HAAST, SIR JOHANN FRANZ JULIUS VON (1824 1887), German and British geologist, was born at Bonn on May 1, 1824. In 1858 he started for New Zealand to report on immigra tion possibilities. He assisted Hochstetter in his preliminary geological survey. The governments of Nelson and Canterbury then employed Haast to investigate the geology of those districts. He discovered gold and coal in Nelson, and carried on important researches with reference to the occurrence of Dinornis and other extinct wingless birds (Moas) . His Geology of the Provinces of Canterbury and Westland, N.Z., was published in 1879. He was the founder and director of the Canterbury museum at Christ church. He was surveyor-general of Canterbury from 186 to 1871, and professor of geology at Canterbury college. He was elected F.R.S. in 1867; and he was knighted in 1887. He died at Wellington, N.Z., on Aug. 15, 1887.