Oct. 1.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2951

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Dangerous Articles.

(See also Prohibited Articles, page 28.)

12. Such articles as scissors, knives, razors, forks, steel pens, nails, keys, watch-machinery, metal tubing, pieces of metal or ore, provided that they are packed and guarded in so secure a manner as to afford complete protection to the contents of the mail-bags and to the officers of the Post Office, while at the same time they may be easily examined, may be forwarded as samples.

13. Articles of glass must be securely packed in boxes of metal, wood, leather, or cardboard, so as to prevent all danger to correspondence or postal officers. Samples of glass posted in covers of corrugated cardboard fastened at the ends with staples which may be pulled apart to allow of examination of the contents are not regarded as being closed against inspection.

14. Tubes of serum and pathological specimens may be sent if rendered innocuous by their mode of preparation and packing.

15. Liquids, oils, and fatty substances which are easily liquefied must be enclosed in glass bottles hermetically sealed. Each bottle must be placed in a wooden box furnished with sawdust, cotton-wool, or spongy material in sufficient quantity to absorb the liquid in case the bottle be broken. Finally the box itself must be enclosed either in a case of metal or of wood, with a screw top, or of strong and thick leather. When hollow wooden blocks, with minimum thickness of 2½ millimetres (about ⅛ in.), are used with sufficient quantity of absorbent material inside, and provided with a lid, the blocks need not be enclosed in a second case. Liquids, oils, and fatty substances, if insecurely packed, will be stopped. The public are warned that such insecurely packed packets come within the category of articles “likely to injure any postal packet or any person,” and are, therefore, prohibited from being sent by post. The senders of such packets are liable to penalties under “The Post Office Act, 1900,” whether the packets are sent by letter or by parcel post.

16. Fatty substances which are not easily liquefied, such as ointments, soft-soap, resin, &c., the transmission of which is less likely to injure other postal packets, must be enclosed in an inner cover (box, bag of linen, parchment, &c.), which must itself be placed in a second box of wood, metal, or strong and thick leather.

17. Dry powders, whether dyes or not, must be placed in cardboard boxes which themselves are enclosed in a bag of linen or parchment.

Live Bees, Natural-history Specimens, &c.

18. Live bees and harmless entomological specimens may be forwarded at sample-post rates to any place within New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and to the United States, provided they are enclosed in covers so constructed as to avoid all danger and to allow the contents to be ascertained. Live bees similarly packed may also be sent to all other places. Natural-history specimens, such as dried or preserved animals and plants, geological specimens, &c., when not sent for commercial purposes, are admitted to transmission as samples.

Limits of Size and Weight.

19. Packets addressed to places within New Zealand, Australia, or the United Kingdom must not exceed 2ft. in length, or 1ft. in width and depth. The maximum weight admissible to places within the colony and the United Kingdom is 5lb., and Australia 1lb. (See under “PROHIBITED ARTICLES.”)

20. Pattern and sample packets sent to any other place must not exceed 1ft. in length, 8in. in width, 4in. in depth, and 12oz. in weight, unless they are in the form of a roll, for which the maximum dimensions are limited to 1ft. in length and 6in. in diameter.