Page:Transactions NZ Institute Volume 16.djvu/29

Rh Time will not allow me to make more than a passing mention of the papers of Mr. Samuel Locke and Mr. Barstow concerning the Native race and the history of the earliest European settlers in this colony; of Dr. Newman's paper respecting the healthiness of New Zealand; or of many other contributions. I will only add that I cannot look through the compressed report of the local Societies without a feeling of regret that I have no opportunity of reading at greater length several of the interesting papers, of which only an abstract can be given.

The honorary members who have been added to the roll of the Institute during the last year are: Professor W. B. Carpenter, the eminent physiologist, who has done great service to New Zealand by assisting in the organization of the University; Sir Wm. Thompson, from whose researches in physics and especially in electricity, this colony, in common with other countries, is deriving daily benefit; and Professor Ellery, the well-known astronomer at the Melbourne Observatory, whose work in the preparation of star catalogues is of great benefit in all survey operations in these latitudes.

The past year has been one of exceptional activity in the world of science. Astronomers in all quarters of the globe have been watching with keen interest the movements of the magnificent comet which was visible last spring; two months ago we had the opportunity of seeing one of the most beautiful of astronomical phenomena—a total eclipse of the sun; and in December last scientific parties were despatched by almost every European nation to take careful observations of the transit of Venus.

In the recent volume of Transactions there is a valuable paper on the constitution of comets, which was read before the Southland Institute last October by Mr. Fairclough. There and elsewhere you will find it stated that, according to Kepler, comets are as numerous as fishes in the sea. But, however that may be, there is no doubt that they may be numbered by hundreds of thousands, and that they are indeed the most numerous family of bodies in the universe. The movements of some hundreds only, however, have been studied, and of these only a few by the aid of modern appliances. They all describe a course round the sun; but, whilst some revolve in orbits occupying only a comparatively short period, which can be calculated with precision—as, for instance, Encke's Comet and Halley's Comet, which accomplish their revolutions in about three