Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. 535 



Zealand should publish without comment of its own a paper founded upon 



information which, according to all precedent, was not the property of the 



person who contributed it. 



(Signed) "Julius Haast. 



"5th January, 1875." 



Moved by his Honour W. Eolleston, seconded by Mr. G. W. Hall, and 

 carried unanimously, — 



1. " That this Institute does not wish to pursue further the consideration 

 of the course taken by the Board of Governors in respect to Mr. McKay's 

 paper, but desire to obtain an authoritative opinion on the general question, 

 how far scientific matter collected by a person employed to collect the same 

 is the property of the person who employs the collector." 



2. " That the council be requested to prepare an accurate statement of the 

 case, the decision of which would determine the principle which should guide 

 the present and similar cases j that the case so stated should, after being laid 

 before the Institute, be submitted to such independent authority as may be 

 deemed fit." 



Dr. Haast tendered his resignation as President, but withdrew it at the 

 unanimous request of the meeting. 



Extract prom the Minutes of a Meeting of the Board oe Governors of the 

 New Zealand Institute, held 21st December, 1874. 



The Board having had tinder consideration the following documents : — 



A. — Protest by Dr. Haast against the publication of a paper, by Mr. Alexander 

 McKay, on the Moa-bone Cave at Sumner. 



B. — Resolutions by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, of the same nature. 

 C.— Memorandum by the Manager of the New Zealand Institute on the subject. 

 D. — ^Explanation by Mr. Alexander McKay. 



E. — Postscript to a paper, by Dr. Haast, on the Moa-bone Cave at Sumner. 

 F. — Mr. McKay's reply thereto. 



Eesolved : — 



1. That the paper by Mr. McKay having been forwarded in due course to the Board 

 by one of the Affiliated Societies for publication in the Transactions, the Board can only 

 consider the question of its publication on the same footing as that of papers generally- 

 submitted by Affiliated Societies, the Board having no power to deal with the question 

 raised by the Canterbury Philosophical Society in the manner suggested in the 

 communication made by the honorary secretary of that society, under date 6th October 

 last. 



2. That, moreover, as it appears from the report of Dr. Hector that the paper by 

 Mr. McKay contains views different from those held by Dr. Haast on a subject of general 

 interest which has already been frequently discussed by members of the Institute, as 

 appears from the Transactions already published, the Board is of opinion that it is 

 desirable that both papers should appear in the Transactions for the current year. 



3". That the several documents submitted to the Board in connection with the 

 question raised by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury should be published in the 

 Proceedings. 



4. That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded by the Manager to the Philosophical 

 Institute of Canterbury, together with a copy of his memorandum and the explanation 

 of Mr. McKay. 



