Auckland Institute. 395 



or fruit. But, for all that, they are making meanwhile the iindergrouncl roots, 

 which will hereafter nourish and sustain them. And so it is, and I trust will 

 be, with this society, that meanwhile, without much show or pretence, we are 

 spreading out roots and preparing for the bloom and fruit of future years. 



There is one thing, however, which is essential to the fair growth of any 

 tree, however hardy and well adapted to its soil, namely, shelter. And I feel 

 certain that the gi-owing energies of our society must be rendered largely 

 unavailing unless we obtain better shelter for our Library and Museum than 

 we now have. We have already, in our Library, a large number of scientific 

 works of reference, some of them, I believe, imique in the colony. We have 

 specimens in various branches of science in our Museum, some of them unique, 

 and others which could scarcely be replaced if destroyed, and yet these are not 

 only comparatively valueless to the public and to the student, because of the 

 inconvenience of studying them or referring to them, but are absolutely in 

 constant danger of being swept away from amongst us by the merest accident, 

 or of being destroyed by natural decay from the impossibility of properly 

 preserving them. Had we a building suitable for a Library and Museum, in 

 which scientific works and scientific collections and instruments could be 

 deposited, we could, in addition to our existing treasures being safely kept, 

 have, to my certain knowledge, several hundreds of volumes made accessible 

 to students, and some thousands of specimens in various bi^anches of science 

 placed under their observation. It is to me lamentable to think that all these 

 treasures should be locked up in the hands of and accessible only to a few, 

 when, by a little exertion, we might render them accessible to all, by providing 

 a building in which they would be safe and properly cared for. Such a state 

 of things ought not to be in a community so large and so wealthy as this, and 

 I trust it will not long be allowed to continue. For the sake of science, which 

 we profess to love — for the sake of our society— for the sake of our successors 

 — for the sake of our own credit and the credit of our Province — an effort, 

 and a very strenuous effort, ought to be made by us to found, in some shape or 

 way, a free public library and museum. We are possessed (thanks to the 

 goodwill of my predecessor in office, as Superintendent) of an excellent and 

 valuable site for such a building. The building is what we want. We cannot 

 expect our Provincial Government, in its impoverished condition, to aid us to 

 any considerable extent, as has been done to our sister societies in the South 

 by their Provincial Governments, out of their plethoric land funds. We can 

 hope for nothing from the General Government, for all that can with difficulty 

 be squeezed out of the common purse is needed for (and, I will add, well spent 

 in) the maintenance of the central institution at Wellington. We must, there- 

 fore, rely on our own energies, resources, and liberality. I would, therefore, 

 invite some of our members to contribute designs for a suitable building, to 



