AUSTRALASIAN ASSOCIATION. 79 



whether chose results have been most successful here or on the 

 Continent in the cases of the rabbit and the sparrow. Interesting and 

 curious also are our deep sea fish, such as the frost fish, which never 

 allows man to catch it, but which occasionally offers himself as a 

 voluntary saciitice on the gastronomic altar. As regards New Zealand 

 quadrupeds, the labours of the naturalist will be considerably lightened 

 by the knowledge that but one existed, and that that one is believed to 

 be extinct. He may, however, be able to enlighten us as to the 

 true character of the vegetable caterpillar, which, going into the 

 ground a grub, ought, according to European ideas, to emerge as a 

 perfect insect, but in a very antipodean fashion, appears to become a 

 plant instead. The ornithologist, under the able guidance of Sir 

 Walter Buller, will be able to study our so-called wingless birds, and to 

 tell us what prospect they have, now that men and dogs have come to 

 chase them, of recovering the use of those limbs of which long desuetude 

 appears to have deprived them ; and whether there is any chance of 

 curing the kea of his acquired taste for sheep fat, which has turned a 

 comical and interesting parrot into one of the anathematised class of 

 native pests. The botanist should revel in our wealth of ferns and 

 alpine plants, and may perhaps decide for us whether that complete 

 illustration of parasitical growth, the rata, initiates its all-devouring 

 embrace as a suppliant at the feet of its victim or round the neck of 

 the devoted object of its affection. Also, may not our farmers look to 

 the botanist for some help in the pursuit of agriculture, to learn 

 something new of plant life, of suitability of soils and of insect pests, 

 so that not only our moral but also our material position may be the 

 better for this meeting. The geologist will find an opportunity for 

 •studying the effects of volcanic eruption, of which Tarawera offers an 

 example hardly to be equalled within easy reach of civilisation. The 

 Australian mineralogists may find an opportunity for comparing their 

 mo:e continuous auriferous reefs with our rich but sadly broken strata 

 in New Zealand. The palaeontologists will find a curious remnant of 

 otherwise extinct reptiles in the Tuatara lizard, and, close at hand, in 

 the admirably arranged Museum at Christchurch, materials for a study 

 of the extinct moa Possibly they may give us some contribution to 

 the controversy respecting the co-existence in New Zealand of that 

 gigantic bird with man. The anthropologist will find in the Maories a 

 most interesting example of the advanced civilisation of a Native race, 

 and will be able to witness, not only the effects of their participation in 

 the advantages enjoyed by Europeans, but also the results of an 

 admixture of the races in all classes of society. Statisticians and social 

 economists at Home will look with interest for some fresh light on the 

 interesting thoughts suggested by Mr. Ravenstein at Leeds concerning 

 the future of the human race, as to the period of time which may be 

 estimated to elapse before the world will cease to be able, under present 

 conditions, to support its increasing population. These are only a few 

 subjects of interest which strike the least scientific among you, and 

 without doubt many more will reveal themselves to the searching eye 

 of science in New Zealand. Your labours should teach us that neither 

 in the case of nations nor of individuals do the pleasures of life consist 

 solely in the making of money, and that there are many who, 

 disregarding selfish considerations of material wealth, prefer to devote 

 their talents to the pursuit of knowledge and the discussion of its 



