﻿Otago 
  Institute. 
  561 
  

  

  Election 
  of 
  Officers 
  for 
  1879 
  : 
  — 
  President 
  — 
  Prof. 
  Hutton 
  ; 
  Vice- 
  

   presidents— 
  \N 
  . 
  N. 
  Blair, 
  C.E., 
  Prof. 
  Scott; 
  Council— 
  \N 
  . 
  Arthur, 
  C.E., 
  

   Eobert 
  Gillies, 
  F.L.S., 
  Dr. 
  Hockeii, 
  A. 
  Moutgomery, 
  D. 
  Petrie, 
  J. 
  C. 
  

   Thomson, 
  Prof. 
  Ulrich 
  ; 
  Hon. 
  Secretary 
  — 
  Geo. 
  M. 
  Thomson 
  ; 
  Hon. 
  

   Treasurer 
  — 
  H. 
  Skey 
  ; 
  Auditor 
  — 
  J. 
  S. 
  Webb. 
  

  

  The 
  retiring 
  President 
  read 
  the 
  following 
  

  

  ADDRESS. 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  become 
  the 
  custom 
  for 
  the 
  retiring 
  President 
  to 
  address 
  you 
  on 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  

   the 
  session, 
  the 
  aims 
  and 
  prospects 
  of 
  the 
  Institute, 
  or 
  the 
  prominent 
  scientific 
  topics 
  of 
  

   the 
  day. 
  I 
  cannot 
  do 
  better 
  than 
  follow 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  strain, 
  but 
  instead 
  of 
  confining 
  

   myself 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  subjects, 
  I 
  shall 
  glance 
  shortly 
  at 
  all 
  of 
  them 
  in 
  succession. 
  So 
  

   far 
  as 
  the 
  last 
  head 
  is 
  concerned, 
  anything 
  of 
  a 
  general 
  character 
  that 
  I 
  can 
  say 
  on 
  

   current 
  scientific 
  questions 
  must 
  be 
  second-hand. 
  You 
  can 
  get 
  it 
  in 
  a 
  more 
  attractive 
  

   form 
  in 
  the 
  thousand-and-one 
  addresses 
  and 
  articles 
  that 
  flow 
  annually 
  from 
  the 
  scientific 
  

   press 
  throughout 
  the 
  world. 
  I 
  shall 
  therefore 
  only 
  consider 
  it 
  in 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  it 
  applies 
  to 
  

   the 
  material 
  progress 
  of 
  the 
  colony. 
  

  

  The 
  Otago 
  Institute 
  has 
  now 
  entered 
  on 
  the 
  tenth 
  year 
  of 
  its 
  existence. 
  Its 
  career 
  

   can 
  scarcely 
  be 
  characterized 
  as 
  brilliant; 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  brought 
  to 
  light 
  wonderful 
  dis- 
  

   coveries 
  in 
  science, 
  nor 
  propounded 
  strange 
  doctrines 
  in 
  philosophy 
  ; 
  still 
  its 
  progress 
  has 
  

   been 
  steady, 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  done 
  useful 
  work 
  in 
  promoting 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  science 
  and 
  the 
  

   general 
  well-being 
  of 
  the 
  state. 
  

  

  The 
  work 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  session 
  has 
  been 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  average 
  of 
  previous 
  years. 
  

   Twenty-five 
  papers 
  were 
  read 
  at 
  the 
  ordinary 
  meetings, 
  and 
  five 
  lectures 
  were 
  deUvered 
  at 
  

   what 
  are 
  called 
  the 
  popular 
  meetings. 
  Of 
  the 
  twenty-five 
  papers 
  nineteen 
  were 
  on 
  subjects 
  

   of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  nine 
  of 
  them 
  having 
  been 
  contributed 
  by 
  Professor 
  Hutton, 
  and 
  six 
  by 
  

   Mr. 
  G. 
  M. 
  Thomson. 
  Those 
  of 
  lis 
  who 
  heard 
  these 
  papers 
  read 
  or 
  commented 
  on, 
  could 
  

   not 
  help 
  being 
  struck 
  by 
  the 
  scientific 
  skill 
  and 
  care 
  displayed 
  by 
  their 
  authors, 
  in 
  investi- 
  

   gating 
  the 
  subjects 
  under 
  consideration, 
  and 
  the 
  exactness 
  with 
  which 
  every 
  minutia 
  of 
  

   form 
  and 
  organism 
  was 
  dehneated 
  and 
  described. 
  I 
  have 
  no 
  doubt 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  facts 
  thus 
  

   recorded 
  will 
  be 
  highly 
  prized 
  by 
  the 
  scientists 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  world. 
  Specialists 
  here 
  and 
  

   there 
  will 
  perchance 
  find 
  among 
  them 
  the 
  clue 
  to 
  some 
  great 
  truth 
  that 
  otherwise 
  might 
  

   never 
  be 
  revealed. 
  

  

  The 
  five 
  remaining 
  papers 
  were 
  on 
  miscellaneous 
  subjects. 
  My 
  absence 
  from 
  Dunedin 
  

   prevented 
  me 
  hearing 
  the 
  two 
  relating 
  to 
  Navigation 
  by 
  Messrs. 
  Pope 
  and 
  Boss 
  but 
  I 
  

   understand 
  they 
  formed 
  a 
  valuable 
  contribution 
  to 
  the 
  literature 
  of 
  Nautical 
  Science. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Purnell's 
  paper 
  on 
  Antarctic 
  Exploration 
  opens 
  up 
  a 
  world 
  of 
  speculation 
  as 
  to 
  

   the 
  direction 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  adventurous 
  spirit 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  Zealander 
  of 
  the 
  future 
  will 
  find 
  

   an 
  outlet. 
  Doubtless 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  the 
  South 
  Pole 
  will 
  some 
  day 
  become 
  as 
  much 
  an 
  

   object 
  of 
  ambition 
  to 
  the 
  Briton 
  of 
  the 
  South 
  as 
  the 
  North 
  Pole 
  now 
  is 
  to 
  his 
  elder 
  

   brother. 
  

  

  Two 
  interesting 
  and 
  valuable 
  papers 
  on 
  kindred 
  subjects 
  — 
  accHmatized 
  and 
  native 
  

   fish 
  — 
  were 
  read 
  by 
  Messrs. 
  Arthur 
  and 
  Thomson 
  ; 
  the 
  former 
  described 
  the 
  steps 
  that 
  have 
  

   from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  been 
  taken 
  to 
  stock 
  the 
  Otago 
  streams 
  with 
  brown 
  trout 
  and 
  the 
  success 
  

   that 
  has 
  been 
  achieved. 
  We 
  trust 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Arthur 
  will 
  supplement 
  his 
  contribution 
  oi 
  

   this 
  year 
  by 
  a 
  similar 
  treatise 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  acclimatized 
  wild 
  animals. 
  Mr. 
  Thomson's 
  

   labours, 
  in 
  having 
  for 
  three 
  successive 
  years 
  taken 
  a 
  daily 
  note 
  of 
  the 
  varieties 
  of 
  fish 
  in 
  

  

  a41 
  

  

  