Polynesian Collections

Mr. V. F. Fisher, ethnologist at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, re turned to New Zealand at the end of October after a year’s leave of absence during which he did special work in U.S.A. under a grant from the Rocke feller Foundation. He spent some time at the Museum of Science, Buffalo, sorting and classifying a collection of 6,000 speci mens of Polynesian and Melanesian material which the Museum had acquired in Australia. Mr. Fisher said he was much impressed by the fine Polynesian collections in the Peabody Museum, Bos ton, and the museum at Salom, Massa chusetts. These possessed great numbers of Hawaiian, Tahitian, Marquesan and Maori objects brought back by the old New England whalers early in the 19th century.

The tobacco crop in the Madang district of New Guinea —it may not be generally known that New Guinea grows quite a large proportion of its native tobacco re quirements—has this year suffered very much under continuous wet weather; and, also, this year, it has been attacked by a small insect that riddles almost the whole of the plant. The planters in the Madang district are blaming for the pest a con signment of seed which they received from Rabaul.