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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 930 



educational institutions and the parliament 

 of New Zealand being represented. Among 

 the guests were the Mayor of Christchurch and 

 also Mr. G. M. Thomson, M.P., who has done 

 much scientific work in the dominion. The 

 president of the institute, Dr. L. Cockayne, 

 F.R.S., presided. He delivered an interesting 

 address, in which he showed what science has 

 done for civilization, and what it is doing in 

 New Zealand and in other parts of the world. 

 He also briefly sketched the history of the in- 

 stitute, and referred to the work done in the 

 past by Sir Julius von Haast (the first presi- 

 dent), Captain F. W. Hutton and other mem- 

 bers. He pointed out that in recent years the 

 institute has taken important enterprises in 

 hand, notably the publication of the " Index 

 Faunse Nov® Zealandise " and " The Sub- 

 antarctic Islands of New Zealand," the latter 

 a large two-volume publication, the result of 

 a scientific expedition the institute was the 

 means of sending to the Auckland and Camp- 

 bell Islands, south of New Zealand, in 1907. 

 During the evening, Mr. Thomson, on behalf 

 of the board of governors of the New Zealand 

 Institute, presented to Dr. Cockayne a sum 

 of money, which accompanies the Hector 

 medal, awarded for the first time some months 

 ago. The medal was struck by the New 

 Zealand Institute in memory of the late Sir 

 James Hector, and has been awarded to Dr. 

 Cockayne for his researches in ecological 

 botany. At the gathering, a large number of 

 messages were received congratulating the 

 Canterbury Institute on attaining its jubilee, 

 and Dr. Cockayne on having been elected a 

 Fellow of the Royal Society. Amongst those 

 who sent congratulatory messages were the 

 Prime Minister of the Dominion (the Hon. 

 W. F. Massey) and other members of the 

 government. In a speech, Mr. Thomson an- 

 nounced that the government intended to help 

 the scientific workers of the dominion, espe- 

 c.ially by offering them facilities in regard to 

 the publication of scientific papers and reports. 



The annual meeting of the Swedish Mu- 

 seums Association was held in Wisby, in con- 

 junction with that of the Swedish Archeolo- 



gists, on August 9-12, under the presidency of 

 State Antiquary Dr. Oscar Montelius, who was 

 reelected to the same office for the ensuing year, 

 together with the secretary. Dr. E. Uppmark, 

 and the treasurer. Dr. Otto Janse. The ques- 

 tion of state contribution to provincial mu- 

 seums, which was discussed at last year's 

 meeting and has since then been under the 

 consideration of the Academy of Antiquities, 

 was again discussed, and it was decided to ap- 

 proach the government with a request for the 

 sum of, at most, 30,000 kroner ($7,700), to be 

 distributed among provincial museums ac- 

 cording to their respective means. The ques- 

 tion of payment for treasure trove has also 

 been under the consideration of the Academy 

 of Antiquities. It was proposed that the term 

 should include all objects of metal, both bronze 

 and copper, as well as those silver; but it was 

 decided that the final proposals of the Acad- 

 emy should be referred to all the provincial 

 museums for their opinion, which should then 

 be acted upon by the Museums Association. 

 Among the papers read at the meeting were 

 the following : " Sarcophagi and Reliquaries," 

 and " Relics of Heathen Times in Gotland," 

 both by Professor Montelius ; " An Ancient 

 Shrove-tide Custom," by Miss Louise Hag- 

 berg; "The So-called Battle Graves of Got- 

 land," by Mr. Hans Hansson, in whose opin- 

 ion these remains are not graves but ancient 

 foundations ; " The Country Churches of 

 Gotland," by Dr. Sune Ambrosiani; "The 

 Dwelling-houses of Gotland," by Lektor Karl 

 A. Berlin; "The City Walls of Wisby," by 

 Dr. Emil Ekhoff; "The Church Organs of 

 Gotland," by Mr. C. F. Hennerberg; "The 

 Church Furniture of Gotland," by Dr. Otto 

 Janse ; " Museum Technique," by Dr. Ber- 

 nard Salin, director of Nordiska Museet, who 

 dealt chiefly with registration and catalogu- 

 ing. The concluding lecture by Lektor N. 

 Klintherg, entitled " Sketches from the Peas- 

 ant Life of Gotland " showed a selection from 

 the large series of photographs which Dr. 

 Klintberg has been taking for so many years 

 in order to preserve for future generations a 

 complete representation of every operation in 



