Wellington Philosophical Socieiy. 441 



Used for steam coasting purposes. There were also thiu seams of a true 

 black coal, associated with sandstone, abounding in mesozoic fossils. The 

 mineral waters from the geysers in the Bay of Plenty bad also been analyzed. 

 Dr. Hector stated tbat there was now sufficient evidence to prove that the 

 hot springs at Eotorua were produced by the contact of fresh water with 

 hot rocks ; while the springs at "White Island were entirely different, owing 

 to their being dependent upon the access of salt water. Dr. Hector also 

 explained that the source of heat at these different localities, some sixty 

 miles apart, might be in some way connected, and that the character of the 

 salts contained in thermal waters depends on local circumstances. These 

 chemical investigations had been made in continuation of a paper communi- 

 cated to the Auckland Society. A few metallic ores had been added to 

 those previously known. Purther, that Mr. Skey in the course of some 

 recent investigations had discovered a new process for desilvering argen- 

 tiferous gold, such as that found at the Thames Grold Melds. The processes 

 at present in use for separating the silver from the gold are costly and 

 tedious, but Mr. Skey had found that an addition of bichromate of potass 

 (in the proportion of five parts to every three of silver contained in the 

 argentiferous gold) to the ordinary melting pot will remove the silver, 

 along with all traces of iron and copper contained in the gold. The process 

 is being tried on a larger scale on the Thames, by the assayers to the Banks ; 

 and Mr. Henry Severn, the chief assayer to the Union Bank, who is at 

 present inspecting the Thames Grold Field, has undertaken to report as to 

 the practical utility of the process, the great advantages of which will be 

 obvious to all metallurgists. The pressure of business for the evening 

 prevented the reading of Mr. Skey's paper on the subject. 



1. "On the Measurement of Dinornis Bones," by Dr. J. Haast, E.E.S. 

 (^Transactions, p. 21.) 



In the absence of Dr. Haast, the principal portions of the paper were 

 read by Dr. Hector, matters of detail being omitted. 



Mr. Mantell wished to know how it was possible to determine, otherwise 

 than by means of the crania, whether the number of bones taken out of a 

 confused heap belonged to Dinornis or Palapteri/x. 



Dr. Hector said that Dr. Haast must have had great difficulty in deter- 

 mining the different varieties from the data at his command. It was hard 

 to see how Professor Owen himself could assign a single bone to a different 

 variety or even to a different genus. Dr. Haast appeared to have been 

 guided almost entirely by proportional dimensions, and in that respect he 

 had followed the example of Professor Owen. Disregarding mere difference 

 of size, without accompanying differences in proportion, there appeared to 

 be five different kinds ; but the specimens of bones on the table would show 

 56 



