By Dr. Hector

3. Some very interesting exhibits of iron ores, recently discovered by the Geological Survey Department, were on the table, two of which Dr. Hector considered deserved special mention in connection with efforts that the Government is making to encourage the manufacture of iron in the Colony. Both the ores were discovered by Mr. A. McKay, of the Geological Department, during the progress of the survey in the past year. One is a brown hæmatite containing 54 p. c. of metallic iron, which occurs in a bed 50 feet thick, but is reported to expand in places to several hundred feet. It is associated with crystalline limestone at the base of the carboniferous formation, and extends for many miles through the western ranges towards the source of the Takaka River. The specimens obtained were from the surface, and deeper down it most probably passes into red hæmatite, a much richer ore that contains 70 p. c. of metal. This is, no doubt, the continuation of the same band of iron ore that reaches the sea at Parapara. The other form of ore was discovered at Jenkins' coal mine, close to the town of Nelson, and is spathic ore, or carbonate of iron containing 40 p. c. of metal, in a form of combination that is very favourable for smelting, being in consequence one of the most valuable description of iron ores known. It was not found in situ, as the workings are abandoned, but it has been thrown out with the debris from the coal pit in considerable quantity, its valuable qualities having hitherto escaped notice.

4. Specimens of 17 new species of grasses, described in a paper by Mr. Buchanan, were laid on the table.