﻿362 Proceedings. 



not the propoandiug of theories and sijeculations in order to account for some 

 observed appearance, but the careful collection and arrangement of accurate 

 data, from which we may hope, in time, to arrive at a sound knowledge of 

 matters affecting the material welfare of the countiy ; and which may simul- 

 taneously be applied towards the sokition of those important biological jjrob- 

 lems, which are now engaging the attention of eminent scientific men, in 

 connection with " the origin, development, and life history of species or races." 



1. Description by Mi\ E. Stowe of a New Shell found by the late Mr. E. 

 H. Davis, and which he proposed to name Imperator Davisii. (See Transactions, 

 p. 218.) 



The President remarked that he was with Mr. Davis when the shell was 

 found, and that it inhabits pot-holes worn in the sandstone I'ock that can only 

 be reached at low tide. 



2. " On some New Species of New Zealand Plants," by J. Buchanan, of 

 the Geological Survey of New Zealand. (See Transactions, p. 224.) 



This paper contains descriptions of Haloragis aggregata, n. sp., Danthonia 

 Raoulii, a. australis, n. sub-sp., D. semi-annularis, d. alpina, n. sub-sp., Accena 

 glabra, n. sp., Cel'/nisia lateralis, n. sp., JSostkovia novce zelandice, n. sp., and 

 Carex p^yt'^nica, n. sub-sp. They were collected by Mr. H. H. Travers, in 

 the Nelson mountains, and were all found at a considerable altitude. 



3. " Observations on the Kiore, or Indigenous Rat of New Zealand," by 

 F. J. Knox, L.R.C.S.E. After a careful examination of the Black Bat, 

 described by Mr. Buller as the Native Bat, the author could find no point of 

 anatomical difference, except that it had forty instead of thirty joints in its 

 tail. The hair and fur differ in colour and softness, but it had been micro- 

 scopically examined by Mr. Buchanan, and was found to have the same 

 structure, the coarse hair being marked in both with scaly bars, and the fine 

 hair or fur being simply striate— this being very different from the structure of 

 that of Rodents allied to the rabbit, in which the fur is longitudinally grooved 

 as well as striate. The author presented a splendid skin of the Brown or 

 Norway Bat, which measured 12*5 inches in length, without the tail, which 

 was 8 inches in length. He also stated that if Mr. BuUer's rat was the real 

 Mus rattus, as had been suggested, it was the first he had seen, it not being 

 common in Scotland. 



The President reminded membere that in Sir George's Grey's collection of 

 Maori legends there is a circumstantial account of how the natives in one of 

 their canoes from Hawaiki introduced the rats in boxes. 



4. A letter from Mr. Bobert Hart was read by Dr. Hector, calling atten- 

 tion to a report that a telegraph pole, with the Government brand, had been 

 cast up on the Chatham Islands, as proving a set in the ocean currents from 

 New Zealiind to the eastward. 



