MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES. 177 



" a. This is a clear, colourless, and highly saline water containing 

 1723 grains of fixed salt per gallon, only 22 grains of which 

 is silica. The remaining portion is principally composed of 

 alkaline chlorides, with a fair proportion of alkaline carbonates. 

 It is rich in iodine. 



" b. This water contains 216 grains of fixed salts per gallon, and 

 these are almost entirely composed of alkaline chlorides. It 

 is feebly alkaline and contains distinct traces of iodine. 



"From these results it appears that both samples belong to the group 

 known as the ' alkaline chlorinated ' waters. The sample a should, 

 when tried, prove to be a valuable mineral water, and resembles that of 

 Wiesbaden, also that of Harrogate and Cheltenham, but is much more 

 highly charged with salts than they are, the specific gravity being that 

 of genuine sea water. 



"These springs may be of public use and interest in the future. 

 The Government reserved an area of 1,200 acres around them as a hot 

 spring area. The springs flow into the Nuhaka river about 10 miles 

 from the mouth." 



Professor Parker exhibited a series of specimens of Ileodictyon 

 cibarium — a fungus found in the bush near Dunedin — mounted in 

 alcohol for demonstration purposes, viz. : — 



1. The entire immature fungus. 



2. The same in section, showing the thick brownish Avail or peri- 



dium, the white net-like receptaculum, and the blackish gleba 

 or spore-forming tissue. 



3. A similar preparation with the gleba removed to show the 



receptaculum. 



4. The fungus at the period of dehiscence showing the receptaculum 



escaping from the ruptured peridium. 



5. The liberated and fully expanded receptaculum. 



Professor Parker also drew attention to some Tasmanian Sponges 

 presented to the Museum. 



Mr. F. R. Chapman exhibited two cards of Maori bone implements, 

 comprising fish-hooks, shawl-pins, neck ornaments, and ear pendants. 



PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE OF CANTERBURY. 



Christchurch, 4th June, 1891. — 



Papers.— (1) "On the Foliated rocks of Otago," by Professor F. W. 

 Hutton, F.G.S. The foliated rocks of Otago are found in two districts 

 separated from each other by a band of sandstones and slates, about 

 eight miles broad at its narrowest, which belong to the Maitai or 

 Carbonifei'ous System. 



(1) Northern Otago. 



The rocks of central and north-eastern Otago are mica-schists and 

 phyllites, which have been thought to be the altered equivalents of the 

 fbssiliferous Silurian and Ordovician rocks of north-western Nelson. 



