632 president's address. 



country-life for observing and eolleeting, and his connection with the Australian 

 Museum as a Trustee from 1836-59. He collected specimens on Sturt's Expedi- 

 tion; he also added to his father's collection, though there is only one quite in- 

 cidental record of it. 



Sturt says in his Narrative of the Expedition — "McLeay, who was always in- 

 defatigable in his pursuit after subjects of natural history, shot a cockatoo, a 

 new species, hereabouts" (p. 6'2) . He says also that — "1 have already mentioned 

 that shortly after we first entered the !\Iurray. liocks of a new paroquet passed 



over our heads They always kept too high to be fired at, but on our 



return, hereabouts, we succeeded in killing one. It made a good addition to our 

 scanty stock of subjects of natural history. It is impossible to conceive how 

 few of the feathered tribe frequent these distant and lonely regions. The com- 

 mon white cockatoo is the most numerous, and there are also a few pigeons; but 

 other birds descend only for water, and are soon again upon the wing. Our 

 botanical specimens were as scanty as our zoological, indeed the expedition may, 

 as regards lliese two particulars, almost be said to have been unproductive" (p. 

 188). 



This report is not surprising. The journey of 1700 miles in a whale-boat 

 was twice as long as was expected, by reason of the failure of the arrangements 

 for the return of the party by sea. There was a shortage of provisions, rowing 

 against the stream was very laborious in the weakened condition of the men, and 

 a crowded boat did not offer satisfactory room for the stowage of specimens. 



The only reference to George Macleay's collecting for his father, that I have 

 seen, is to be found in the "Annulosa of South Africa" (p. 75) . W. S. Macleay 

 says, of Arthroptenis MacLeaii Don. — "The only known specimen of this species 

 was purchased by my father at the sale of Mr. Francillon's museum. None of 

 the authors who have written on the species ever saw it, except Donovan, who 

 was its first describer in his work on the "Insects of New Holland." There is 

 another species of Arthropteni.'i, which T have seen in the valuable collection of 



my friend, Mr. John Curtis T am ignorant which of these two my 



brother, Mr. George MacLeay has lately found, or whether his discovery may 

 not prove, on comparison, to be still a third species. But I learn, by a letter 

 from my father, that my brother, 'in one of his late excursions into the interior 

 of New South Wales, discovered several specimens of •Cerapterus MacLeaii' 

 in the nests of ants, and, moreover, remarked, tliat when alive they had the power 

 of exploding, after the manner of Brachini.' " 



George Macleay at one time had a station on the Murrumbidgee . He may 

 have collected the specimens mentioned above in visiting this locality. He 

 would have had no trouble in making a good collection in the Camden district. 

 But insect-collecting is not mentioned in Sturt's Narrative. 



Sir William Denison and members of his family paid three visits to Brown- 

 low Hill in 1855, 1856, and 1857. I liave already referred to one of these. 



George Macleay revisited Australia for a time after the death of Iiis brother, 

 W. S. Macleay, but I have not been able toi ascertain exactly when. Professor 

 Huxley read a paper "On Ceratndtis forsteri. with Observations on the Classi- 

 fication of Fishes" at a Meeting of the Zoological Society of London, on January 

 4th, 1876, in which he said — "Two specimens of Ceratodus forsteri have come into 

 my possession within the last two years. The first was kindly placed at my 

 disposal by the Secretary of this Society some time ago; but I was unwilling to 



