WELLINGTON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 



First Meeting. 26th June, 1880. 



Mr. Martin Chapman, President, in the chair. 



New Members. — Messrs Kouband, Macdermott, Gerse, and Mrs. John 

 Kebbell. 



The President delivered an opening address : 



ABSTRACT. 

 He reviewed the proceedings of the Society during the past year, the results of which 

 appear in Vol. XII. of the Transactions, and on the whole considered that good work had 

 been done. He particularly referred to many valuable papers under sections Ethnology, 

 Zoology, and Botany, and the annual report of the New Zealand Institute, which is a 

 yearly resume of all scientific work done in the colony ; also, to the valuable paper on the 

 Meteorology of New Zealand in the appendix, which contains the results, in a condensed 

 form, of all the observations taken throughout the colony during the year by the Meteoro- 

 logical Department under Dr. Hector. He also called attention to a number of additions 

 to the library on the table, including reports and catalogues lately issued by the Geolo- 

 gical Survey and Colonial Museum Departments. 



PAPERS. 



1. "Notice of a new fish, Hypolycodes haastii,'' by Dr. Hector. [Trans- 

 actions, p. 194). (Specimen exhibited.) 



2. " Notice of the Capture of a Large Stingaree," by Mr. Seymour 

 George, M.H.K. 



The following is a note of a large Stingaree (Trygon thalassia), which I harpooned 

 to-day and captured, it being an unusually large one, the length from snout to tip of the 

 tail being 9 feet 11 inches ; length of tail, 6 feet ; breadth, 4 feet 7 inches ; depth, about 

 1 foot 6 inches. It must have weighed at least 2 cwt. The tail was covered with spines, 

 also a row nearly the whole length of back, and part of two other rows of spines running 

 parallel with the main row of spines on the back. I happened to haul it on the beach on 

 its back, so that the whole of the under part of the fish was fully exposed. WTiile thus 

 lying a young ray was born, which measured from snout to tip of tail 3 feet 3 inches ; 

 length of tail, 2 feet 2 inches, with a spine 2 inches long ; breadth, 1 foot 4 inches. 

 Another young ray, evidently just born, followed its mother on shore, which I also 

 captured ; it was the same size as the one which I saw born. I opened the ray to see if 

 there were any more young inside her, but found none, but seemed to have a number of 

 what I supposed to be eggs ; they were about the size of a pigeon's egg, and full of a 

 thick yellow fluid. 



Kawau, 5th March, 1880. (Specimens exhibited.) 



3. " Notes on Mr. Frankland's Paper on * The Simplest Continuous 



