128 The Natiunal Museum, Melbourne. [voi'."^xxxiv. 



removal of the collection from his residence at Belltrees, near 

 Scone, N.S.W., to Melbourne, and every possible precaution 

 was taken to ensure its safety. The skins were carefully 

 packed in the cabinet drawers, and the cabinets themselves 

 thickly padded to prevent jarring. From Belltrees it was 

 taken on a bullock waggon to the railway at Scone, and thence 

 by rail in special trucks provided by the New South Wales and 

 Victorian Railway Departmtnts to Melbourne. The removal 

 was carried out under the personal supervision of Mr. S. \V. 

 Jackson, who has had the care of Mr. White's collections for 

 some years, and who accompanied the collection to Melbourne, 

 while the whole of the expenses were borne by Mr. White. This 

 important acquisition to the Museum collections is highly 

 appreciated by the Trustees of the Museum, who, together with 

 ornithologists, generally, applaud the public spirit which 

 prompted Mr. White to place the results of many years' work 

 at the disposal of present and future workers. 



The visitors spent a couple of hours very profitably in an 

 examination of the collection, and were much impressed with 

 the excellent condition and careful labelling of the specimens. 

 Quite a number of rare species were seen for the first time by 

 many of those present. Liglit refreshments, thoughtfully 

 provided by the Director, terminated a very enjoyable and 

 instructive evening. 



Change of Name for a Shark. — One of our commonest 

 Victorian fossils is the shark's tooth known as Oxyrhina hastalis. 

 This genus name is unfortunately preoccupied b\^ a similar 

 name given by Meigen for a dipterous insect (see " Systematische 

 Beschreibung dcr Bekannten Europaischcn Zweiflugeligen 

 Insekten," vol. vii., 1838, p. 366, pi. Ixxiv., figs. 36-38), for 

 Agassiz did not name the shark Oxyrhina until 1843 (" Poissons 

 Fossiles," vol. iii.) By the rule of priorit}', therefore, the shark 

 loses its well-known name. Now as to the name for the shark. 

 Rafinesque, in 1810, described certain sharks' teeth under the 

 genus name of Isurwi. These, according to Miiller and Henle, 

 may either belong to Oxyrhina, Agassiz, or to Lamna, Cuvier. 

 However, David Starr Jordan (Univ. Calif. Publ. Geol. Bull., 

 vol. v., No. 7, 1907, p. 107) lias already accepted Isurus for 

 Oxyrhina on other grounds — namely, that Isuriis is valid, in 

 his opinion, and pre-dates Oxyrhina, Agassiz. The only 

 alternative left us appears to be to accept Jordan's ruling, and 

 to now refer our Beaumaris shark and its congeners to Isurus, 

 the common Victorian species being Isurus hastalis, Agassiz,. 

 sp. — F. Chapman, A.L.S. National Museum, Melbourne. 



