49 



wliat part of the colony the material was procured. Mr. Murray 

 ol)seives, " I find that the toio of the ISTew Zealand flax will make an 

 excellent paper, free from specks," which is by no means the case with 

 the paper of which the book is composed. Mr. Kirk stated his opinion 

 that Phormium Colensoi, the Wharaeki of the natives, the fibre of which 

 was almost useless for ordinary purposes, was better adapted for paper 

 than Phormium tenax, and he would add that he was convinced of 

 the specific distinctness of the two plants, as originally maintained by 

 Mr. Colenso ; the fruit pods of P. Colensoi being rounded, twisted, and 

 pendulous ; while those of P. tenax are straight, angled, and rigidly 

 erect. He concluded by reading several interesting extracts from the 

 book. 



In the course of the interesting discussion which ensued, and in 

 which Mr. Stewart, Captain F. W. Hutton, Dr. Purchas, and other 

 members took part, it was generally agreed that the tow and waste from 

 the flax mills might be profitably pulped and pressed into bricks, for 

 export as a paper-making material, but that the present rate of labour 

 would not admit of its being manufactured at a profit in the colony. 



Third Meeting. August 8, 1870. 

 Rev. Dr. Purchas, President, in the chair. 



The Secretary read a list of members elected since the last meeting : — 

 J. M. Dargaville, W. Hill, Jun., Captain Daldy, J. Sheehan, W. Morrin, 

 T. Henderson, Jun., J. Biichanan, E. A. MacKechnie. 



The list of donations to the Library and Museum, for the same 

 period, was also read. 



1. " On the Relative Ages of the Waitemata Series and the Brown 

 Coal Series of Waikato and Drury," by Captain F. W. Hutton, F.G.S. 

 (See Transactions.) The groups of rocks treated of by the author are 

 those ultimately arranged by Dr. Hochstetter, in the following series : — 



1. Limestones of the Upper "Waipa and Mokau. 



2. Shales and limestones of Raglan, Aotea, and Kawhia. 



3. Sandstones of Port Waikato. 



4. Limestone of Papakura. 



5. Waitemata series. 



6. Brown coal seiies of Drury and Lower Waikato. 



The arrangement proposed by the author is as under : — 



1. Waitemata series. 



2. Limestone of Raglan and Kawhia. 



7 



