102 Transactions. — Zoology. 



elephant and the hippopotamus, the rhinoceros and the 

 buffalo, of the present epoch, to realize the full force of this 

 truth. But these revolutions in the animal world have, in 

 both the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere, been ac- 

 companied by corresponding alterations on the earth's surface, 

 and by climatic changes of a very extensive kind. To give 

 one illustration : The mammoth was an animal which sub- 

 sisted on herbage and vegetation of all kinds ; and, looking to 

 its unchecked and ever-increasing numbers, it would clearly 

 have required a growth of tropical luxuriance to satisfy the 

 wants of its capacious stomach. But where do we now find 

 the remains of these ancient herbivora ? Not buried in tro- 

 pical regions, but frozen and embalmed amid the eternal 

 snows of Siberia, where they have been preserved intact for 

 thousands of years. What a revolutionary change of climate 

 do these facts imply ! And how sudden must have been the 

 translation from ultra-tropical verdure to the utter desolation 

 of Arctic frigidity when the entombment and refrigeration of 

 these herb-eating leviathans took place fresh from their feed- 

 ing-grounds ! 



But now let me give another illustration nearer home — one 

 drawn from the recent discoveries of Dr. Stirling, F.B.S., in 

 South Australia, the importance of which, from a scientific 

 point of view, it would be impossible to overestimate. I will 

 shortly state the facts so far as they have yet become known. 

 In the central part of South Australia there is a vast stony 

 desert lying to the eastward of Lake Frome and to the west- 

 ward of the Grey Bange. It is described as being unspeakably 

 arid and desolate, abounding in salt-pans, of which Lake 

 Mulligan is the largest. This forbidding district is entirely 

 destitute of fresh water and almost absolutely devoid of 

 animal life of any kind. The intrepid explorer, Captain 

 Sturt, in 1811 penetrated about half-way across this inhospit- 

 able plain, and then, after suffering great hardships, had to 

 make his way out of it to escape absolute starvation. Up to 

 the present time this region has been to all intents and pur- 

 poses a sealed book. But a few months ago an important dis- 

 covery of fossil bones was made at Lake Mulligan, and, chiefly 

 through the scientific enterprise of Dr. Stirling (aided all 

 through by the generous liberality of Sir Thomas Elder), this 

 discovery has been followed up with very astonishing results. 

 A correspondent of the Scotsman, writing on the spot and from 

 his own knowledge and observations, states that, after four 

 months' digging among the gravels of the valley of the Mulli- 

 gan, some two thousand bones, representing seventy different 

 mammals and birds hitherto unknown, have been unearthed, 

 and safely lodged in the South Australian Museum at Adelaide. 

 This collection comprises the first complete skeleton of Dvpro- 



