Hudson. — Importance of N.Z. Biological Collections. 201 



■example, I may mention that I know of several persons 

 whose attention to entomology has been solely aroused by 

 the cabinet of New Zealaiid insects which Mr. Palmer pre- 

 •sented to the Museum some years ago. It is, as Professor 

 Huxley has pointed out, an easy transition from ' ' simple 

 •curiosity" to "natural science," and. I feel confident that the 

 ins]Dection of collections is far more likely to arouse such 

 curiosity than any amount of school-teaching. As to the 

 present modes of education, I think their success must be 

 regarded as somewhat questionable, as we observe that in the 

 majority of instances there is not the slightest desire for any 

 kind of intellectual advancement after the requisite examina- 

 tions have been passed. This subject has, of course, been 

 fully discussed, with great ability, by Herbert Spencer, but his 

 system of education is, unfortunately, far from being followed 

 out even now ; hence, no doubt, the imperfect result. 



Under the present museum arrangements it is certain that 

 all the best collections of both fauna and flora are sent to 

 England. They are not sufiiciently appreciated or looked 

 after here, and it is but natural that workers who have spent 

 many years and much labour in getting together good collec- 

 tions should desire to see them safely deposited in an institu- 

 tion like the British Museum, where their careful preservation 

 is insured. At the same time, there cannot be the least doubt 

 that such collections would be far more valuable in the colony, 

 as they would assist students in investigation by enabling them 

 to identify and classify their specimens with ease and accu- 

 racy. At present, for the want of local collections, any worker 

 in any branch of natural history is obliged to send specimens 

 to Europe for identification. I have, by following this course, 

 got together a named collection of Lepidoptera, comprising 

 about 250 species (or less than half of the known New Zealand 

 lepidopterous fauna), and, judging from the number of appli- 

 cations I receive for the identification of species, it would 

 appear that there is nothing of the kind in any of the New 

 Zealand museums. I presume the other branches of biology 

 are in much the same condition. In fact, I know that if I 

 ■wish to obtain the name of a plant, mollusc, crustacean, or, in 

 fact, almost anything, I have to consult specialists who have 

 their private collections to refer to. These should certainly 

 be represented in the Museum. In fact, if museum collections 

 were once established, they could be easily extended indefi- 

 nitely by adopting the same course as that followed by many 

 entomologists. It is a generally-understood thing that in 

 naming insects for a correspondent a specimen is forfeited for 

 every identification ; consequently, if the Museum undertook 

 the identification of all plants and animals submitted to it, its 

 collections could be increased almost without expense, and 



