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Rh with, the Colonial Museum has been already so far carried into effect that the Laboratory has been adapted for the reception of a certain number of students.

It would be improper, on this occasion, to omit mention of the Museum which has been opened during the past year at Christchurch. That institution is an eminent proof of the recognition which the claims of science receive in the Province of Canterbury, and of the admirable manner in which the liberal support granted by the Provincial Government has been applied.

I will now proceed to refer briefly to the annual volume in which the proceedings of the several Affiliated Societies are published. Our third volume, that for 1870, fully keeps up the character of its predecessors, and has been received with greater interest, from the fact that the large amount of carefully selected matter which it contains is more amply illustrated by drawings and figures than either of the volumes previously issued.

The name of Mr. Walter Buller, eminent among those of the contributors to the Zoology of New Zealand, appears at the head of several excellent papers—all interesting and valuable, as might be expected from so accomplished an observer in this branch of science, and especially in his own favourite department of ornithology. I would recommend particular attention to Mr. Buller's description of the huia (heteralocha Gouldi), that rare and beautiful bird held sacred by the Maoris, which can be known in its native state to few colonists, but of which very perfect specimens are preserved in the Colonial Museum. Worthy also of especial notice and careful study is the conclusion of Mr. Potts' elaborate Essay on the Birds of New Zealand, the commencement of which appeared in the volume of our Transactions for 1869. There are other contributors to Zoology in the volume now before us, whose distinguished names would alone vouch for the value of their remarks. Foremost among these is the name of Dr. F. J. Knox, who remains devoted to the natural history of the Cetacea, and who has furnished some important papers on this and on other subjects. Moreover, it is gratifying to find among the contributors to this section of our Transactions, Dr. J. E. Gray, of the British Museum. This gentleman, so eminent in the scientific societies of Europe, has supplied a description of a new species of whale discovered in the seas around New Zealand. It may here be mentioned that during my visit in last February, in H.M.S. 'Clio,' to Milford Sound, I was myself so fortunate as to shoot three seals, which appear to belong to a species that has hitherto escaped accurate notice.