38 Proceedings. 



AUCKLAND INSTITUTE. 



FouKTii MeetixNC : i-<^ Aiif/i/sf, 1910. 



Dr. 1{. ]iriliault, Pixsideut, in the chair. 



Lecture. — Mr. A. Wyllie, Eh'otrical Engineer to the City of Auck- 

 land, delivered a lecture on " Wireless Telephony." 



The lecturer explained the different systems at present in use, taking first of 

 all those dependent on light or heat radiation, such as the photophone, the speak- 

 ing arc, the photographophone, &c. He then passed on to consider those modes 

 which are worked by means of electrical forces, explaining at some length closed- 

 circuit telephony, electro-magnetic induction telephony, and spark telephony. 



A large number of illustrative experiments accompanied the lecture, 

 and the "speaking arc" was exhibited for the first time in Auckland. 

 A unanimous vote of tliaiiks was awarded to Mr. Wvllie. 



Fifth Mketino : '29th Ai(gust, 1910. 



Dr. 11. Briffault, President, in the chair. 



New Memberfi. — A. Allison. J. C. Dickinson, W. Cole, F. Finch, 

 (t. Graham, D. Holderness, T. Macfarlane, J. E. Moore, Hon. J. 

 McGowan, A. H. V. Morgan, E. K. Mulgan. 



Lecture. — Mr. E. V. Miller delivered a lecture on "The Ultra- 

 microscope." 



The lecturer pointed out that the magnitude of an object which can be ren- 

 dered visible by the highest power of the microscope is now well understood, and 

 that from tiie very nature of light we cannot hope for much further improvement. 

 Those ol)jects which are too small to be revealed by the ordinary microscope are 

 consequently called " ultramicroscopic," and require special modes of treatment to 

 make theii' piesence appreciable. Thei'e are two methods at present in existence, 

 which may be called respectively that of ultra- violet light and that of diffiaction 

 on a dark field. The lecturer showed that by modification oi these two systems it 

 is possible to render visible infinitely smaller things than can be exhibited by the 

 finest microscope, and that even the almost inconceivably small particles suspended 

 in a colloidal solution can be seen, measured, and their movements observed. 



Sixth Meetinc; : 26tli Se/>fr//ib('r. 19/0. 



Dr. R. JJriffault, President, in the chair. 



New Me/nberK. — E. A. Price, J. W. Stewart, 11. Leslie Stewart, J. 

 Wilson. 



Lecture. — The Kev. Arclulcacon Walsh gave a lecture on " Tlie Effects 

 of the Disappearance of the New Zealand Bush." 



The lecturer sketched the causes of the destruction of the forests— cattle, fire, 

 and the axe of the bushman. Cattle roam through the bush and destroy the under- 

 growth, and fire follows immediately afterwards. The consequences of this de- 

 forestation are great and far-icacliing, and are of two kinds, climatic and topo- 

 graphical. 



