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Detailed examinations of limestone-deposits with a" view to establishing lime-kilns or limecrushing plants will, of course, be found necessary in many localities, but these will be as well or better undertaken by the Agricultural Department, the officers of which possess expert knowledge of the needs of agriculture in the different districts of the Dominion. If work of this kind is to be undertaken by the Geological Survey, then, as implied above, it should not precede but follow the publication of a general report which will give the greater part of the information desired to all concerned in less time and at less expense than can be expected from a piecemeal method. Coalfield Surveys. No more important work than the systematic examination of New Zealand coalfields could be undertaken by the Geological Survey. During previous years complete surveys of the Greymouth, Westport, and Reefton coalfields have been made, but important coalfields in many parts of New Zealand still remain to be examined in detail. Last year reconnaissance surveys were made in the Te Kuiti and North Taranaki distriot and in the Wairio-Ohai section of the Nightcaps - Mount Linton coalfield, in order to ascertain the prospects of coal being successfully mined in those areas. Summaries of the results obtained are given in special reports on later pages. With regard to the Te Kuiti district it may be observed that the geological evidence of a workable coalfield being present is scanty and disappointing. This district, however, forms only a small part of a large area, extending northward to Drury and southward to Ohura, in which coal-bearing rocks occur here and there but not continuously. In most places the possible coal-seams are hidden by younger rocks. Boring is therefore necessary if the hidden coal is to be discovered, but I have to state that only systematic exploration on a large scale is likely to be of any use. At Huntly in the Waikato and Waitewhena in north Taranaki, where workable coal is already known, few blank boreholes need be drilled, but in the intervening area it may be necessary to drill dozens of holes before the presence or absence of workable coal can be definitely ascertained. Recently in the United States a zinc-prospecting company drilled twentyeight successive bores without success, but the twenty-ninth and thirtieth holes found a valuable deposit. Pai..<isontological Work. During the past year Mr. H. Suter, Consulting Palaeontologist, has been employed in identifying or describing the Tertiary Mollusca contained in the Geological Survey collections and in similar work for private collectors. His report, mentioned last year under the title of " Descriptions of New Tertiary Mollusca occurring in New Zealand, accompanied by a Few Notes on Necessary Changes in Nomenclature, Part I," is now ready for publication as PaLeontologieal Bulletin No. 5. During the past few years Mr. Suter has compiled a large number of manuscript lists of fossils, and these he is now preparing for publication. Dr. J. A. Thomson, Director of the Dominion Museum, has continued to work, so far as his ordinary duties permitted, on New Zealand Brachiopoda. He has identified many specimens for Professor Park and officers of the Geological Survey. Mr. C. T. Trechmann, of Castle Eden, County Durham, who was mentioned in last year's report as a visitor to the Dominion, has done a considerable amount of work on New Zealand Mesozoic fossils, and has lately written several papers dealing with them. One of these, entitled " The Age of the Maitai Series of New Zealand," was published in the Geological Magazine, N.S., Decade VI, vol. 4, pp. 53-64, February, 1917. Another paper, " The Trias of New Zealand," was read before the Geological Society of London on the 7th February, 1917. A summary of this paper has been given in the Abstracts of the Proceedings of the Society, and probably it will be published in full before this report appears. Still another paper by Mr. Trechmann, with the title " Cretaceous Mollusca from New Zealand," appears in the July number of the Geological Magazine. Publications. The only publications actually issued during the year were the Tenth Annual Report of the Survey, and Bulletin No. 18, entitled " The Geology and Mineral Resources of the Reefton Subdivision," by Dr. J. Henderson, Mining Geologist. This bulletin, which contains 232 pages of. letterpress, in addition to introductory matter, numerous maps, and many photographic illustrations, deals in full detail with the general and economic geology of an area of 1,046 square miles which contains important mineral resources in the form of gold—both vein and alluvial— and of coal. At the moment of writing three pakeontological bulletins are almost ready for issue, two areal bulletins are in course of publication, and others are in preparation. Office-work. During the year numerous requests for information concerning New Zealand minerals and ores have been answered by the Director and other members of the staff. A considerable amount of information has been furnished to the Board of Agriculture and to representatives of the farming industry concerning New Zealand limestone and phosphate deposits. Brief reports have been supplied to various Government Departments on matters concerning which inquiry was made. Some information concerning those subjects in which most interest has been shown is published on later pages of this report under the headings of "Potash," "Clay," "Talc," "Sulphur," "Fluor-spar," "Molybdenite," "Antimony," "Mercury," and "Manganese." Mr. F. Fulton-Wood has attended to most of the miscellaneous office-work, and has also acted as librarian during the year.

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