﻿

  Botany. 
  351 
  

  

  supported 
  on 
  the 
  most 
  meagre 
  allowance, 
  but 
  presenting 
  some 
  in- 
  

   teresting 
  features. 
  The 
  collection 
  of 
  rare 
  New 
  Zealand 
  plants, 
  

   made 
  by 
  Mr. 
  John 
  McBean, 
  is 
  worthy 
  of 
  attentive 
  study. 
  At 
  

   Christchurch, 
  in 
  Canterbury, 
  the 
  garden 
  is 
  much 
  more 
  extensive. 
  

   Its 
  curator, 
  Mr. 
  Taylor, 
  had 
  but 
  very 
  lately 
  taken 
  charge, 
  but 
  he 
  

   indicated 
  certain 
  improvements 
  in 
  prospect. 
  The 
  native 
  plants 
  

   are 
  well 
  shown 
  by 
  good 
  specimens, 
  a 
  good 
  deal 
  of 
  care 
  having 
  

   been 
  taken 
  to 
  secure 
  types 
  and 
  varietal 
  forms. 
  It 
  was 
  my 
  good 
  

   fortune 
  to 
  be 
  conducted 
  through 
  this 
  garden 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  my 
  visits, 
  

   by 
  Professor 
  Kirk, 
  whose 
  labors 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  New 
  

   Zealand 
  Flora 
  are 
  everywhere 
  known. 
  He 
  is 
  now 
  engaged 
  in 
  

   editing 
  a 
  new 
  edition 
  of 
  Sir 
  Joseph 
  Hooker's 
  Handbook 
  of 
  the 
  

   Flora 
  of 
  New 
  Zealand, 
  a 
  work 
  now 
  out 
  of 
  print. 
  Professor 
  

   Kirk's 
  Forest 
  Flora 
  of 
  New 
  Zealand 
  is 
  a 
  magnificent 
  volume 
  

   carefully 
  illustrated. 
  The 
  fidelity 
  of 
  the 
  drawings 
  is 
  remarkable. 
  

  

  The 
  last 
  of 
  the 
  gardens 
  in 
  New 
  Zealand 
  visited 
  by 
  me 
  was 
  that 
  

   at 
  Wellington. 
  It 
  is 
  situated 
  on 
  the 
  hill 
  back 
  of 
  the 
  city, 
  and 
  

   possesses 
  chiefly 
  the 
  characteristics 
  of 
  a 
  park. 
  

  

  Dunedin, 
  Christchurch, 
  and 
  Wellington, 
  to 
  which 
  we 
  may 
  add 
  

   also 
  Auckland, 
  have 
  excellent 
  local 
  museums. 
  The 
  one 
  at 
  Dune- 
  

   din 
  is 
  growing 
  rapidly 
  in 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  zoology. 
  This 
  is 
  under 
  

   the 
  charge 
  of 
  Professor 
  T. 
  Jefferey 
  Parker. 
  Christchurch 
  mu- 
  

   seum 
  is 
  widely 
  known 
  from 
  the 
  collections 
  of- 
  bones 
  of 
  extinct 
  

   birds 
  which 
  were 
  brought 
  together 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  Dr. 
  Julius 
  von 
  

   Haast. 
  The 
  museum 
  is 
  extensive 
  in 
  many 
  departments, 
  particu- 
  

   larly 
  ethnology, 
  but 
  it 
  needs 
  re-arrangement. 
  This 
  it 
  will 
  doubt- 
  

   less 
  receive 
  soon 
  from 
  its 
  new 
  curator, 
  Dr. 
  H. 
  O. 
  Forbes, 
  the 
  

   naturalist 
  whose 
  studies 
  in 
  the 
  Eastern 
  Archipelago 
  are 
  familiar 
  

   to 
  all 
  our 
  readers. 
  The 
  cathedral 
  city 
  of 
  Christchurch 
  is 
  the 
  

   home 
  of 
  Professor 
  Hutton 
  of 
  Canterbury 
  college. 
  Wellington 
  is 
  

   the 
  capital 
  of 
  New 
  Zealand. 
  Its 
  museum 
  is 
  extensive, 
  but 
  inade- 
  

   quately 
  provided 
  with 
  proper 
  exhibition 
  rooms. 
  The 
  display 
  of 
  

   ethnological 
  specimens 
  is 
  exceedingly 
  good, 
  being 
  arranged 
  in 
  the 
  

   most 
  effective 
  manner. 
  The 
  Auckland 
  museum 
  is 
  also 
  rich 
  in 
  

   ethnological 
  Specimens. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  purposely 
  deferred 
  to 
  the 
  last, 
  a 
  brief 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  

   local 
  museum 
  at 
  Hobart, 
  Tasmania. 
  Mr. 
  Alexander 
  Morton, 
  the 
  

   curator, 
  has 
  carried 
  out 
  to 
  the 
  furthest 
  extent 
  his 
  plan 
  of 
  estab- 
  

   lishing 
  a 
  Tasmanian 
  exhibition. 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  place, 
  it 
  is 
  compre- 
  

   hensive, 
  taking 
  in 
  all 
  departments 
  of 
  natural 
  history, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  

   geology, 
  archaeology 
  and 
  ethnology, 
  in 
  other 
  words, 
  natural 
  his- 
  

   tory 
  in 
  the 
  widest 
  sense. 
  As 
  a 
  rule, 
  specimens 
  from 
  other 
  places 
  

   are 
  used 
  whollyfor 
  comparison. 
  The 
  arrangement 
  in 
  each 
  de- 
  

   partment 
  is 
  simple 
  and 
  perfectly 
  intelligible 
  to 
  the 
  person 
  of 
  

   average 
  intelligence, 
  and 
  each 
  specimen 
  is 
  very 
  fully 
  described 
  on 
  

   its 
  label. 
  Almost 
  every 
  museum 
  in 
  all 
  Australasia 
  seeks 
  rightly 
  to 
  

   make 
  the 
  exhibits 
  attractive 
  and 
  instructive, 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  line 
  

   of 
  local 
  matters. 
  The 
  collections 
  at 
  Hobart 
  are 
  therefore 
  only 
  a 
  

   conspicuous 
  example 
  of 
  what 
  can 
  be 
  done 
  on 
  a 
  small 
  scale 
  and 
  

   with 
  very 
  limited 
  means. 
  

  

  