44 Proceedings. 



PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE OF CANTERBURY. 



Fifth Meeting : 3rd August, 1910. 



Present : Mr. R. M. Laing (President), in the chair, and seventy 

 others. 



yen- Mtmher-:. — Messrs. J. A. Bartruiu and W. L. Parker. 



AihJrtsa. — " The Geology of the Cook and Soc-ietv Ishmds," bv Dr. 

 P. MarshaU. 



The lecturer gave a veiy lucid and interesting description of the geology of 

 the islands, based on observations made during a recent visit. He dealt specially 

 with the characteristics of the coral reefs surrounding the groups, and illustrated 

 his remarks with a very fine series of lantern-shdes, some of which were made from 

 photographs taken by the lecturer himself during his visit. Some of these were 

 taken from the mountaim; overlooking the reefs, and displayed in a striking and 

 original way their position and extent, a feature which photographs taken from 

 near sea-level fail to illustrate. Dr. Marshall referred to the various theories of 

 the origin of reefs, and to the geological structure of the islands which they 

 encircle. The Cook and Society Islands consist largely of alkaline volcanic rocks, 

 and their occurrence here runs counter to a widely accepted theoiy which associates 

 such rocks with coast-lines of the Atlantic tvpe. 



At the conclusion a very hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Dr. 

 Marshall for his address, and for the time and trouble he had spent in 

 coming from Dunedin to deliver it. 



Sixth Meetinc; : 7th Septeymher, 1910. 



Pre.sent : Mr. A. M. Wright (Vice-President), in the chair, and fifty 

 others. 



.Vew Mtrnhtr. — Mr. K. O. lioss. 



Letter front Sir Jo^ejjh Hooker. — A letter was received from Sir 

 Jo.seph Hooker acknowledging the receipt of the two volumes of the 

 " Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand." It was resolved that the 

 Council of the Institute be instructed to preserve the letter in a fitting 

 manner, and deposit it among the papers of the Institute as one of the 

 most valued documents in its possession. 



Addrean. — " Modern Views of the Constitution of Matter," by Dr. 

 H. G. Denham. 



The lecturer said that two of the most impoitant problems that remain more 

 or less unanswered are the constitution of matter and the nature of electricity. A 

 vast amount of experimental research has, however, led many of the ablest 

 physicists of the world to the view that these two problems are very closely inter- 

 woven — in fact, that electricity and matter are really two manifestations of the 

 samephenomenon. 



The lecturer then proceeded to describe the experimental evidence that has led 

 physicists to this conclusion, illustrating his remarks by experiments and lantern- 

 slides. After explaining the nature of the < athode rays, he proceeded to the more 



