544 Proceedings. 
inhabit that archipelago and Polynesia may be referred to an admixture of Mon 
lian and Papuan elements. It was, as he mentions in an appendix to his & 
one time thought the study of crania offered the only sure basis for the iei 
of man, but he refers on this point to the fact, that an opinion is now beginning to 
gain vag that, for this special purpose, the study of crania is of very little value— 
an opinion boldly avowed by Professor -Huxler, one of our greatest living e ethnologiste. 
He cadi urges, that we are most likely to arrive at correct views as to the ori 
of any particular section of the peoples in question by a careful study of their habits 
and customs; and he has arrived at the following conclusions:—Firstly, that the 
numerous intermediate forms of man which occur among the countless islands of 
the Pacific were originally the produce of a mixture of some lighter-coloured Mongol 
race with the dark Papuans; secondly, that these intermediate races are not merely 
the result of this mixture, but are, to some extent, truly intermediate or transitional ; 
and lastly, that, although it is undoubtedly true that there are proofs of extensive 
migrations amongst the Pacific islands, which have led to a community of language 
from the Sandwich group to New Zealand, there is no evidence whatever of recent 
migration from any surrounding country to Polynesia, since there is no people to be 
found elsewhere sufficiently resembling the Polynesian race in their chief physical and 
mental characteristics. 
I might indicate many other and, indeed, far more important subjects which require 
the attention of our scientific bodies, but I should weary you. It is sufficient to point 
out that the development of the material resources of a country is intimately connected 
with the progress of scientific enquiry amongst its people, and, therefore, how essential it 
is that a taste for such enquiry should be cultivated amongst us. In conclusion I may 
venture to express a hope that no relaxation will take place in the efforts of those who 
are engaged in scientific research in this colony, and that their labours will be such, in 
the future, as to deserve the hearty commendations which those in the past have received 
from the highest authorities in Europe. 
At the conclusion of the President’s address, on the motion of Dr. Newman, a vote 
of thanks was unanimously accorded to Mr. Travers for his address and for the able 
manner in which he had presided over the Society during the past year. 
On the motion of Dr. Buller a vote of thanks was also given to Mr. A. Baker, who 
had kindly undertaken the office of auditor to the Society for several years past. 
A conversazione was then held in the Colonial Museum by permission of the Board 
of Governors of the New Zealand Institute, at which about 400 members and their 
friends, including His Excellency the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., were present. 
