OTAGO INSTITUTE 



First Meeting. January 11, 1870. 

 A. Eccles, F.R.C.S., Vice-President, in the chair. 



The Honorary Secretary reported donations to the Society. 



1. " On the Natural History Department of the Otago Museum," by 

 J. S. Webb. (See Transactions.) This was a first paper on the subject, 

 and was devoted chiefly to the Botanical collections. The author pointed 

 out that the Herbarium is very defective in the plants on the east coast, 

 and gave a list of 146 species that are required to complete the collection. 



Mr. Mu.rison suggested that a copy of this list of desiderata should 

 be suspended in the museum for reference. 



2. "OntheLepidopteraof Otago,"by A. Bathgate. (See Transactions.) 

 This paper concluded by recommending that an annual prize be given to 

 the pupils of the schools in the province, for the best collection of natural 

 objects, to be decided on, and perhaps vaiied each year — the best and 

 rarest specimens to be deposited in the Museum. 



Mr. Murison thought they might fairly carry out the suggestion ; 

 the difficulty being, however, the fact that they had no proper materials 

 for catching and preserving insects. He proposed that the Secretaries 

 of the British Museum and Entomological Society should be written to, 

 and asked for some of these materials, the Institute in return sending 

 duplicates of specimens of such collections as it was able to make. 



3. " Note on Coastal Whaling Stations, and the pi-obability of their 

 being instrumental in the destruction of the young of the Whale," by 

 J. S. Webb. 



Having learnt from a member of the Institute, Mr. Burns, that there 

 was every reason to believe that a whale caught near this port had but 

 recently been delivered when she was captured, I addressed a note to 

 Dr. Drysdale, of Port Chalmers, to ask for further information on the 

 subject. The subject appeared to me to be one of considerable import- 

 ance. The recent revival of whaling enterprize in this part of the world, 

 recalls the disastrous results which attended the costly attempts of Boyd 

 and Enderby in the same line, some quarter of a centuiy ago. At that 

 time these seas were rapidly depopulated of all species of whales, and it 



