H.—22,

Of these figures approximately only. 60 per cent, may be taken as liquid assets available for relief, the balance being included in land and buildings and loans to soldiers. A greatly increased number of applications for relief were received, and the National War Funds Council distributed £5,000, and the Canteen and Regimental Trust Funds Board £4,500. In the case of the majority of the Patriotic Societies the periodical returns required to be rendered to the Department have been submitted promptly, and these, together with their annual reports, disclose that, although it is now nearly ten years since the Armistice was signed, the number of applications for assistance has decreased but little, and the cases become more difficult as disabilities manifest themselves in men who were discharged as physically fit. Tt is therefore apparent that there will be still as great a need for funds to assist necessitous ex-soldiers for some years to come, and the. policy of the trustees in most cases to conserve the funds under their control for such future needs has been fully justified. As the funds of the smaller organizations become exhausted their responsibilities are taken over by an adjacent provincial society or by the National War Funds Council, and the tendency is towards the administration of war-funds work to be centered in the stronger provincial organizations with sub-committees in the local centres. Dominion Archives. Very good progress has been made in the sorting and classification of the New Zealand Company's papers, practically the whole of which have now been gone through. Eighty-seven volumes have been bound and accessioned, but they will require to be indexed before they are in proper condition for research purposes. The papers belonging to the Provincial Government period are now being sorted, and seventy-eight volumes of this class of archives have been bound and accessioned. They also require indexing before they can be consulted. Some very important letter-books bearing on the Hauhau rebellion have been transcribed in typescript, as, having been immersed in water at some time, they had become almost illegible. The number of volumes now bound and accessioned is more than four hundred, including twenty-five volumes of the Governor's duplicate despatches dating from 1840 to 1855, and 270 volumes of the Colonial Secretary's inward letters dating down to 1865. The Archivist has been in touch with libraries in the provinces with a view to assisting them to complete their sets of provincial publications. Dominion Museum. Staff. — Mr. B. Osborne was appointed in August, 1927, as Illustrator and photographer. His time has been occupied almost entirely in illustrating, chiefly for Mr. Best's forthcoming bulletin on Maori method of fishing. Ethnology. —The registering and card-cataloguing of the Maori collections has been steadily continued by Mr. Phillipps. A number of articles previously in store ha.ve been placed on exhibition. The whole of the perishable parts of the collections in the Dominion Farmers' Institute have been sprayed with disinfectant. Additions to the collections include 131 articles, mainly from the Western Pacific, presented by Sir F. R. Price ; a small collection of Welsh peasant implements, received by exchange from Sir H. Reichel ; a large amount of Maori material from Taranaki, deposited by Mr. Ij. S. Mackie ; and a collection of various articles from Nauru and other places, deposited by Mr. P. H. Saunders. Mr. Best has continued his researches on the Maori. A completed bulletin on fishing lore is ready for publication, another on Maori religion and mythology is in course of preparation. In addition Mr. Best has published in the Journal of the Polynesian Society the following papers : " The Discovery and Settlement of Rarotonga by Polynesians " ; Raumahora and Takarangi " ; and Haw and Wa-iraka." Mr. Phillipps has published a note on a carved rock in Taranaki. Herbarium. —Additions to the herbarium include collections of plants made by Mr. Oliver on Mount Ruapehu and in the Arthur's Pass district. Research work has been carried out on these. An ecological account of the epiphytes of New Zealand has been prepared for publication. Dr. A. W. Hill, Director of the Roval Botanic Gardens, Kew, paid a visit to the herbarium in February, and included a report on it in his general report to the Right Hon. the Prime Minister. Birds. —Additions to the collection include specimens collected by the Taxidermist in Cook Strait and on the Tararua R.anges, and a lot of thirteen skins received from South Australia on an exchange basis. Most of the collected specimens have been mounted and placed on exhibition. The work of cleaning and remounting the old collection in the Museum has been continued. Fishes. — I The fish collection on exhibition has been overhauled, rearranged, and entered in the new register. A few additions have been made to the collections, including an undescribed species of Galaxias from Waikaremoana, presented by Mr. A. Kean. Mr. Phillipps has continued his researches on the fishes of New Zealand, and has published during the year the following papers : " Bibliography of New Zealand Fishes " ; "A Check-list of New Zealand Fishes " ; " Notes on New Zealand Fishes." Insects. —Miss Castle has continued the work of classifying and mounting the large insect collection which the Museum now contains. Collections have been made by her on Mount Egmont, Kapiti Island, and the Rimutaka Mountains. Mollusca. —Collections have been received by exchange from Mr. W. H. Weeks in the United States, and from Dr. W. '11.I 1 . Elliott in England. A collection of fossil shells from Chatton, south Otago, was presented by Mr. E. M. Christie. During the year Miss Mestayer published a paper on "Some New Zealand Mollusca."

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