ADVERTISEMENT. 



It having been considered desirable to ascertain accurately the 

 natural productions of the Colony of Victoria, and to publish works 

 descriptive of them, on the plan of those issued by the Governments 

 of the different States of America, investigations were undertaken, 

 by order of the Victorian Government, to determine the Geology, 

 Botany, and Zoology of the Colony, to form collections illustrative of 

 each for the public use, and to make the necessary preparations for 

 such systematic publications on the subject as might be useful and 

 interesting to the general pubUc, and contribute to the advancement 

 of science. 



As the geological and botanical investigations have already 

 approached completion, and their publication is far advanced, it 

 has been decided now to commence the publication of the third 

 branch completing the subject, namely, that of the Zoology or 

 indigenous members of the different classes of the animal kingdom. 



The Fauna not being so well known as the Flora, it was a necessary 

 preliminary to the publication to have a large number of drawings 

 made, as opportunity arose, from the living or fresh examples of 

 many species of reptiles, fish, and the lower animals, which lose their 

 natiiral appearance shortly after death, and the true characters of 

 many of which were consequently as yet unknown, as they had 

 only been described fi'om preserved specimens. A Prodromus, or 

 preliminary issue, in the form of Decades, or numbers of ten plates, 

 each with its complete descriptive letterpress, will be published, of 

 such illustrations as are ready, without systematic order or waiting 

 for the comj)letion of any one branch. The many good observers 

 in the country will thus have the means of accm-ately identifying 

 various natural objects, their observations on which, if recorded and 

 sent to the National Museum, where the originals of all the figures 

 and descriptions are preserved, will be duly acknowledged, and 

 will materially help in the preparation of the final systematic volume 

 to be published for each class when it approaches completion. 



