Philosophical Institute of Canterbury . 19 



PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE OF CANTERBURY. 



Special Meeting : 20th April, 1910. 

 Present : Mr. R. M. Jjaing (President), in the chair, and eigiity others. 



The President explained that the meeting had been called to give 

 members an opportunity of hearing a paper by Professor Bickerton on a 

 vital point of his theory, and to allow of full discussion thereon. He gave 

 a brief historical account of Professor Bickerton 's efforts to lay his theory 

 before the scientific world, and a summary of its leading features, and 

 sai<l that if it were true it would establish a new cosmogony. 



Professor Bickerton then read the paper, entitled '' Recent Evidence 

 in favour of the Existence of the Third Body." 



The paper was criticized by Drs. Farr and Evans, and by Mr. E. G. 

 Hogg, who drew^ attention to the discrepancies between the recent spectro- 

 scopic observations and the predictions made by Professor Bickerton as 

 deduced from his theory. 



Professor Bickerton replied as occasion demanded. 



At the conclusion of the discussion a hearty vote of thanks was accorded 

 to Professor Bickerton for his paper. 



FinsT Meeting : ^th May, 1910. 



Present: Mr. R. M. Laing (President), in the chair, and eighty-five 

 others. 



New Members. — Miss Cocks, Captain A. A. Dorrien-Smith, D.S.O., 

 Messrs. M. C. Gudex, W. G. Aldridge, D. B. McLeod, E. J. Haynes, H. 

 Vickerman, W. F. Robinson, H. D. M. Haszard, Langford P. Symes, 

 Dr. H. G. Denham, Rev. J. T. Pinfold, and the Hon. H. F. Wigram. 



" Subajitarctic Idands of New Zealand.'' — A copy of the recently 

 issued woi'k on the subantarctic islands was laid on the table, and several 

 appreciative letters were received in connection with its appearance. The 

 hon. editor, Dr. Charles Chilton, was presented on behalf of the contri- 

 butors wdth a bound copy of the work containing their autographs, and 

 a letter congratulating him on the able way in which he had carried out 

 the duties of editor of the volumes. 



Address.—'' The Nesting Habits of Fishes," by Mr. Edgar R. Waite, 

 F.L.S., the retiring President. 



The lecturei' placed before the meeting some original observations on the 

 nesting habits of fishes, and illustrated his address by lantern-slides of the various 

 nests described and of their fabricators. 



The evolution of the fish's nest was traced, from the mere disturbance of the 

 gravel bed and the mounds of the lampreys, to the elaborate structures of the 

 pihaya and sticklebacks, and it was mentioned that the filaments which bind 

 together the materials of the nest of the latter fish were secreted from the kidneys 

 of the male. The researches of Budgett and others into the nesting habits of 



