Hamilton. — Present Position of New Zealand Palceontology. 49 



away for years. The number of named New Zealand fossils in the Museum 

 other than types is certainly well under fifty.* 



There is one important matter which I consider should be placed on 

 record which is at present buried in departmental files. In 1885, at the 

 request of Professor Tate, of Adelaide, a collection of fossils from the New 

 Zealand Tertiaries was sent to him ; and again in 1890, at the request of 

 the late Captain Hutton, a collection of the New Zealand fossil pectens 

 was sent for comparison with the Tertiary fossils of the Australian 

 regions, which the professor was then describing. He appears to have 

 drawn up a report, but desired better and more specimens. This was 

 attended to, and practically all the pectens in the collection were sent, 

 the list of which covers eleven folio sheets, the collection itself filling many 

 cases. Shortly after this, Professor Tate died ; and frequent applications 

 were, I believe, made for the return of the specimens, without avail. I 

 understand that at the professor's death it was found impossible for the 

 University authorities to separate the University collection from those belong- 

 ing to the professor and those loaned to him. We have suffered, at any 

 rate for the present, a great loss. The loss is important, as the pectens as a 

 rule afiord important stratigraphical information from a zonal point of view. 

 From an interview which I had not long ago with an Adelaide gentleman, 

 I believe it would still be possible to recover some of the specimens. 



To return to our list of collections : The second is that displayed in the 

 Canterbury Museum ; and, when we remember that for some years Dr. 

 Von Haast and Captain Hutton devoted much time and labour to it, we 

 shall not be surprised to find here probably the best-arranged and best- 

 named collection of fossils, mainly Tertiary, in the Dominion. The collec- 

 tion was worked over some years ago by Mr. Suter, and is in good 

 condition, and well arranged in a pattern of case which originated in the 

 Museum, and is mentioned with approval by Bather in his report on anti- 

 podean museums. There is also the finest collection of remains of the 

 Dinornis that yet has been exhibited ; and the whole is supplemented by 

 a large collection of fossils from other countries. It contains manv types 

 of Hutton's species. It would be very convenient to have a published 

 list of this collection, with types indicated. 



The third collection is that in the Auckland Museum. Mr. Cheeseman 

 informs me that, with the exception of a few well-known species, they have 

 less than fifty named fossils to represent the Palseozoic and Secondary fossils. 

 In the Tertiaries their collections are larger, but still far from satisfactory. 



The fourth is the small collection exhibited in the Otago University 

 Museum. Here for some time the New Zealand and foreign fossil species 

 Avere exhibited in their places with the hving species ; but Professor Parker, 

 recognising that the Museum was devoted more especially to teaching-col- 

 lections, as distinguished from large general collections, largely reduced 

 the number of exhibits, and substituted instead a very carefully selected 

 series of fossils from all countries illustrating the sequence of life-forms in 

 geological order. The number of specimens is small, but the value is great 

 for teaching purposes, set out as it is with instructive labels at frequent 



* In the Rep. N.Z. lust., 1877-78, it states that "The New Zealand fossils now 

 accumulated in the course of the Geological Survey represent collections from 450 different 

 localities, and comprise about 6,200 trays, which have been thoroughly, classified, and 

 1,200 specific types withdrawn into a separate collection for publication. A large number 

 of types have been figured, and their publication will be proceeded with as rapidly as 

 the other work of the Department will permit." 



