526 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
New Members.—Messrs. J. Kitchen and W. J. Moore. 
It was proposed by Mr. G. M. Thomson, seconded by Mr. D. 
Petrie, and carried unanimously :— 
1. That as no work dealing with the systematic botany of New 
Zealand is now attainable, this Institute again bring under the notice of 
the Government the desirability of having a new hand-book of the 
Phaneragamic Flora of New Zealand prepared and printed, and respect- 
fully eine that steps be taken to have such a work carried out. 
That as such a work would, in course of time, be largely taken 
up, so > that most of the cost of publication would be ultimately recouped, 
this Institute undertake to guarantee the disposal of 100 copies, provided 
the retail selling price of such work do not exceed twenty-one shillings. 
3. That copies of these resolutions be sent to the other affiliated 
Societies of the New Zealand Institute, asking their co-operation in this 
direction. 
Papers.—(1) “On the Black Wood-hen and the South Island 
Crow,” by A. Reischek. 
(2) “Descriptions of new species of native plants,” by D. Petrie, 
M.A. The author describes six species believed to be new to the flora, 
namely—Cotula goyeni, Myosotis cheesemanii, Carex berggrenii, C. kirkii, 
C. thomsonii, and Acena sessilis. These have been obtained chiefly on 
Mt. Pisa, the Old Man (Obelisk) range, and the Rock and Pillar range, 
at elevations from 4000 to 6500 feet. 
The name Carex muelleri is proposed for the author's previously 
described C. viridis, the latter name having previously been appropriated 
for a Mexican species. 
(3) ‘‘Note on a skeleton of Notornis recently acquired by the Otago 
University Museum,” by Prof. Parker. The specimen was found about 
a mile to the east of Patience Bay, Lake Te Anau, in a small patch of 
scrub. The bones were considerably scattered, and many of the smaller 
ones lost. The more important parts are, however, nearly perfect, and 
the skull is certainly the best in existence, the occipital region being 
quite uninjured, whereas in the Dresden specimen that region had been 
broken to allow of the removal of the brain. Measurements are given 
of all the bones, the dimensions of which agree very closely with those 
of the Dresden specimen as given by the author (‘‘Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” — 
Vol. XIV., p. 245), and by Meyer (Abbild. von Vogel—Skelletten IV 
and V Lieferung). 
It is worthy of notice that the present skeleton was found within 
8 miles of the spot where the Dresden specimen was captured alive in 
1879. ) 
Dr. I. de Zouche then delivered an able address on “Inebriety, 
and the duty of the State in regard to inebriates,” the conclusions 
arrived at being:—(1) That inebriety is in the great majority of cases 
a physical disease. (2) That inebriety is curable in a large number of 
cases. (3) That the committal of inebriate patients to prison is unjust, 
and morally and physically injurious to them. (4) That patients 
affected with inebriety can only be treated with any measure of success 
in special hospitals or retreats, where precautions against their obtaining 
alcohol could be thoroughly carried out. (5) That it is the duty of the | 
State either to establish or license retreats for inebriates, or to do both, 
