194 EEPOET— 1891. 



with the degraded sternum, shoulder-girdle, and fore-limb, and 

 all apparently without any physiological significance. The 

 characters referred to are, — 



1. The greater proportional length of the sternum in A. 

 australis than in A. bulleri (mantelli) or A. oiocni, and the fact 

 that in A. oioeni the bone has a sinuous anterior margin. 



2. The fact that the coracoid in the earliest stages yet 

 examined is a solid cartilage in A. oiocni, while in the other 

 two species it is fenestrated, and has a distinct procoracoid, 

 which may persist, in a ligamentous condition, in the adult. 



3. The fact that a radiate is constantly present in the carpus 

 of A. oioeni, constantly absent in A. australis, and occasionally 

 present in A. bulleri. In the latter species, moreover, the 

 skeleton of the entire manus is very variable, while in the 

 other two species it is constant in its main features. 



5. Successful Babhit-supprcssion in New Zealand. 

 By Coleman Phillips, Wellington. 



6. Systematic Training of Juvenile Naturalists. 

 By A. F. Robin, Adelaide. 



7. On some Aspects of Acclimatisation in New Zealand. 



By Geo. M. Thomson, F.L.S. 



The term " accHmatisation " is defined by A. R. Wallace* as 

 " that constitutional change w^hich enables any organism to 

 become gradually adapted to a different climate from the 

 parent stock." In this colony the term has come to be 

 synonymous with, and really to signify, " naturalisation." 

 But _ as this word has come to be used in a special sense 

 applicable only to the human subject, we must take the term 

 " acclimatisation " to apply to the passing into the feral state 

 of all those organisms which have been introduced within 

 recent times into these Islands. The popular acceptation of 

 the word is thus seen to be incorrect, but is now sanctioned 

 by usage. In this paper, however, I shall use the preferable 

 term " naturalisation." 



"Darwinism," 2nd ed., 1889, p. 94. 



