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Foreign Ethnological Collection During the year some important additions have been made to these collections. An interesting series of articles collected in Egypt by the Hon. Colonel P. Waite was presented by him to the Museum. A valuable French china-cabinet was donated by Dr. and Mrs. C. G. F. Morice. Mr. and Mrs. T. Beard deposited a collection of articles mainly from Melanesia. Some Australian material was donated by Mr. R. A. Holmes. A collection, principally of Melanesian artifacts, wtte purchased. Mammal Collection During a visit of the Director to Gisborne in April, 1943, a stay was made at Opoutama to examine some whales cast up on the beach a year previously. A skeleton and five skulls of the Tasmanian blackfish (Pseudorea crassidens) and a skull of the pigmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) were collected. In July, 1943, a strap-toothed whale was cast up 011 the beach at Waikanae. The locality was visited by the Director and the Taxidermist a month later and the bones separated from the flesh and buried in the sandhills, from which they will be recovered in due course. Bird Collection Eighteen specimens of birds have been added to the collection during the year. These include native species accidentally killed, and foreign cage birds from aviculturalists and the Wellington Zoo. In 1943 a cave containing moa bones belonging to at least twenty-two individual birds was discovered by the Public Works Department when excavating at the south end of Lake Waikaremoana. All of the bones found were forwarded to the Dominion Museum. They were found to belong to six species. Like most North Island moa remains, the bones were more or less weathered. Entomological Collection The rearrangement of the collections continues, but is severely handicapped by lack of cabinet space. The New Zealand Coleoptera cannot be placed in proper order until another complete cabinet similar to that housing the New Zealand Lepidoptera has been supplied. During the year the rearrangement of the New Zealand Orthoptera was put in hand and is progressing satisfactorily. In spite of war conditions and the extreme difficulty under which the Museum is operating, the number of inquiries and identifications made of and by the entomological department during the past year has been considerable. During December, 1943, and January, 1944, Mr. Salmon visited the Homer district of the South Island in company with Mr. G. Howes, Entomologist, of Dunedin, and a very extensive collection of the insects of the district was brought back to the Museum. This included large collections of Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Collembola, spiders, Opiliones, Acari, and Orthoptera chiefly, but representatives of other orders also were taken in small numbers. A number of new species are to be described, particularly among the Collembola, Opiliones, and Lepidoptera, as a result of this visit. Accessions during the year include a collection of 91 tubes of New Zealand Opiliones from Mr. K. E. R. Grimmett; two collections of miscellaneous New Zealand insects from Mr. G. V. Hudson, including some identified at the British Museum; 63 specimens of New Zealand beetles from Mr. A. R. Fairburn, of Whangarei; 4 tubes of identified termites from the Plant Diseases Division at Auckland; and a collection of 288 specimens of New Zealand beetles from Mr. A. Pope. By exchange with Mr. E. S. Gourlay, of Nelson, 138 identified species of New Zealand beetles were added to the New Zealand Coleoptera collection. During the year the Entomologist, Mr. J. T. Salmon, published two further papers on the New Zealand Collembola, entitled " New Records of Collembola from New Zealand, with Descriptions of New Species—Part 2, Symphypleona," and " The Genus Folsomiw (Collembola) in New Zealand." These appeared in the Tram. Roy. Soc. N.Z., Vol. 73. The Assistant Entomologist, Mr. R. Forster, published the first of a series of papers 011 the New Zealand Opiliones, also in Vol. 73 of the Trans. Roy. Soc. N.Z., and entitled " The Genus Adaieum Korsch ( = Algidia Hogg) in New Zealand, with Descriptions of New Species (Order Opiliones)." . - • The studies on New Zealand Phasmid®, commenced by Mr. Salmon some years ago, have progressed satisfactorily. Coloured plates of all the species have been prepared, and the results should be ready for publication by the end of the present year. Library Periodicals have been received as regularly as military operations have permitted. Some parts have been lost through enemy action, but it is hoped that these can be replaced after- the war- A few books have been purchased. Photographic Department Activities have been mainly confined to routine, and the printing of the collections of negatives has continued satisfactorily. During the year two fine collections of lanternslides were presented, one from Mr. G. V. Hudson being a series on entomology, and the other, from Dr. W. P. Evans, being a series 011 New Zealand coals. Mr. Hudson's series also included the respective negatives. During the year a further 319 negatives have been added to the permanent collections. Museum Publications No parts of the Records of the Dominion Museum were issued during the year under review. Part 2 ofl Volume I is in the press and should be published about July.

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