H.--22

30

A fine series of Lepidoptera from Samoa, has been acquired by exchange. Now that Sanioan affairs are to be controlled by the New Zealand Government it is highly essential that a. reference collection of the fauna and flora of that island should be formed and located in the. Dominion. The exotic collections have been added to by specimens from Fiji sent by Mr. 11. W. SJmnionds. A large, number of visitors have requested to see the collections of butterflies, and such time is absorbed in showing the collections. Coleoplera. Little collecting-work has been done, but several vaiuabie donations have been made by Mr. A. C. O'Connor. Diplera. -Few specimens have been acquired. This branch of entomology is being undertaken by Mr. T. Miller, of the Agricultural Department-, and for the present nearly all specimens are forwarded to him. Hymeuoptera, Neuroplera, and Orllioptera. Last summer was undoubtedly a pom- one. for entomologists, and we received very few Hymeuoptera or Neuroptera. A fair number of Orthoptera was collected by the Director at Stephen Island. General Routine Work. —During the year the African collections of Lepidoptera have been rearranged and classified. The usual care had also to be exercised in keeping the collections free from the insect pests and mould. The small class of boys interested in entomology still meets, and the enthusiasm shown merits itis continuance. The Department desires to gratefully record assistance from Air. G. V. Hudson, Mr. A. <'. O'Connor. Mr. 11. W. Simmonds, and other collectors. Report of Mr W. J. Phillips. Mr, VV. .1. Phillipps reports on the fish collections as follows : During the past year much of my time has been occupied in reclassifying and preserving a large proportion of the collection of fishes. Owing to a, lack of recent literature on the subject, I have found my labours greatly hampered in many directions. Over twenty recent additions have been made to our collection of fish, at least fourteen of which were not previously in this Museum. Of new species two specimens of a species of mackerel. (Decapterus) have, been received, which are new to New Zealand, differing in various respects from Decapterus kokeru (Hector). A decapitated specimen of a, deep-sea, species from the Chatham Islands evidently belongs to the genus Pteraclis. A notable accession is a specimen of sunfish (Mola mold) from Picton, which was captured by fishermen and presented to the Museum by Mr. Francis. A. special trip was made across in order to secure the skin for the Museum. Owing to the difficulty of handling the, species, which was estimated to weigh over 2 tons, and to the inadequate supply of labour, only one side of the fish was skinned. Measurements are as follows: Snout to tail, 9 ft. 9 in. ; tip of ventral to tip of dorsal 11 ft. 4 in. ; eye to snout, 13 in. ; diameter of eye, i in. ; pectoral to snout, 25 in. ; height of ventral, 35-5 in. ; height of dorsal, 37 in. Missing Types. —The majority of the types of Hector and Hutton have been brought to light. In particular I may mention Ericentrus rubrus (Hutton) and Auchenopierus aysoni (Hector) previously stated to be non-existent (see Waite, 1913, Ree. Cant. Mus, Vol. 2, No. I, p. 2). J. Allan Thomson, Director. The Under-Secretary, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

V. REPORT OF THE ADVISORY DIRECTOR, TURNBULL LIBRARY. General Assembly Library, Wellington, 12th duly, 191.9. The Turnbull Library, the gift to the State of the late Alexander 11. Turnbull, was taken over by.the Department of Internal Affairs in 1918. The library consists of some 30,000 bound volumes, together with a large collection of pamphlets, charts, maps, engravings, and manuscripts. The library is specially rich in works dealing with the early history, geography, languages, and folk-lore of New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific, Islands. In addition it includes many rare and valuable works in English and French literature, being particularly rich in copies of first editions, autographed and " association " books, many being exceedingly valuable. I have not deemed it either necessary or desirable to attempt any detailed estimate of the value of the library. Its bibliophilic treasures (quite outside the New Zealand and Australian section) are, 1 may, however, be permitted to state, far greater than those of any other public or private library in the Dominion, with the exception of the Grey Collection in Auckland, which however, was formed on lines quite different from those followed by the late Mr. Turnbull. It is more than doubtful if in any part of the British Oversea Dominions there exists such an extensive anil valuable collection of English literary rarities and bibliophilic treasures as are to be found in. the. Turnbull Library. A special feature of the library is the almost immaculate "condition" of the, books, and the astonishing proportion of artistic and very costly bindings, by such famous binders as Zahnsdorff, Cobden Sanderson, Sangarowski and Sutcliffe, Riviere, Cazin, and other firms which might be mentioned. In due course it is hoped that the price given by Mr. Turnbull for each volume or set of works will be ascertained, and that the present-day values of the books, as established by the prices realized at sales at Sotheby's, of London, and the Anderson Galleries, New York, may also be placed on record. This, however, is a task which may well be left untouched until the whole collection is classified, and catalogued. Meanwhile, judging by information as to book-values gained from Slater's " Book Prices Current " and Karslake's " Book Auction Records "—wherein each great sale is reported in detail —I should say that a very conservative estimate of the actual present-day