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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 69

Inaugural Address

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Inaugural Address

When I rashly replied in the affirmative to the telegram which I received from our Secretary in Melbourne, asking me to undertake the honourable and responsible duties which I have to commence this evening, I fear I did not fully realise the difficulties of the position; but since then the sense of my unfitness for the task has become very oppressive. To address an assembly of this kind on general science must involve unusual difficulties, owing to the audience being largely composed of those who, only taking a casual interest in scientific discussions, look chiefly to the results; while, at the same time, there are present professional specialists in almost every branch of knowledge. How is it, then, possible for any one who, like myself, has never enjoyed opportunities for gaining experience as a teacher and public speaker, so to balance his words as to avoid offending the specialists with crude and imperfect statements, and, at the same time, escape wearying the general audience with the discussion of matters that will find a more fitting battle-ground in the sectional work of our Association?

I feel that on this occasion I must be ruled by the interest of the majority, and claim the forbearance of my fellow-workers in science if I have to refer in a sketchy way to subjects in which they are deeply interested, and far more learned than I profess to be.

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Seeing that I am addressing a Christchurch audience, I hope I may be permitted, in the first place, to say a word concerning one whose scientific services should, without doubt, have obtained for him the position of first President in New Zealand of the Australasian Association. We naturally recall the name of Sir Julius von Haast on this occasion, and mourn for the loss the colony has sustained by the death of one who for thirty years occupied a most prominent position. His early researches in the North Island, in company with Von Hochstetter, were followed by the exploration of the remote districts on the west coast of Nelson; after which Canterbury secured his distinguished services, and enabled him to leave that monument of his varied scientific knowledge, shrewd capacity, and indefatigable industry, which is to be found in the Canterbury Museum.

There are others of our fellow-colonists whose wide range of experience would have peculiarly fitted them to act as your President, and I am able to say that had our veteran colonist and explorer, Sir George Grey, felt more assured in health and strength it would have been your pleasure this evening to listen to a flood of eloquence on all scientific topics that relate to the future development of Australasia. There is another name I feel must be mentioned as one who should have been in this position had his health permitted. I refer to the Rev. William Colenso, who is recognised as the greatest authority on the folk-lore of the Maoris, on whom he was among the first to confer a printed literature in their own language. His long-continued work as a field naturalist, especially as a botanist, is exceedingly interesting, seeing that it forms a connecting link that has continued the early spirit of natural-history research in New Zealand that commenced with Banks and Solander, and was continued by Menzies, Lesson, the two Cunninghams, and Sir Joseph Hooker, prior to the arrival of colonists. Thus we still have in my esteemed friend Mr. Colenso an active veteran naturalist of what we may call the old school of explorers.

It is wonderful to reflect that little more than fifty page 3 years ago this European colony was represented by a few fishing hamlets on the seaboard of a country occupied by a considerable Native population. To the early explorers, and even down to a much later date, the obstacles that beset their paths were very different from those of the present time—often obstructive Natives, no roads, no steamers, no railways. Had an association then existed and desired to promote science by giving our visitors an opportunity of visiting the remote parts of the Islands, the same excursions which have been on this occasion planned to occupy a few days would have occupied as many months, and would even then have been accomplished only with great hardship and difficulty. I must ask the young and rising generation of colonial naturalists to bear this in mind when they have to criticize and add to the work of their preccdessors. Such names of early colonists as Bidwill, Sinclair, Monro, Mantell, Travers, and many others should ever be held in esteem as those who, amidst all the arduous trials of early colonisation, never lost sight of their duty towards the advancement of science in New Zealand. I will not attempt to particularise other names from amongst our existing and, though small in number, very active corps of scientific workers. They are here, or should be, to speak for themselves in the sectional work; and I have no doubt some of those who did me the great honour of placing me in my present position are secretly congratulating themselves that they have secured for themselves the position of free-lances on this occasion.

This is now the third annual gathering of this Association; and New Zealand should feel honoured that it has, at so early a date in the Association's history, been selected as the place of meeting from among so many divisions of the great Colony of Australasia. The two volumes of the Transactions of the Association already in the hands of members are quite sufficient to prove that the hopes of its founders—or, rather, I may almost say, the founder, Professor Liversidge, of Sydney—have been amply fulfilled. The papers read before the different sections, and the addresses delivered, have, in my opinion, to page 4 a most remarkable extent embodied information and discussions which were not likely to have been produced as the result of any of our local scientific organizations. The authors seem to have felt it incumbent on them to place their subjects in the environment of Australasia, and not in relation to the colony they happened to represent. This, I take it, is the first truly effective step towards Federation which has yet been achieved, and I trust that all our members will continue to be imbued with this spirit. Politicians should take this well to heart. Let them continue to aid all efforts that will tend to bring scientific accumulations in these colonies into a common store, so that each may discover for what purpose it has been best adapted by Nature; and, by paying proper political respect in fiscal policy to one another, each may prosper to the full extent of its natural advantages. Put it is not alone in the value of the papers communicated that the Association contributes to the advance of true civilisation in the colonies. The face-to-face conference, the personal contact, of the active workers in different lines of scientific work, must greatly facilitate the more thorough understanding of the work which has been done and of that which has still to be done.

A vague idea, simmering in the brain of one scientist who thinks light of it because it has no special application in his particular environment, may, by personal converse, flash into important results in the mind of another who has had the difficulties facing him, but without the happy thought. It would be rather interesting for some one with leisure to endeavour to recount how many great discoveries have eventuated in this manner.

In casting my thoughts for a particular subject on which to address the Association I felt perplexed. Presidents of similar associations in the Old World, who are in constant contact with the actual progress in scientific thought, feel that a mere recital of the achievements during their previous term is sufficient to command interest; but in the colonies most of us are cut off from personal converse with the leading minds by whom the scientific afflatus is com- page 5 municated, and in our suspense for the tardy arrival of the official publications of the societies we have to feed our minds with science from periodical literature. But even in this respect my own current education is very defective, as I reside in a city which, though the capital of New Zealand, has no college with a professional staff whose duty, pleasure, and interest it would be to maintain themselves on a level with the different branches of knowledge they represent. I therefore decided that, instead of endeavouring to review what had been done in the way of scientific progress, even in Australasia, it would be better to confine my remarks to New Zealand—the more so that this is the first occasion that there has been a gathering of what must, to some extent, be considered to be an outside audience for the colony.

To endeavour to describe, even briefly, the progress made in the science of a new country is, however, almost like writing its minute history. Every step in its reclamation from a wild state of nature has depended on the application of scientific knowledge, and the reason for the rapid advance made in these colonics is chiefly to be attributed to their having had the advantage of ail modern resources ready to hand.

As in most other matters in New Zealand, there is a sharp line dividing the progress into two distinct periods: the first before, and the second after, the foundation of the colony in 1840. With reference to the former period it is not requisite that much should be said on this occasion. From the time of Captain Cook's voyages, owing to his attractive narrative, New Zealand acquired intense interest for naturalists. His descriptions of the country and its productions, seeing that he only gathered them from a few places where he landed on the coast, are singularly accurate. But I think rather too much is sometimes endeavoured to be proved from the negative evidence of his not having observed certain objects. As an instance, it has been asserted that if any of the many forms of the moa still survived Captain Cook must have been informed of the fact. Yet we find that he lay for weeks in Queen page 6 Charlotte Sound and in Dusky Sound, where all night long the cry of the kiwi must have been heard just as now, and that he also obtained and took Home mats and other articles of Native manufacture trimmed with kiwis' skins; and that most likely the mouse-coloured quadruped which was seen at Dusky Sound by his men when clearing the bush was only a grey kiwi; and yet the discovery of this interesting bird was not made till forty years after Cook's visit. As a scientific geographer Captain Cook stands unrivalled, considering the appliances at his disposal. His longitudes of New Zealand are wonderfully accurate, especially those computed from what he called his "rated watches," the first type of the modern marine chronometer, which he was almost the first navigator to use. Indeed, the result of a recent measurement of the meridian difference from Greenwich by magnetic signals is only two geographical miles cast of Captain Cook's longitude. He also observed the variation and dip of the magnetic needle, and from his record it would appear that during the hundred years which elapsed up to the time of the "Challenger's" visit the south-seeking end of the needle has changed its position 2½° westward, and inclines 1½° more towards the south magnetic pole. Captain Cook also recorded an interesting fact which, so far as I am aware, has not been since repeated or verified in New Zealand. He found that the pendulum of his astronomical clock, the length of which had been adjusted to swing true seconds at Greenwich, lost at the rate of 40∳ daily at Ship Cove, in Queen Charlotte Sound, which is, I believe, an indication of a greater loss of the attraction of gravity than would occur in a corresponding north latitude. The additions to our scientific knowledge of New Zealand, acquired through the visits of the other exploring ships of early navigators, the settlement of sealers and whalers on the coast, and of pakeha-Maoris in the interior, were all useful, but of too slight a character to require special mention. The greatest additions to science were made by the missionaries, who, in the work of spreading Christianity among the Natives, had the services of able and zealous page 7 men who mastered the Native dialects, reduced them to a written language, collected and placed on record the traditional knowledge of the interesting Maori, and had among their numbers some industrious naturalists who never lost an opportunity of collecting natural objects.

The history of how the country, under the mixed influences for good and for evil which prevailed almost without Government control until 1840, was gradually ripened for the colonist, is familiar to all. So far as science is concerned, the new era may be said to have begun with Dieffenbach, a naturalist who was employed by the New Zealand Company. He travelled and obtained much information, but did not collect to any great extent, and, in fact, appears not to have anticipated that much remained to be discovered. For his conclusion is that the smallness of the number of species of animals and plants then known—about one-tenth of our present lists—was not due to want of acquaintance with the country, but to paucity of life-forms. The chief scientific value of his published work is in the appendix, giving the first systematic list of the fauna and flora of the country, the former being compiled by the late Dr. Gray, of the British Museum.

The next great scientific work done for New Zealand was the Admiralty survey of the coast-line, which is a perfect marvel of accurate topography, and one of the greatest boons the colony has received from the Mother-country. The enormous labour and expense which were incurred on this survey at an early date in the history of the colony is a substantial evidence of the confidence in its future development and commercial requirements which animated the Home Government.

On the visit of the Austrian exploring ship "Novara" to Auckland in 1859, Yon Hochstetter was left behind, at the request of the Government, to make a prolonged excursion in the North Island and in Nelson; and he it was who laid the foundation of our knowledge of the stratigraphical geology of New Zealand.

Since then the work of scientific research has been page 8 chiefly the result of State surveys, aided materially by the zeal of members of the New Zealand Institute, and of late years by an increasing band of young students, who are fast coming to the front under the careful science training that is afforded by our University colleges.

In the epoch of their development the Australasian Colonies have been singularly fortunate. The period that applies to New Zealand is contemporaneous with the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, which has been signalised by enormous strides in science. It has been a period of gathering into working form immense stores of previously-acquired observation and experiment, and a period marked by the escape of the scientific mind from the trammels of superstition and hazy speculation regarding what may be termed common things. Laborious work had been done and many grand generalisations had been formerly arrived at in physical science; but in the work of bringing things to the test of actual experiment investigators were still bound by imperfect and feeble hypotheses and supposed natural barriers among the sciences. But science is now established as one and indivisible, and such subdivisions as physics, chemistry, biology, are only adopted for the convenience of study. The methods are the same in all, and their common object is the discovery of the great laws of order under which this universe has been evoked by the Supreme Power.

The great fundamental advance during the last fifty years has been the achievement of far-reaching generalisations, which have provided the scientific worker with powerful weapons of research. Thus, the modern "atomic theory," with its new and clearer conceptions of the intimate nature of the elements and their compounds that constitute the earth and all that it supports, has given rise to a new chemistry in which the synthetical or building-up method of investigation is already working marvels in its application to manufactures. It is, moreover, creating a growing belief that all matter is one, and reviving the old idea that the inorganic elementary units are either simple or aggregated centres of motion specialised in a homogeneous medium, and that these units have been con- page 9 tinned on through time, but with such individual variations as give rise to derivative groups, just as we find has been the case in the field of organic creations. The idea embodied in this speculation likens the molecule to the vortex-rings which Helmholtz found must continue to exist for ever if in a perfect fluid and free from all friction they are once generated, as a result of impacting motion. There is something very attractive in the simplicity of this theory of the constitution of matter, which has been advocated by Sir William Thomson. He illustrates it by likening the form of atoms to smoke-rings in the atmosphere, which, if they could be formed under circumstances such as above described, must continue to move without changing form, distinguished only from the surrounding medium by their motion. As long as the original conditions of the liquid exist they must continue to revolve. Nothing can separate, divide, or destroy them, and no new units can be formed in the liquid without a fresh application of creative impact.

The doctrine of the conservation of energy is a second powerful instrument of research that has developed within our own times. How it has cleared away all the old cobwebs that formerly encrusted our ideas about the simplest agencies which are at work around us, how it has so simplified the teaching of the laws that order the conversion of internal motions of bodies into various phases which represent light, heat, electricity, is abundantly proved by the facility with which mechanicians are every day snatching the protean forms of energy for the service of man with increasing economy.

These great strides which have been made in physical science have not as yet incited much original work in this colony. But, now that physical laboratories are established in some degree at the various college centres, we shall be expected, ere long, to contribute our mite to the vast store. In practical works of physical research we miss in New Zealand the stimulus the sister colonies receive from their first-class observatories, supplied with all the most modern instruments of research wielded by such distinguished as- page 10 tronomers as Ellery, Russell, and Todd, whose discoveries secure renown for their respective colonies.

Of course I am quite prepared to admit that the reduplication of observatories in about the same latitude, merely for the study of the heavenly bodies, would be rather a matter of scientific luxury. The few degrees of additional elevation of the South Polar region which would be gained by an observatory situated even in the extreme south of New Zealand could hardly be expected to disclose phenomena that would escape the vigilance of the Melbourne observatory. But star-gazing is only one branch of the routine work of an observatory. It is true that we have a moderate but efficient observatory establishment in New Zealand, sufficient for distributing correct mean time, and that our meridian distance from Greenwich has been satisfactorily determined by telegraph. Also, thanks to the energy and skill of the Survey Department, despite most formidable natural obstructions, the major triangulation and meridian circuits have established the basis of our land-survey maps on a satisfactory footing, so that subdivision of the land for settlement and the adoption and blending of the excellent work done by the Provincial Governments of the colony are being rapidly overtaken. Further, I have already recalled how much the colony is indebted to the Mother-country for the completeness and detail of the coastal and harbour charts.

But there is much work that should be controlled by a physical observatory that is really urgently required. I may give a few illustrations. The tidal movements round the coast are still imperfectly ascertained, and the causes of their irregular variations can never be understood until we have a synchronous system of tide-meters, and a more widely extended series of deep-sea soundings. Excepting the "Challenger" soundings on the line of the Sydney cable, and a few casts taken by the United States ship "Enterprise," the depth of the ocean surrounding New Zealand has not been ascertained with that accuracy which many interesting problems in physical geography and geology demand. It is supposed to be the culmination page 11 of a great submarine plateau; but how far that plateau extends connecting the southern islands towards the great Antarctic land, and how far to the eastward, is still an unsolved question. Then, again, the direction and intensity of the magnetic currents in and around New Zealand requires further close investigation, which can only be controlled from an observatory. Even in the matter of secular changes in the variation of the compass, we find that the marine charts instruct that an allowance of increased easterly variation of 2∲ per annum must be made, and, as this has now accumulated since 1850, it involves a very sensible correction to be adopted by a shipmaster in making the land or cruising along the coast; but we find from the recently-published work of the "Challenger" that this tendency to change has for some time back ceased to affect the New Zealand area, and, as the deduction appears only to have been founded on a single triplet observation of the dip taken at "Wellington and one azimuth observation taken off Cape Palliser, it would be well to have this fact verified.

With regard to the local variation in the magnetic currents on land and close in-shore, the necessity for exact survey is even more imperative. Captain Creak, in his splendid essay on the magnetic observations of the "Challenger" Expedition, quotes the observations made by the late Surveyor-General, Mr. J. T. Thomson, at the Bluff Hill, which indicate that a compass on the north side was deflected more than 9° to the west, while on the cast side of the hill the deflection is 46° to the east of the average deviation in Foveaux Strait. He remarks that if a similar island-like hill happened to occur on the coast, but submerged beneath the sea to a sufficient depth for navigation, serious accidents might take place; and he instances a case near Cossack, on the north coast of Australia, where H.M.S. "Medea," sailing on a straight course in eight fathoms of water, experienced a compass deflection of 30° for the distance of a mile. A glance at the variation entered on the meridian-circuit maps of New Zealand shows that on land we have extraordinary differences between different trig, stations at short distances apart. In close vicinity to page 12 Christchurch—for instance, at Mount Pleasant, behind Godley Head lighthouse, which stands at the entrance to Lyttelton Harbour—the variation is only 9° 3∲ east, or 6° less than the normal; while at Rolleston it is 15° 33∲, and at Lake Coleridge 14° 2∲. In Otago we have still greater differences recorded, for we find at Flagstaff Hill, which is an igneous formation, 14° 34∲, while at Nenthorn, thirty-five miles to the north, in a schist formation, we find an entry of 35° 41∲.

In view of the fact that increased attention has been recently directed to the marked effects on the direction and intensity of the terrestrial magnetic currents of great lines of fault along which earth-movements have taken place, such as those which bring widely different geological formations into discordant contact, with the probable production of mineral veins, this subject of special magnetic surveys is deserving of being undertaken in New Zealand. In Japan and in the United States of America the results have already proved highly suggestive. A comparison between this country and Japan by such observations, especially if combined with systematic and synchronous records by modern seismographic instruments, would be of great service to the physical geologist. There are many features in common and many quite reversed in the orographic and other physical features of these two countries. Both are formed by the crests of great earth-waves lying north-east and south-west, and parallel to, but distant from, continental areas, and both are traversed by great longitudinal faults and fissures, and each by one great transverse fault. Dr. Nauman, in a recent paper, names this transverse-fault area in Japan the Fossa Magna, and it corresponds in position in relation to Japan with Cook Strait in relation to New Zealand. But the Fossa Magna of Japan has been filled up there with volcanic products, and is the scat of the loftiest active volcano in Japan. In Cook Strait, and its vicinity, as you are aware, there are no volcanic rocks, but there and southward through the Kaikouras evidence of recent fault-movements on an extensive scale is apparent, and it would be most interesting to ascertain if page 13 the remarkable deviations from the normal in direction and force of the magnetic currents, such as are experienced in Japan, are also found in New Zealand. For it is evident that, if they are in any way related to the condition of stress induced by cross-fractures in the earth's crust, the observation would tend to eliminate the local influence of the volcanic rocks which are present in one case and absent in the other. With reference to earthquakes also, few, if any, but very local shocks experienced in New Zealand have originated from any volcanic focus we are acquainted with, while the westerly propagation of the ordinary slight vibrations rarely passes the great fault that limits active volcanic disturbance on its eastward side. In Japan, also, out of about 480 shocks, which are felt each year in that country, each of which, on an average, shakes about one thousand square miles, there are many that cannot be ascribed to volcanic origin. There are many other problems of practical importance that can only be studied from the base-line of a properly-equipped observatory. These will readily occur to students of physics, who are better acquainted with the subject than I am.

I can only express the hope that the improved circumstances of the colony will soon permit some steps to be taken. Already in this city, I understand, some funds have been subscribed. As an educational institution, to give practical application to our studies in physical science, geodesy, and navigation, it would clearly have a specific value that would greatly benefit the colony.

Another great branch of physical science, chemistry, should be of intense interest to the colonists in a new country. Much useful work has been done, though not by many workers. The chief application of this science has been, naturally, to promote the development of mineral wealth, to assist agriculture, and for the settlement of fiscal and sanitary questions. I cannot refrain from mentioning the name of William Skey, Analyst to the Geological Survey, as the chemist whose researches, during the last twenty-eight years, have far surpassed any other in New page 14 Zealand. Outside his laborious official duties he has found time to make about sixty original contributions to chemical science, such as—an inquiry into the electrical properties of metallic sulphides; the discovery of the ferro-nickel alloy awaruite in the ultra-basic rocks of West Otago, which is highly interesting, as it is the first recognition of this meteoric-like iron as native to our planet; the discovery that the hydrocarbon in torbanite and other gasshales is chemically and not merely mechanically combined with the clay base; the discovery of a remarkable colourtest for the presence of magnesia; and the isolation of the poisonous principle in many of our native shrubs. His recent discovery that the fatty oils treated with anilines form alkaloids also hints at an important new departure in organic chemistry. His suggestion of the hot-air blow-pipe, and of the application of cyanide of potassium to the saving of gold, and many other practical applications of his chemical knowledge, are distinguished services to science, of which New Zealand should be proud.

In connection with the subject of chemistry, there is a point of vast importance to the future of the pastoral and agricultural interests of New Zealand, to which attention was directed some years ago by Professor Thomas, and Mr. Pond, of Auckland—that is, the rapid deterioration which the soil must be undergoing by the steady export of the constituents on which plant and animal life must depend for nourishment. Mr. Pond calculated that in 1883 the intrinsic value of the fixed nitrogen and phosphoric acid and potash sent out annually was £592,000, taking into account the wool and wheat alone. Now that we have to add to that the exported carcases of beef and mutton, bones and all, the annual loss must be immensely greater and probably not less than £1,000,000. The proper cure would, of course, be to bring back return cargoes of artificial manure, but even then its application to most of our pastoral lands would be out of the question. I sincerely hope that the problem will be taken in hand by the Agricultural College at Lincoln, as a matter deserving of practical study and investigation.

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I have already referred to several great generalisations which have exercised a powerful influence in advancing science during the period I marked out for review; hut, so far as influencing the general current of thought, and almost entirely revolutionising the prevalent notions of scientific workers in every department of knowledge, the most potent factor of the period has been the establishment of what has been termed "the doctrine of evolution." The simple conception of the relation of all created things by the bond of continuous inheritance has given life to the dead bones of an accumulated mass of observed facts, each valuable in itself, but, as a whole, breaking down by its own weight. Before this master-key was provided by the lucid instruction of Darwin and Wallace, it was beyond the power of the human mind to grasp and use in biological research the great wealth of minute anatomical and physiological details. The previous ideas of the independent creation of each species of animal and plant in a little Garden of Eden of its own must appear puerile and absurd to the young naturalists of the present day; but in my own College days to have expressed any doubt on the subject would have involved a sure and certain pluck from the examiner.

I remember well that I first obtained a copy of Darwin's "Origin of Species" in San Francisco when on my way home from a three years' sojourn among the Red Indians in the Rocky Mountains. Having heard nothing of the controversies, I received the teaching with enthusiasm, and felt very much surprised on returning to my alma muter to find that I was treated as a heretic and backslider. Nowadays it is difficult to realise what all the fuss and fierce controversy was about; and the rising school of naturalists have much cause for congratulation that they can start fair on a well-assured logical basis of thought, and steer clear of the many complicated and purely ideal systems which were formerly in vogue for explaining the intentions of the Creator and for torturing unfortunate students. The doctrine of evolution is the single-minded acceptance of the invariability of cause and effect in the page 16 organic world as in the inorganic; and, to understand his subject in any branch of natural science, the learner has now only to apply himself to trace in the minutest detail the successive steps in the development of the phenomena he desires to study. With energetic teachers such as Hutton, Parker, and Thomas educated in such views, and who, after their arrival in the colony, felt less controversial restraint, it is not wonderful that natural history, and especially biology, should have attracted so many ardent workers, and that the results should have been so good.

A rough test may be applied by comparing the number of species of animals and plants which had been described before the foundation of the colony and those up to the present time. In 1840 Dr. Gray's list in Dieffenbach's work gives the number of described species of animals as 594. The number now recognised and described is 5,498. The number of Mammalia has been doubled through the more accurate study of the seals, whales, and dolphins. Then, the list of birds has been increased from 84 to 195, chiefly through the exertions of Sir Walter Puller, whose great standard work on our Avifauna has gained credit and renown for the whole colony. The number of fishes and Mollusca has been more than trebled, almost wholly by the indefatigable work of our Secretary, Professor Hutton. But the greatest increase is in the group which Dr. Gray placed as Annulosa, which, chiefly through the discovery of new forms of insect-life, has risen from 156 in 1840 to 4,295, of which over two thousand are new beetles described by Captain Broun, of Auckland.

When we turn to botany we find that Dieffenbach, who appears to have carefully collated all the references to date 1810, declares the flora to comprise 632 plants of all kinds, and, as I have already mentioned, did not expect that many more would be found. But by the time of the publication of Hooker's "Flora of New Zealand" (1863), a work which has been of inestimable value to our colonists, we find the number of indigenous plants described has been increased to 2,451. Armed with the invaluable guidance afforded by Hooker's page 17 "Handbook" our colonial botanists have continued the search, and have since then discovered 1,469 new species, so that our plant census at the present date gives a total of 3,920 species. It would be impossible to make mention of all who have contributed to this result as collectors, and hardly even to indicate more than a few of those to whom science is indebted for the description of the plants. The literature of our post-Hookerian botany is scattered about in scientific periodical literature, and, as Hooker's "Handbook" is now quite out of print, it is obvious that, as the new discoveries constitute more than one-third of the total known flora, it is most important that our young botanists should be fully equipped with all that has been ascertained by those who have preceded them. I am glad to be able to announce that such a work, in the form of a new edition of the "Handbook of the Flora of New Zealand," approved by Sir Joseph Hooker, is now in an advanced state of preparation by Mr. Thomas Kirk, F.L.S., who has already distinguished himself as the author of our "Forest Flora." Mr. Kirk's long experience as a systematic botanist, and his personal knowledge of the flora of every part of the colony, acquired during the exercise of his duties as Conservator of Forests, point to him as the fitting man to undertake the task.

But, quite apart from the work of increasing the local collections which bear on biological studies, New Zealand stands out prominently in all discussions on the subject of geographical biology. It stands as a lone zoological region, small in area, but on equal terms, as far as regards the antiquity and peculiar features of its fauna, with nearly all the larger continents in the aggregate. In consequence of this, many philosophical essays—such, for instance, as Hooker's introductory essay in the early quarto edition of the "Flora Antarctica," the essays by Hutton, Travel's, and others in the colony, and also the New Zealand references in Wallace's works—have all contributed essentially to the vital question of the causes which have brought about the distribution and geographical affinities of plants and animals, and have thus been of use in hastening the adop- page 18 tion of the doctrine of evolution. But much still remains to be done. Both as regards its fauna and its flora New Zealand has always been treated too much as a whole quantity, and in consequence percentage schedules prepared for comparing with the fauna and flora of other areas fail from this cause. It is absolutely necessary not only to discriminate localities, but also to study more carefully the relative prevalence of individuals as well as of species before instituting comparisons. The facility and rapidity with which changes are effected at the present time should put us on our guard against rashly accepting species which may have been accidental intruders, though wafted hither by natural causes, as belonging to the original endemic fauna or flora. The most striking feature in the New Zealand fauna was the extraordinary development of many forms of the Dinornis, or the moa of the Maoris, which were struthious birds, and also of the other birds in which the power of flight was either altogether absent or only feebly developed. They represent many genera and species, and the individuals, up to a comparatively recent date, must have been exceedingly numerous. How such an astonishing variety of bird-forms, many of which were of gigantic size, came to be crowded together on a small island like New Zealand is one of the most difficult problems in geographical zoology. There is only one ostrich in the vast continent of Africa, one emu in Australia, one rhea in South America. The only large struthious birds now existing which have a limited distribution are some of the cassowaries; but here in New Zealand there were many species living intermixed within a limited area. Their bones were found by the early settlers scattered in great profusion on the surface in some parts of the country, buried in swampy places, and heaped in caves, into which they had been washed just as the bones of sheep and cattle are at the present time. The ample material which has been collected during the past fifty years has been elaborated by the masterly genius of the great anatomist Owen, whose work on the osteology of the extinct birds is, perhaps, the most famous page 19 contribution to science which has been made for New Zealand. But the study of the bones of the birds alone—often fragments—will not satisfy the requirements of the biologist who desires to trace their structural affinity, and to trace the steps in the history of their evolution. It is therefore a matter for congratulation that Professor Parker has taken up the subject of the minute anatomy and embryology of the allied genus, the Apteryx or kiwi, which has, fortunately, as yet, escaped extermination.

Further close and extended study, especially, of our marine fauna is urgently required. We have little knowledge beyond the littoral zone, except when a great storm heaves up a gathering of nondescript or rare treasures from the deep. Of dredging we have had but little done, and only in shallow waters, with the exception of a few casts of the deep-sea trawl from the "Challenger." When funds permit, a zoological station for the study of the habits of our sea fishes, and for the propagation of such edible species as the lobster and crab, would be advantageous. I observe that lately such an establishment has been placed on the Island of Mull, in Scotland, at a cost of £400, and that it is expected to be nearly self-supporting. With respect to food fishes, and still more with respect to some terrestrial forms of life, we, in common with all the Australasian Colonies, require a more scientific and a less casual system of acclimatisation than we have had in the past. One must talk with 'bated breath of the injuries that have been inflicted on these colonies by the rash disturbance of the balance of nature. Had our enthusiasm been properly controlled by foresight, our settlers would probably not have to grieve over the losses they now suffer through many imported pests, through small birds and rabbits, and which they will in the future suffer through the vermin that are now being spread in all directions.

Speaking of geology, I may say that the early explorers seem to have had only the most vague ideas of the geology of the countries they explored. Indeed, the whole science may be said to have been almost entirely developed during the last fifty years; and this is very natural, as it is perhaps page 20 more dependent than any other branch of knowledge on assistance from other branches of science. It has to rely on physics not only for the solution of great dynamical problems, but also for the application of the science of optics to unravel the intimate structure and mode of production of rocks and minerals, on biology for deciphering the embedded organic remains, and on chemistry in almost every branch of the subject; and thus it barely existed as a science until these branches had become established. The first great advance was made by Sir Charles Lyell, who, although commencing as one of the great opponents of evolutionary doctrines, was himself the greatest apostle of evolution, for he struck the true key-note when he said that the order of nature was uniform. He lived to see the effect of the great change brought about. In New Zealand our geological explorations began since the matters I have referred to were settled, and the result has been that we have rapidly attained a tolerably complete knowledge of the structure of the country, for a full description of which, seeing that time presses, I must refer you to the various Geological Reports and maps which have been published.

In ethnology and the study of the Maori race there is an ample field for research, and it is a very great pleasure to me to state that, at the sectional meeting dealing with the subject, will be presented the proof sheets of a great lexicon embracing the languages of the Polynesian races compared with that of the Maori. This important work is in an advanced state of preparation, under the hands of Mr. Tregear, known as one of the most profound students of Maori mythology.

There is another subject which I should have liked to say something about, and that is the great Antarctic Continent; and to a purely scientific man, utterly devoid of all considerations of expense, the exploration of that little-known region appears a matter of great urgency. I understand, however, that Baron von Mueller wishes that the discussion on that subject should be reserved for the special sectional meeting on Saturday morning.

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I may say, in conclusion, that I have the most perfect confidence in the success of this Association. It is twenty-four years ago since Mr. Travers got an Act passed constituting the New Zealand Institute, which was in a small way an "association for the advancement of science." It was in an endeavour to combine the efforts of the workers in the cause of science in all parts of the colony that the Institute was formed. How it succeeded is known to you all. Baron von Mueller has attributed this success to me. I must disclaim it; it is due to the manner in which, despite local jealousies, the Institute has been supported by the public, and to the zeal and enthusiasm of its members throughout the colony. This Association is an extension of the principle of the Institute to the whole of the colonies. I think it is necessary for these colonies, if they are ever to become a nation, to apply the principle still further, and to federate. I have again to thank you, and to hope that you may have a pleasant sojourn in New Zealand. If I have succeeded in showing our visitors from Australia that New Zealand has great capabilities for scientific research, then I have not altogether failed to justify the choice of New Zealand as our place of meeting for this year.