278 
The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 
[July 
shingle-Slips where the climate is wet. Haastia pulvinaris, however, is 
an intense xerophyte of cushion form which grows in extreme xerophytic 
alpine stations. But the difference between these two species of Haastia 
is no more marked than those between juvenile and adult Helichrysum 
coralloides; indeed, the two cases are fairly parallel. Were the here¬ 
ditary tendency in the juvenile coral-shrub to become considerably 
reduced, there is no reason why it could not well hold its own on shady 
rocks ; indeed, its autecological status is apparently equivalent to that 
of the associated Helichrysum Sinclairii, an erect semi-woody plant with 
woolly spreading flat leaves. In certain New Zealand plants— e.g., Aristo- 
telia fruticosa, Dacrydium laxifolium, Pittosporum divaricatum, and Ruhus 
cissoides, to mention a few—heredity plays a weaker part, and, given a 
suitable environment, the juvenile form (a distinct species to all intents 
and purposes) can persist for the lifetime of the individual. Helichrysum 
coralloides supplies, however, an example of greater fixity. But such 
stability in plants generally is merely a matter of degree after all, and, 
if evolutionary change is a fact, this stability should increase or decrease 
in process of time. 
Some Geological Inferences from the Distribution of Ranunculus 
paucifolius, by A. Wall. 
Press Notice (Lyttelton Times). 
Professor Wall read a paper on “ Some Geological Inferences from the Distribution 
of Ranunculus paucifoliusA He said that the main paper, of which that formed a 
part, described a small limestone basin at Castle Hill, the locality of the rare Ranunculus 
paucifolius, and the plant associations of that locality. The relation of that plant to 
Ranunculus chordorhizos and its status were also dealt with. An attempt was made 
to reconstruct the past from the point of view of the probable history of the Ranunculus 
and its limestone associates, and the bearing of that history upon the mutation theory 
of de Vries was tentatively considered. The present paper was confined to the 
description of the locality, the distribution of the plant within that locality, the con¬ 
ditions under which the plant grew and had presumably grown in the past, an account 
of the' association to which it belonged, and the geological problems which its history 
suggested. 
The author considered it impossible that the plant should have originated and 
maintained itself for countless ages within its present limits, and inferred the existence 
in the past of far more extensive Tertiary limestone strata than those now remaining, 
thus supporting the view independently arrived at by Mr. R. Speight. He inferred 
from the xerophytic character of the Ranunculus and its associates that a steppe 
climate must have obtained here for ages, thus supporting the views of Dr. Cockayne 
and others. He could not agree with Haast, Hutton, and others that the flora of this 
whole district had been once completely destroyed by glacial action, fleeing to a now 
non-existent land and returning later. He considered the conflicting views as to the 
probable period of the glaciation and concomitant or subsequent “ steepe climate ” and 
the action of glacier in this particular area, and concluded with a general description of 
the country as he supposed it to have been at the time when that plant originated or 
acquired its present peculiar characters. 
Convergent Evolution in the Crustacea, by C. Chilton. 
New Zealand Fisheries and their Future Development, by the Hon. 
G. M. Thomson. 
Press Notice (The Press). 
The Hon. G. M. Thomson spoke on the fisheries of New Zealand, chiefly from a 
biological point of view. He deplored the fact that the 'knowledge of New Zealand 
fish was as yet of a rather meagre character, especially with regard to the migrations 
of various kinds of fishes, large and small. It was one of the difficulties of the fishing 
trade that the migrations cf the fish were so erratic and so unknown. With the idea 
of trying to find out something about these migrations, the Government station at 
