612 president's address. 



commuiiicated as letters to the Sydney Morning Herald, of July 5th, and December 

 2nd, 1847. One, descriptive of the skull of the so-called Bunyip, has already been 

 mentioned in speaking of Dr. J. Stuart. It was reprinted in the Tasmanian 

 Journal of Science, Vol. iii., p. 275, 1849. The second, descriptive of some bones 

 of the Diprotodon, was written in response to a request from the Rev. W. B. 

 Clarke; and is referred to later on These six communications, unfortunately, re- 

 present all the author's own printed records of his scientiiic work during his re- 

 sidence in Sydney, that we have. Particulars of what he actually succeeded in 

 adding to the Macleay Collection are even more incomplete. 



Information relating to his correspondence with scientific friends in England 

 is very meagre. He certainly sent specimens to the Rev. T. W. Hope, but all 

 that is known to me about them is, that when describing Scarites (Scaraphites) 

 MacLeaii. J. 0. West wood adds — "Mr. Hope informs me that Mr. [W. S.] 

 MacLeay has named this section in his manuscripts Scaraphites, and that he has 

 discovered a new species on the east coast of New South Wales, at Elizabeth 

 Bay, where it was found many feet deep in the earth, whilst trenching in sandy 

 soil to form a Pinetum. I would suggest that it should be named in honour of 

 its discoverer. . . . Mr. MacLeay has recently forwarded to Mr. Hope a 



Carenum, under the name of C. 4-punctatnin It is a native of New 



South Wales, and was found under stones at Illawarre'' {sic) [Arcana Eutomo- 

 logica. Vol. i., pp. 157, 158] . 



He also corresponded with Jolm Blackwall. tlie British authority on Spiders, 

 in his day. A most friendly letter from the latter, dated November 18th, 1856, 

 in reply to one from W. S. Macleay of date July 2nd., asking for specimens of 

 certain British species of spiders, and for a good method of preser\'ing Arachnida 

 so as to retain tlieir colours, is the only record available. The requests were com- 

 plied with as far as possible, with an offer of future help in supplying additional 

 material, if desired. A list of specimensi of thirty species sent by post, by the 

 same mail as his letter, is given. And a copy of his "List of Species of Araneida 

 at present known to inhabit Great Britain,'' was enclosed. 



With the exception of W. E. Shuckard, mentioned above, there are no 

 other available records of correspondence with English scientitic friends among the 

 relics of W. S. Macleay. But this is hardly a matter of surprise, as I shall point 

 out later on, in speaking of George and of William Macleay. 



For any other particulars of W. S. Macleay's life in Australia, we are 

 almost entirely dependent on the records of his friendship with Robert Lowe, who 

 was a barrister and a politician, but not a man of science, as given in Patchett ■ 

 Martin's "Life and Letters of the Right Honourable Robert Lowe, Viscount Sher- 

 brooke" (2 vols., 1893'), who lived in Sydney from 1842-50; the published or un- 

 published records of casual or periodical visitors to Sydne.v. who were interested in 

 science, including Huxley, or of resident friends, scientific or otherwise; and on 

 the official or other records of his association with the Australian JMuseum. as a 

 Trustee. 



Apart from purely scientific matters, Robert Lowe's biography is tlie most 

 important self-contained source of information about W. S. Macleay as a private 

 individual, a man of ability and a scholar, a brilliant conversationalist, an in- 

 .spirer of friendship to those who knew him intimately, and shared his interests; 

 and, though keeping aloof from direct participation in politics, a colonist interest- 

 ed in the progress of Australia, and a believer in her future possil)ilities. This 



