

 rose to the occasion, and papers were prej)ared and read as the 

 opportunity arose. Individually I should be glad to see a 

 wider interest taken in this Society, and a correspondingly- 

 increased number of members. The title " Philosophical So- 

 ciety " is so very comprehensive that no kind of wisdom is 

 excluded. Any expert, for instance, who could give true 

 information on such subjects as the following — and I am con- 

 vinced there are many such in the District of Wellington — 

 would be doing patriotic service by joining the Society and 

 contributing a paper : Wool, and woollen manufacture ; 

 freezing-machinery, frozen meat, and heat-insulation ; timber 

 and forestry ; grass seeds suited to different soils and situa- 

 tions ; vine-culture, and wine- and raisin-making ; apple or- 

 chards, apple-preserving, and cider-making ; butter and cheese ; 

 fowls and eggs ; iish-drying and -preserving, and oyster-culture ; 

 paints and pigments; horticulture; boat- and ship-building; 

 architecture with reference to earthquakes and fires. These 

 are subjects which are of interest to the community generally, 

 and good papers on which would be very valuable. The list is 

 very far from being exhaustive, and there are very many other 

 subjects of a somewhat similar character which might be 

 treated on with great advaiitage. What I wish to emphasize 

 is that this Society does not restrict itself to natural philo- 

 sophy, to birds and insects and earthquakes and rainbows, 

 and kindred subjects, but would embrace also the works of 

 man. 



To attempt a critical summary of a series of papers em- 

 bracing such a vast variety of subjects as were dealt with last 

 year, would evidently be out of the question ; but, probably, 

 the subject of the widest general interest which, in a number 

 of different papers and discussions, has been brought before us 

 during the past year is that of the moa. Mr. Tregear, in his 

 very valuable paper, has discussed the historical question from 

 a new point of view, that of comparative philology, and I sup- 

 pose there is no living man more pre-eminently qualified than 

 he is for the task. I would also draw attention to those most 

 comprehensive and suggestive remarks on the subject which 

 were given by Sir James Hector in Otago, and which will be 

 found recorded in the Transactions of the New Zealand Insti- 

 tute for 1892, pp. 555 et seq. 1 would express the hope that 

 further explorations, on the lines he has suggested, may not 

 only set at rest the historical question as regards Maori and 

 moa, but may also give us much light on the evolution of 

 varieties or species in prehuman times. 



When the Australasian Association for the Advancement 

 of Science met at Christchurch in January, 1891, the Presi- 



