76 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
the papers of the ‘ Transactions” for the printer, he found that a 
valuable paper was read before the Otago Institute by Mr. Arthur 
on a similar subject, and both opened up a question of great 
importance and interest. Mr. Arthur had shown that storms 
could be gauged in such a manner that we could ascertain what 
amount of moisture was likely to be deposited upon a certain area 
of country. Advantage might be taken of this knowledge to 
erect dams to hold the quantity of water that might fall within a 
given time. These dams might be placed in favourable positions 
for trapping the water and allowing it to flow slowly to the sea, 
thus preventing the damage done by floods. Every person could 
find time to take the reading of a rain gauge, and by a comparison 
of results much valuable information might be thus gathered. He 
would like to see a far greater interest taken in the matter. Not 
long ago Professor Stokes, one of the secretaries of the Royal 
Institution, read a remarkable paper on the effect of electrical 
storms caused by revolving currents of air which passed over 
distant parts of the earth’s surface possessing extremes of 
temperature. He (Dr. Hector) thought we might be on the brink 
of discovering some link between these electrical storms and 
earthquakes, but to solve this question would necessitate a much 
more complete equipment in our observatories than we possessed 
at present. We must take some more accurate means of recording 
the passage of earthquake shocks, their duration and locality. In 
the matter of zoological work the past year would be known as 
the Notorms year. This bird was once supposed to be extinct with 
the moa, but now it was to be hoped that more specimens would 
soon be available for their inspection and study. He might 
mention that Dr. Buller’s new manual of the ‘ Birds of New 
Zealand” was now through the press. The last sheets had been 
corrected, and the work would, in a few days, be in the hands of 
the public. In botanical work the Society had placed on record 
some very interesting discoveries, most of which had been in 
relation to the alpine flora of New Zealand. ‘They had now gota 
very complete collection of live plants from the mountain ranges, 
specimens of which had been distributed by the Government to 
the different gardens in the Colony. They had also just received 
a very complete collection from Stewart Island. The most valu- 
able series of observations commenced by the late Mr. Ludlam 
had not been carried out, and no one had yet taken the matter up. 
These observations were in connection with the budding and 
fruiting of various kinds of plants. Much valuable information 
might be obtained in this manner, and might prevent us making 
mistakes in the introduction of forest and other trees. After some 
further remarks, Dr. Hector concluded by thanking the members 
of the Society for the manner in which they had supported him 
during his term of office as President. 
An ordinary meeting of the Society was then held for the 
reading and discussion of several papers, the first of which was by 
Mr. Victor Falkner, ‘‘On a Fundamental Error in Dynamics, the 
Theory of Gravitation, and the Nebular Hypothesis.” The paper 
was illustrated with diagrams and apparatus, but the latter did not 
work in a satisfactory manner, owing to the insufficient height of 
the hall. The paper dealt with Newton’s explanation of Kepler’s 
laws, and that part of the nebular hypothesis that hinges in it. 
