H.—2l.

National War Collection. The greater part of this collection is now housed in the basement underneath the Maori Hall. Quantities of material have been relabelled and reclassified, and uniforms treated for future preservation. Mammal Collection. The whole of the mammal collection, listed under 700 numbers in the register, was checked over, entered on specimen schedules, and classified. The specimens have been arranged in order in the mammel room and are easily accessible. An exhibit illustrating the zoological classification of man has been placed on view. Bird Collection. The principal activity of the year was the excavation of a swamp containing moa bones at Herbert, near Oamaru. The actual work was carried out by labourers paid by the National Service Department. Material help in the way of loans of pumps and tools was given by the Waitaki County Council, in connection with which the Committee wishes to record its thanks to the engineer, Mr. A. Nuttall; Mr. G. B. Stevenson also rendered valuable assistance. The Director of the Museum visited Oamaru to superintend the work and take charge of the specimens, which included representatives of seven species of moas, an extinct goose, and a large extinct rail. Fish Collection. The reference collection has been rearranged and reclassified and numerous specimens relabelled. Important accessions include a small sunfish (Ranzania) from the Kermadecs, presented by Mr. B. Lukins, and a deep-sea cod (Mora pacifica.) from Cook Strait, presented by Mr. A. C. Kaberry. Entomological Department. Work has continued on the rearrangement of the insect collections in the new cabinets and on the preparation of new exhibits for the proposed new " Hall of Insect Life." Considerable use has been made of the collections by students during the year, and much information has been supplied in response to inquiries from the public and from other Government Departments. A series of demonstrations and. lecturettes has been given by Mr. Salmon to each group of students working in the Museum under the Education Officer's schemeAccessions during the year were —By purchase : The Weniger collection of exotic moths. By gift: Anonymously, an extensive collection of New Zealand Lepidoptera, comprising about ] ,000 specimens, from the Wanganui district; 110 specimens of Eastern Australian butterflies from Dr. C. A. Waterhouse, of Sydney; three specimens of the English Comma butterfly from Mr. G. V. Hudson, of Wellington ; the O'Connor collection of New Zealand beetles, containing about 5,000 specimens, from Mr. A. C. O'Connor, of Wellington. By exchange : 265 specimens of Lepidoptera from Otago, by Mr. G. Howes. During the latter half of the year Mr. H. W. Simmonds, of Fiji, has put in a considerable amount of his time working in the Department, mounting, and identifying specimens from his own. collection, which is stored for him in the Museum. Mr. Simmonds also has assisted in the preparation of an exhibit on " Mimicry." Considerable help has been given to the Department in the corking and lining of the insect trays by several keen boys from the Karori School, who visit the Museum after school hours, and by Mr. McKenzie's student-teachers, of whom I should particularly like to mention Mr. Bay Forster, who also has assisted with the sorting and mounting of some of the thousands of unmounted insects in the Museum collection. A very extensive paper, " The Collembolan Fauna of New Zealand," was published by Mr. Salmon in the March, 1941, issue of the Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. This paper, which described over one hundred new species, includes a complete revision of the New Zealand Collembolan fauna. A large number of microscopic slides prepared by the author when writing the paper have been added to the Museum collection. Botanical Department. Herbarium. —The Banks and Solander collection received from Kew Gardens several years ago has now been mounted and classified. The classification and mounting of the specimens in the native and exotic collections have occupied much of the time of the staff. An exchange collection was despatched to the Berkeley University, California. The Lindauer and Scarfe collections of seaweeds have been incorporated in the herbarium, which now includes a useful collection of New Zealand seaweeds. Exhibits. —Various exhibits have been revised, and a temporary one illustrating the use of ergot has been placed on view. Work is proceeding on a large exhibit illustrating plant nutrition and another showing the utilization of seaweeds. The live-plant table has been kept furnished during the summer, while the collection of potted plants has been attended to and labelled. Some have been planted out in the Museum grounds. Assistance by the collecting and despatch of cut specimens was given to the native-plant exhibitions held by the Auckland and Invercargill Museums,

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