H.—22

18

The following papers have also been prepared during the past year :— (1.) " Tame and Tiki, their True Position in Maori Myth." (Unpublished.) (2.) " Shell Middens of the Wellington District." (Unpublished.) (3.) " Polynesian Navigators." For the American Geographical Society of New York. (4.) " How the Maori came to New Zealand." For the New Zealand School Journal. (5.) "The Maori Concept of the Spirit-World." For the Journal of the Polynesian Society. (6.) " The Discovery and Settlement of Wellington by the Maori." For the Government Insurance Recorder. (7.) "Notes on.a Peculiar Game resembling Draughts." Man, January, 1917. Miss A. Castle reports on the entomological collections as.follows : — Lepidoptera. —ln the summer of 1915—16 over two hundred specimens of butterflies and moths were collected by the Director and Mr. Hamilton in Marlborough, one hundred and forty by Mr. J. McDonald at Silverstream, and about eighty by Mr. H. W. Simmonds from places between. Auckland and Wellington and from Nelson. The work of mounting these was completed in May, when the work of revising the Macro-Lepidoptera sections in accordance with a scheme devised by Mr. H. Hamilton was begun. During this work considerable assistance in verifying and identifying doubtful specimens was given by Messrs. G. V. Hudson and A. Philpott. Exchanges have been arranged with collectors in South Africa and California, whereby the foreign collections have been enlarged. The accommodation of the ever-increasing entomological collections is becoming a difficult problem, as the only room on the sunny side of the Museum that can be spared is already overcrowded. Owing to the many inquiries to see the collections of exotic butterflies at times inconvenient to the work then in hand, it was decided to appoint certain hours at which visitors could see them —viz., 2 to 4 p.m. on. Wednesdays, and 10-12 a.m. on Saturdays —an arrangement which has proved entirely satisfactory. School-children in classes usually visit the Museum during the summer months, when at all times the collections have been shown. Coleoptera. —The work of remounting and uniting the beetles previously scattered in three separate collections was commenced by Mr. H. Hamilton, and was uncompleted when he left on active service. Very considerable additions were made by vigorous collecting around Wellington, and at Marlborough, Stephen Island, and other places. Diptera. —Considerable additions were made by the collections of the Director and Mr. Hamilton from Marlborough, and of Mr. H. W. Simmonds and Mr. D. Miller from, various localities. The specimens previously scattered through various collections have been brought together, and the doubtful species determined by Mr. D. Miller. Hymenoptera. —Considerable additions to the collections were made, especially in donations from Mr. H. W. Simmonds, and the scattered collections were brought together. Mr. D. Miller again assisted in the naming of species. Orthoptera. —Owing to requests from France for material of the cave-dwelling Orthoptera a vigorous policy of collecting wetas was pursued by the Director and Mr. Hamilton, resulting in large accessions from South Canterbury, Marlborough, Stephen Island, Karori, and the Wairarapa. Mr. D. Carson presented a series from a cave near Ekotahuna. The thanks of the Department are especially due to Messrs. Hudson, Philpott, Miller, and Simmonds for ever-ready assistance in naming species, and to Mr. Simmonds for large numbers of rare specimens in all groups. J. Allan Thomson, Director. The Under-Secretary, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

V. REPORT OF OFFICER IN CHARGE WAR FUNDS OFFICE. Wellington, 31st May, 1917. At the beginning of the year the number of societies controlling war funds which had supplied the particulars required under section 9 of the Act was 300. During the year an additional 207 societies have been placed on record, and sixty-five have completed the effort for which they were formed or have ceased operations, leaving 442 active societies coming within the operation of the War Funds -4.ct. This number includes societies which, in addition to general patriotic work, are principally engaged in providing comforts for soldiers, but does not include the smaller branches and sub-committees of Red Cross and Lady Liverpool organizations, of which there are many hundreds. The Red Cross, Lady Liverpool Societies, and the Auckland Women's Patriotic League (of which there are 100 branches) account to this office through their central organizations, and the sub-committees and branches, by special arrangement, send half-yearly statements in lieu of monthly returns. The War Legislation Act, 1916, provided that before any society controlling war funds could solicit contributions such funds had to bo approved by the Minister. This was rendered necessary by the apparent laxity shown by many societies in their methods of working. 391 societies have now been approved under this amending Act. Approval has been temporarily withheld in respect of twenty-six societies on account of the incomplete and irregular nature of their returns, and the issue of further permits to solicit contributions has been suspended until they comply with the law. They are mostly small organizations which have apparently ceased-to take an active part in patriotic work. Incorporation under the War Funds Act has been granted to twenty-four Patriotic Associations. These bodies controlled funds at the 31st March, 1917, amounting to £1,178,291. The trustees of the Maori Soldiers' Fund Council have also been incorporated. This Council, whose headquarters are at Gisborne, represents the East Coast Natives, and is empowered by section 13 of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1916, to