564 Proceeditigs, 



faults, mineral veins, and the hundred other particulars that constitute a complete survey 

 are still -wanting. It will be many years before the State can supply them. Why should 

 the work not be done, to a great extent, by amateurs, for its own sake ? It seems to me 

 as interesting as fern-hunting, or the other botanical pursuits that are so popular. There 

 are few districts in New Zealand that present greater inducements to geological research 

 than the one immediately surrounding Dunedin. Every square mile speaks a volume, 

 still there is not one page written. It is difficult to enumerate specifically the subjects in 

 economic geology, about which information is most wanted, as there are so few about 

 which oixr knowledge is in any way complete. Professors Hutton and Ulrich have given a 

 concise summary of the present information in the " Geology of Otago," but it is mainly 

 useful in showing that the field is practically unexplored. 



The labours of Dr. Hector, Mr. Kirk, Capt. Campbell Walker and Mr. Buchanan, 

 have thrown great light on economic botany so far as PJiormuim, timber-trees, and grasses 

 are concerned, but the subject is by no means exhausted. We are still in the dark as to 

 the habits, age, growth, habitat in relation to soil, elevation and cUmate, reproduction and 

 cultivation, and numerous other particulars regarding the useful plants of the colony. 



The chemistry of our native products is perhaps less known than any other of their 

 attributes. As already stated, Mr. Skey's incessant labours have determined the consti- 

 tuents and properties of many of them, and Professor Black has also done good service in 

 the same direction. But the field is so extensive, and the labourers are so few, that we 

 can only consider the study as begun. The work already done bears about the same 

 proportion to what is requked as the meridian lines do to the other markings on a 

 map. We want to ascertain the constituents of almost every product of the three natural 

 kingdoms before they are utilized. It is chemists that tell us if our ores are payable ; if 

 our soils are productive ; if our building stones are durable ; if our mortars are tenacious ; 

 and if our food is wholesome. Without the information they can furnish, our material 

 progress would be slow indeed, a mere groping in the dark. 



In addition to the service he can render in analysing raw materials, the chemist in a 

 new country has a wider field for original research than his compeer at home. He has 

 before him every day substances to which chemical tests have never been applied, conse- 

 quently his chances of being a discoverer are greatly increased. This alone should be an 

 incentive to perseverance in every student of chemistry. 



The publication in a systematic form of the analyses of native products, made at the 

 various laboratories throughout the colony, would be a great boon to all who are interested 

 in the promotion of applied science. 



Turning now from natru'al science to the sciences that affect our interests as com- 

 munities, we have numerous subjects worthy of a place in our deliberations. For instance, 

 the sanitary condition of our towns ; water supply ; drainage and cleanliness in general. 

 Intercommunication — postal, telegraph — -and by means of roads, railways and steamers ; 

 the construction of harbours, and devastation by flood. All of these subjects are of vital 

 importance to the community, and then' consideration comes fairly within the functions 

 of the Institute, still they are seldom discussed. 



The development of manufactures is one of the most important, intricate and uncer- 

 tain of the many subjects with which a new country has to deal ; so much is it dependent 

 on Free Trade and the other considerations of pohtical economy. The all-irhportant 

 question " will it pay " comes in at every step, and each case is influenced by surrounding 

 circumstance, consequently it must be settled on its merits. No general rule can be laid 

 down on the subject. For these reasons the question of establishing manufactures is 



