270 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
slightest evidence to show that the Poa is found on the Chatham 
Islands. | 
Mr. Buchanan states that the Festuca is found on rocky parts 
of the coast of both islands, but I cannot find that it has at any 
time been found in the North Island. Would Mr. Buchanan 
kindly mention any North Island locality in which it has been 
collected? Small specimens of F. littoralis have been mistaken 
for it, but that is only found on loose sands, never on rocks. The 
specimens in Dr. Sinclair’s herbarium appear to have been col- 
lected, not at Auckland, but on the Auckland Islands by Gene- 
ral Bolton. 
Both the Poa and Festuca were reported by Mr. Buchanan as 
having been collected by him in the northern part of the Auck- 
land district, see Trans. II., p. 246, IIL, p. 173. 
I would suggest to Mr. Buchanan the propriety of adopting a 
more courteous tone in any further communication he may make. 
He offers as an excuse for one of his errors what he is pleased 
to term “a lapse of the reasoning faculties.” The fact of his 
being constrained to make an excuse of this kind should at least 
prevent him from imputing to me, even indirectly, a desire to 
bring discredit on the Colonial Museum, when correcting his 
errors, an imputation which comes from him with a peculiarly 
bad grace.—I am, &c., 
T. “KIRK. 
Wellington, 
September 15, 1882. 
Canterbury Museum, 
September 29th, 1882. 
SIR,—I fear Professor Hutton, in answer to his letter of July 
20th in No. 5 of your jonrnal, has altogether missed the point at 
issue when coming to the assistance of Mr. Maskell. The sub- 
ject was not whether the paintings were executed on a coating 
of “stalagmite” or on the surface of the original rock itself, but 
whether that portion of the surface which had scaled and is still 
scaling off consisted of flakes of the rock itself, brought about by 
weathering as stated by me, or of a thin coating of stalagmite 
(according to Professor Hutton at most 1-50th of one inch in 
thickness) as stated by Mr. Maskell. 
Professor Hutton having shown his specimens of “stalagmite” | 
at a meeting of the Philosophical Institute on August 3rd, 
which, unfortunately, I was prevented from attending, I shall lay 
the proofs of the correctness of my statements before the next 
meeting by exhibiting a number of flakes brought from the 
locality in question ; at the same time I shall show that Profes- 
sor Hutton’s so-called stalagmite is only the chemically 
weathered surface of the rocks. There are two changes which 
calcareous rocks undergo, when subjected to the influence of 
7 ae 
