THE MUSEUM.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11028, 17 March 1914, Page 8

THE MUSEUM.

■ . RECENT ADDITIONS. Mr 0. Selby Howell has presented to the Museum models of a chair and ■a font in Canterbury Cathedral, England. The chair is used for the enthronement of 'the Archbishop of Canterbury, and stands behind tho _ altar in tho Cathedral. The font is in St Martin's Church, and it is believed that it was used when King Ethelber't was baptised. The stone used for tho models was taken from tho large central tower of the Cathedral, which was extensively repaired about a year ago. It is a sample of the well-known Caen stone, brought from Normandy by the French abbots and used freely in tho construction of ecclesiastical buildings in England. "Mr H. Binnie has presented to the Museum six wooden needles used by the Maoris for making mats. They art) from 18 inches to 2 feet long, jjnd were found at Stag-in-spey, Kaikoura. A specimen of the marble that will be used in the Parliamentary Buildings at Wellington has been presented by Mr G. W. J. Parsons, of Christchurch. The marble is obtained at Sandy Bay, near Motueka, Nelson. It is a "coarsely crystalline limestone, banded in bluish-white and white, and containing a small percentage of impurities. There is a largo qitantity of material of fairly uniiorm quality readily available.' the outcrop extending for many miles, rising into hills 1.01)0 feet high and capping the granite which forms the basement rocks of the district. There is also a sample of granite from ('oroniai.Qel. which will probably be utilised in the base of the building.