Heport hy Manager. 15 



been obtained by Mr. H. Travers, ten sets of which will be available for 

 exchange as soon as they have been reported on by Baron Yon Mueller, to 

 whom a complete series has been sent in duplicate for this purpose. The only 

 foreign collections of dried plants received during the past year, have been of 

 Sandwich Island plants, from Dr. Hildebrand, and a collection of British 

 Algee, prepared and presented by Mrs. J. E. Grey. 



The Herbarium now contains, in addition to the Colonial Flora, a very 

 complete set of British flowering plants and ferns, also ferns of New Hebrides, 

 Sandwich Islands, and Fijis. 



The chief desiderata necessary to make the Herbarium sufficiently com- 

 plete for the New Zealand student, are the plants of Eastern Australia and 

 Tasmania. 



For convenience of reference, a complete set of New Zealand and 

 British plants is being mounted in books and placed in the library. 



Laboratory. — Analyses have been performed during the year by Mr. Skey, 

 to the number of 285, making a total of 1,203 analyses entered in the 

 Laboratory books. 



In addition to the analyses of minerals and ores of various kinds, a very 

 large portion of the Analyst's time is occupied with examinations of samples 

 submitted by the Secretary of Customs, under the Distillation and Gold Duty 

 Acts ; and the responsibility of the verification of standards, required under 

 the Weights and Measures Act, is also performed for the Colony in connection 

 with this department. 



During the past year, sixty lithographic plates have been prepared to 

 illustrate the various publications issued by the department ; and about thirty- 

 three original drawings made of objects of natural history and fossils, with a 

 view to future publication. 



A general geological map of the Colony, on a scale of twelve miles to the 

 inch, is also in progress. 



The small-scale geological map, referred to in last year's report, has now 

 been printed off" and distributed, 150 copies having been sent to Professor 

 Owen, at his request, for incorporation with a work which he is publishing on 

 the Extinct Struthious Birds of New Zealand. 



The Geological Survey field work has been chiefly directed during the 

 past season to the development of the coal deposits, in accordance with the 

 Public Works Act ; the examination of the coal fields on the West Coast of 

 Nelson having been undertaken by myself; those in the Southland District 

 and in the North of Auckland by Captain Hutton ; while the coal deposits on 

 the eastern side of the South Island, in Canterbury and Otago, have been 

 examined by Dr. Haast. The chief practical results of the surveys have been 

 published through the Public Works Department, but the extensive additions 



