419 



The Council in presenting this report to the members of the Institute, feel that they 

 have just cause for congratulation in the marked success which has attended the meetings 

 of the Institute throughout the year, and in the increased number of members. 



One of the most important events connected with the Institute has been its incorpo- 

 ration with the New Zealand Institute under the Act of the General Assembly, by which 

 that Society was established. Among the conditions of incorporation it is stipulated that 

 one-third of the annual income of the Institute shall be devoted either to a local Museum 

 or Public Library, or that one-sixth of the income shall be remitted to Wellington, to be 

 expended there upon the Colonial Museum by the Governors of the New Zealand Institute. 

 In accordance with this condition, one-third of the income of this Institute has been 

 appropriated to the Museum under the direction of the President (Dr. Haast). The 

 Council are persuaded that the members of the Institute made a wise selection in deter- 

 mining upon this object. They have helped to promote the efficiency of an institution 

 which must always be of the highest value in the prosecution of scientific researches, and 

 which is intimately connected with the immediate objects of the Institute itself. 



The establishment of the New Zealand Institute, with which this Society is now 

 incorporated, must be regarded as of especial importance, as forming a bond of connection 

 between the various local scientific societies of the colony, and as introducing an element 

 of permanence, which has hitherto been wanting to their efforts. The publication of a 

 selection of the papers read before this and similar societies is a further benefit of which 

 the members have a valuable proof in the recently published volume of the Transactions 

 of the New Zealand Institute. 



The efforts made by the President (Dr. Haast) to supplement the vote passed in the 

 Provincial Council for the erection of new buildings for the Museum, are deserving of 

 special notice in this place ; the siibscriptions obtained by him, amounting to £463, have 

 secured the adoption of an enlarged plan with some additions of an ornamental character 

 in keeping with the purpose for which the building is intended. 



Among the objects contemplated by the Institute, may be named the appointment of 

 two or more members to write the history of the colonizing and progress of Canterbury, 

 under the general direction and superintendence of the Council. 



Also, the publication of a work on the Botany of the neighbourhood of Christchurch, 

 by Mr. J. F. Armstrong, Government Gardener, — under the auspices of the Institute. 



Committees have also been appointed for the collection of information upon various 

 subjects of public interest, and from these, if re-appointed, useful reports may be expected 

 during the course of this session. 



Since the 1st of July sixteen original papers have been read before the Institute. 



Numerous gifts have been received by the Institute. 



Copies of the first volume of the "Transactions of the New Zealand Institute" have 

 been received for distribution ainong members, and application has been made for a further 

 supply. 



In the volume of ' ' Transactions " for next year, a selection from the papers read 

 before this Institute, will also appear, following up those which have been given in the 

 first volume. 



It rests with the Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute to make the 

 selection, while it falls to the members of this Society to elect one of their members to a 

 place at the Board. 



A sum of £36 18s. 6d. has been expended in providing suitable accommodation for 

 the members of the Institute, at their place of meeting, and also for the books and other 

 gifts deposited there. The room of the Institute is open to members at any time. A sum 

 of one hundred pounds sterling has been remitted to England, for the purchase of valuable 

 scientific works of reference ; a copy of the list forwarded lies open for the inspection of 

 members, and a suggestion book has been provided in which members may inscribe the 

 names of such additional works as they would recommend to the Council for purchase 

 during next year. 



A change has been made in the commencement and termination of the annual pro- 

 ceedings of the Society, in order to bring them into full agreement with those of the New 

 Zealand Institute ; and for the purpose of effecting this alteration, members will be asked 

 to pay one guinea each as their subscription for the half-year ending December 31st of the 

 present year. For the future the yearly accounts and proceedings of the Institute will 

 date from the 1st of January to the 31st of December of each year. 



The progress which has been made during the past year encourages the Coitncil to 

 hope that the Institute will become increasingly serviceable in promoting the interests of 

 Bcience, as a depdt, where all recorded observations of natural phenomena will be received 

 and attended to, and where men of literary and scientific pursuits or tastes may meet for 

 the interchange of ideas. The number and. character of the papers read before the Insti- 

 tute may be taken as a very satisfactory evidence of the importance attached to such 

 pursuits in a young colonial society. 



Christchurch, July 8, 1S69. 



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