The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1907-12-17

nelQ yesterday afternoon at ciOc
in the directors room of the Bank c
Hawaii. The charter Of iss5-ro-atio
as it was granted by Treasurer A
Campbell and Acting Governor E.
Mott-Smith was formally accepted
Bylaws in accordance with the char
ter were adopted, and officers electe
and committees appointed.
The officers of the Board Of Trustee
are: Chairman, Governor Walter
Frear; vice chairman, L A. Thurston
secretary. President A. F. Griffiths o
Oahu College; treasurer, Richard q
Trent
William Alanson Bryan, who con
ceived the undertaking of the grea
work the Institution is created to carr.
on. and who formulated its plans. wa
chosen president of the Institution. Oh
accepting the appointment he made {
report which showed the very substan
tial support the undertaking has al
ready received from influential citizen!
in Hawaii. In fact the gifts to it which
have already been practically made
when they are announced. will chal.
lenge interest by their munificence.
OBJECT OF THE INSTITUTION.
The main object of the Pacific scien.
tific Institution will be to organize
equip. and carry out a complete scien-
tific exploration Of the Pacific Ocean
and OF its two thousand islands. The
Importance of this work has long been
recognized by scientists, but it's extent
and cost has, until now, appalled,.
The isolated portions of the Pacific
are not only the least known and least
explored of any of the globe, but the
scientific investigation of its mysteries
is among the most important work yet
to be accomplished, and its successful
achievement will result in knowledge
which will be OF more value to man
kind than that to be expected from the
of any similar under
taking.
MIGRATION OF RACES.
The chief energies of the Institution
Will primarily be devoted to the solu-
ton of chronological questions. The
origin and migration Of the various
races of man inhabiting the vast region
to be explored, are matters whose solu-
ton would illuminate the evolution Of
civilization and the condition of the
human family anterior to written his
tory or the records of reliable tradi-
ton. Intermingled with the elucida-
ton of these perplexing problems are
many other questions affecting the in
habitants of the Pacific which must
be satisfactorily solved before a COM
plete history of the human race can
be attempted.
OF nearly equal Importance with
matters, and centering
around them, is the work of compiling
l complete record of the data that can
yet be gathered concerning the zoology
and botany of this vast ocean realm.
The knowledge which will thus be ac-
Iuired will materially assist in a
proper determination of the causes
affecting the origin of species and their
development and evolution. The work
which has already been achieved in
he Pacific by such great naturalists as
Darwin has been greatly instrumental
n formulating and developing the
,reat modern doctrine of evolution. In
his way the work of the naturalist
n the Pacific has directly stimulated
modern research and greatly assisted
he progress of mankind.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
life lore and to make it so available
o the scientific worker that its innu-
nerable data can be investigated and
the assistance of scientific
workers. in many departments of nat
Iral history must be invoked. The
cean itself must be made to yield the
ecrets of its currents. These together
With the winds of this vast region have
10 doubt played a great part in the
not only of the more hum
lie natural species, but have facilitated
he migration of the human race it
elf. The configuration Of the ocean
eds must be accurately determined
nd a knowledge acquired of the in
abitants not only of his great deep |
ut of the island littorals and of the |
oral reefs. Il
A searching geological survey of the |
stands must also be compiled, together |
nth a knowledge of the climatology |
( the entire region. The indigenous |
mammals, birds, reptiles and insects |
lust also be carefully collected and al
,tted their classification in his realm |
natural species.
LANDMARKS GONE.
Unfortunately for the modern search
r after truth, many of the landmarks |
-hich would have assisted the present
Tork have for ever disappeared. So
lany adverse influences have been at |
Tork since the arrival of the white
ian in the Pacific that innumerable
ative species of the fauna and flora
ave passed away. In the Hawaiian
stands, ornithology, entomology, conch-
!ogy, botany, in fact every de-
artment of natural history furnishes
bundant testimony of the speedy ex-
ermination of peculiar forms. Nor
as the effect upon the original human
lhabitants themselves been less mark
i. Upon the Polynesians, the mod
ications which have been brought
bout are such that few reliable data
pom the condition of the original stock
r of its primitive customs, are now
btainable from the Inhabitants of any
I the great group of islands which
lese people now occupy.
The influence of modern civilization
pom less frequented parts of the Pa
fic are fortunately less marked, and
ON the region peopled by the Micro
esian. Papuan and other less known
ices of mankind. much is to be learn
l. In the western Pacific many is