Otago Institute, 561 
ELECTION or OFFICERS ror 1879 :—President—Prof. Hutton; Vice- 
presidents—W. N. Blair, C.E., Prof. Scott; Council—W. Arthur, C.E., 
Robert Gillies, F.L.S., Dr. Hocken, A. Montgomery, D. Petrie, J. C. 
Thomson, Prof, Ulrich; Hon. Secretary—Geo. M. Thomson; Hon, 
Treasurer—H. Skey ; Auditor—J. S. Webb. 
The retiring President read the following 
ADDRESS; 
It has become the custom for the retiring President to address you on the work of 
the session, the aims and prospects of the Institute, or the prominent scientific topics of 
the day. I cannot do better than follow in the same strain, but instead of confining 
myself to one of these subjects, I shall glance shortly at all of them in succession. So 
far as the last head is concerned, anything of a general character that I can say on 
current scientific questions must be second-hand. You can get it in a more attractive 
form in the thousand-and-one addresses and articles that flow annually from the scientific 
press throughout the world. I shall therefore only consider it in so far as it applies to 
the material progress of the colony. 
The Otago Institute has now entered on the tenth year of its existence. Its career 
can scarcely be characterized as brilliant; it has not brought to light wonderful dis- 
coveries in science, nor propounded strange doctrines in philosophy; still its progress has 
been steady, and it has done useful work in promoting the cause of science and th 
general well-being of the state. 
The work during the last session has been up to the average of previous years. 
Twenty-five papers were read at the ordinary meetings, and five lectures were delivered at 
what are called the popular meetings. Of the twenty-five papers nineteen were on subjects 
of Natural History, nine of them having been contributed by Professor Hutton, and six by 
Mr. G. M. Thomson. Those of us who heard these papers read or commented on, could 
not help being struck by the scientific skill and care displayed by their authors, in investi- 
gating the subjects under consideration, and the exactness with which every minutia of 
form and organism was delineated and described. I have no doubt many of the facts thus 
recorded will be highly prized by the scientists of the old world. Specialists here and 
there will perchance find among them the clue to some great truth that otherwise might 
never be revealed. 
The ERE Jl bjects. My absence from Dunedin 
srs. Pope and Ross but I 
prevented me hearing the two relating to Navigation by Mes 
understand they formed a valuable contribution to the literature of Nautical Science. 
Mr. Purnell’s paper on Antarctic Exploration opens up a world of speculation as to 
the direction in which the adventurous spirit of the New Zealander of the future will find 
an outlet. Doubtless the discovery of the South Pole will some day become as much an 
object of ambition to the Briton of the South as the North Pole now is to his elder 
brother. 
Two interesting and valuable papers on kindred subjects—acclimatized and native 
fish—were read by Messrs. Arthur and Thomson; the former described the steps that have 
from time to time been taken to stock the Otago streams with brown trout and the success 
that has been achieved. We trust that Mr. Arthur will supplement his contribution of 
this year by a similar treatise on the other acclimatized wild animals. Mr. Thomson’s 
labours, in having for three successive years taken a daily note of genes 4 fish in 
