PREFACE. Vv 
such, the nucleus already exists in all the principal 
towns of the Colony ; but unless the arrangements of 
the Central Museum are such as enable the scientific 
work of examination and comparison to be performed 
with facility and accuracy, the progress that will be 
made in acquiring knowledge of the resources of the 
Colony will be slow and unsatisfactory, and in the long 
run effected only at a great and unnecessary expense.” 
The formation of the Museum was commenced 
chiefly with collections transferred from the Museum 
of the New Zealand Society, but the rapid aceumula- 
tion of specimens by the officers of the Geological 
Survey, and the large number of deposits and dona- 
tions received from all parts of the Colony, has already 
rendered it a useful exponent of the natural resources 
of these Islands, The additions which have been 
made to the Museum since its establishment, are 
enumerated in the various Annual Reports (A/usewm 
and Laboratory Reports, 1866—70), and as a prelimi- 
nary step towards the production of a descriptive 
Catalogue, the following classified list of the contents 
of the Museum has been compiled and published by 
direction of the Honorable the Colonial Secretary. 
In placing this Catalogue before the public, due 
allowance is requested for its many obvious deficiencies, 
owing in a great measure to the crowded state and 
rapid accumulation of the collections having prevented 
the adoption, from the commencement, of a definite 
system of arrangement. The want of works of 
reference has also rendered it necessary in many 
