H.—34.

GEOLOGICAL REPORT. REPORT OF DIRECTOR (De. J. HENDERSON). The Director, during the year ended 31st May, 1932, visited Kaikohe in North Auckland, Mahakipawa in Marlborough, the Howard Goldfield in Nelson, and several goldfields in Otago, including Nokomai, Alexandra, Ophir, Roxburgh, and Lawrence, as well as a few of the blacksand beaches along the south coast east from Waikawa. A report on the artesian water in the Hutt Valley was prepared for the Wellington City Council, but the publication of this and other reports is held over owing to lack of space. Dr. H. T. Eerrar and Mr. J. H. Williamson finished field-work in the Te Kuiti Subdivision, where they examined 466 square miles, and returned to Wellington early in April. Mr. M. Ongley and Mr. H. E. Evfe, for a time assisted by Dr. J. Marwick, examined about 600 square miles of the Eketahuna Subdivision. Mr. Eyfe spent a month in the Napier district, where he mapped the area surrounding the Heretaunga Plain. He was in the Gisborne district for a few days collecting samples of bentonite from outcrops near Whatatutu. Mr. L. I. Grange and Mr. N. H. Taylor carried out soil investigations in the Rotorua district. They were so much engaged in mapping the soils of special areas for the Native and Lands Departments that they were able to devote but little time to the problems, the solution of which must precede any considerable advance in our knowledge of the formation of soils from volcanic ash under the conditions obtaining in New Zealand. Mr. E. 0. Macpherson, who had been lent to the Taranaki Oil Fields for several years, reported for duty at the beginning of 1932, and has since been employed in examining old alluvial goldfields and organizing the placing of unemployed on them. In the course of this work he visited the Collingwood, Takaka, and Howard goldfields in Nelson, and most of the diggings accessible from Queenstown, Newcastle, Cromwell, Clyde, Alexandra, Ophir, St. Bathan's, and Naseby, in Otago. He is to continue this, work next season, when it is hoped he will visit the West Coast. He will also spend some time in Otago Central, there examining the quartz drifts that have contributed so much of the gold won in that province. Dr. J. Marwick completed his investigation of the fossils from the Dargaville-Rodney, Motueka, and Kaitangata subdivisions, made preliminary examinations of fossils from the Te Kuiti and Eketahuna subdivisions, and prepared a card index of New Zealand Tertiary molluscs. Over a thousand square miles were mapped in detail during the season, an area that, in the circumstances, must be considered satisfactory. Since no funds were available for employing field hands or maintaining camps, the geologists boarded where convenient or where they could. Only well-settled districts can be examined in this way, and, as much of the Amuri Subdivision is very sparsely inhabited, work there was suspended. The only publications issued by the Geological Survey last year were the Twenty-fifth Annual Report and Palseontological Bulletin No. 13. L. I. Grange and N. H. Taylor wrote the section on " The Distribution and Field Characteristics of Bush-sick Soils " in " Bush Sickness," Bulletin No. 32 of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Some members of the staff also contributed papers to the New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology. These are " The Ancient Glaciers of Nelson " (J. Henderson), " A Comparison of American and New Zealand Earthquakes " (H. T. Ferrar), " Conical Hills on Egmont and Ruapehu Volcanoes " (L. I. Grange), and part of " A Successful Experiment on Sheep-sick Country at Mairoa " (N. H. Taylor). This year, if funds permit, Bulletin No. 34 will be issued. The manuscript of Dr. R. S. Allan's report on the fossils of the Reefton beds also awaits publication. Other bulletins in different stages of preparation are those describing the Motueka, Kaitangata, Rotorua-Taupo, Murchison, Tongariro, and Wairoa subdivisions. A report on the Hawke's Bay earthquake is also ready for publication. A great deal of correspondence has been attended to, many requests more or less connected with the work of the Geological Survey answered, and samples of rocks, minerals, and ores examined. The increased interest taken in gold-mining and in prospecting in general has greatly added to this part of the office-work. During the year Mr. G. E. Harris drew for photographic reproduction nine large maps, eight blockdrawings, and a number of graphs, sections, &c. He also prepared thirty-two field sheets for different officers and a number of tracings, as well as doing other miscellaneous work. The only new text-books added to the library this year were a few received for review in the New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology. The periodicals were regularly received, as well as many valuable exchanges. The death of Hartley Travers Ferrar at the age of fifty-two is recorded with the deepest regret. His wide knowledge of many branches of geology, especially of glaciology and pedology, was of great service. Early this year the New Zealand University had, for his work on the soils of Otago Central, granted him the coveted doctorship in science. His cheerfulness in all the trials and discomforts of camp life and his eagerness to help in any difficulty make those with whom he came in closest contact mourn his passing as a personal loss.

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