Auckland Institute. 395 
or fruit. But, for all that, they are making meanwhile the underground roots, 
which will hereafter nourish and sustain them. And so it is, and I trust will 
be, with this society, that meanwhile, without much show or pretence, we are 
spreading out roots and preparing for the bloom and fruit of future years. 
There is one thing, however, which is essential to the fair growth of any 
tree, however hardy and well adapted to its soil, namely, shelter. And I feel 
certain that the growing energies of our society must be rendered largely 
unavailing unless we obtain better shelter for our Library and Museum than 
we now have. We have already, in our Library, a large number of scientific 
works of reference, some of them, I believe, unique in the colony. We have 
specimens in various branches of science in our Museum, some of them unique, 
and others which could searcely be replaced if destroyed, and yet these are not 
only comparatively valueless to the publie and to the student, because of the 
inconvenience of studying them or referring to them, but are absolutely in 
constant danger of being swept away from amongst us by the merest accident, 
or of being destroyed by natural decay from the impossibility of properly 
preserving them. Had we a building suitahle for a Library and Museum, in 
which scientific works and scientific collections and instruments could be 
deposited, we could, in addition to our existing treasures: being safely kept, 
have, to my certain knowledge, several hundreds of volumes made accessible 
to students, and some thousands of specimens in various branches of science 
placed under their observation. It is to me lamentable to think that all these 
treasures should be locked up in the hands of and accessible only to a few, 
when, by a little exertion, we might render them accessible to all, by providing 
a building in which they would be safe and properly cared for. Such a state 
of things ought not to be in a com munity so large and so wealthy as this, and 
I trust it will not long be allowed to continue. For the sake of science, which 
we profess to love—for the sake of our society—for the sake of our successors 
— for the sake of our own credit and the credit of our Province—an effort, 
and a very strenuous effort, ought to be made by us to found, in some shape or 
way, а free publie library and museum. We are possessed (thanks to the 
goodwill of my predecessor in office, as Superintendent) of an excellent and 
valuable site for such a building. The building is what we want. We cannot 
expect our Provincial Government, in its impoverished condition, to aid us to 
any considerable extent, as has been done to our sister societies in the South 
by their Provincial Governments, out of their plethoric land funds. We can 
hope for nothing from the General Government, for all that can with difficulty 
be squeezed out of the common purse is needed for (and, I will add, well spent 
in) the maintenance of the central institution at Wellington. We must, there- 
fore, rely on our own energies, resources, and liberality. I would, therefore, 
invite some of our members to contribute designs for a suitable building, to 
