Wellington Phitosopkical Society. 48l 



Fifth Meeting. 18th September, 1880. 

 Mr. Maetin Chapman, President, in the Chair. 



PAPEE. 



1. On the " Industries most suitable to New Zealand." hy A. K. New- 

 man, M.B. 



This was an able lecture on the undeveloped industrial resources of the colony, des- 

 cribing in detail many processes that could be profitably employed by the settlers. 



Sixth Meeting. 10th October, 1880. 

 Mr. T. Kirk, F.L.S., in the Chak. 

 New Members. — W. H. Simcox, J. C. Harris. 



PAPEE s. 



1. On " Watershed Districts, by J. R. George, C.E. (Transactions, 

 p. 119.) 



2. " On the Permanency of Solar and Stellar Heat," by Mr. Martin 

 Chapman, f Transactions, p. 97.) 



3. " On the genus Ehynchonella," by Mr. A. McKay. (Transactions, 

 p. 396.) 



Seventh Meeting, Uh December, 1880. 



Mr. Martin Chapman, President, in the chair. 



New Members. — Messrs. Noel Barraud, and Gibson. 

 The President announced that the nomination in October, of Dr. Newman 

 to represent the Society on the " Board of Governors of the New Zealand 

 Institute " for 1881, had resulted in the election of that gentleman. 



papees eead. 



1. " On a Per-iodide of Lead, also a Carbo-iodide," by W. Skey. 

 (Transactions, p. 388.) 



This paper described a new salt, a Per-iodide of Lead, and also a new compound salt 

 formed by the combination of carbonic acid with this Per-iodine, which has a striking 

 blue colour similar to that produced by adding iodine to starch, and will prove a very 

 delicate and beautiful test for the detection of minute quantities of carbonic acid, 



2. " On the Dimorphism of Magnesia," by W. Skey. (Transactions, 

 p. 389.) 



In the course of experiments for the detection of gold in sea-water, the author found 

 that magnesia is deposited in a form that absorbs iodine, giving rise to a highly coloured 

 substance, and that the magnesia loses this property on being raised to a high tempera- 

 ture. It is therefore argued that the magnesia is altotropic. Further, that magnesia can 

 be exhausted from ammoniacal solutions by galvanic action, thereby greatly shortening 

 the chemical analysis. These tests combined are also useful in detecting the presence of 



