president's address. 6G3 



possible dispersion of their ova through the agency of aquatic 

 birds. Of the fluviatile Mollusca Mr, Sanger says that the 

 Unios testivate in the mud; that the gasteropods (five species) die 

 when the creeks dry up, but that each flood stocks the creeks again, 

 3^oung ones in all stages of growth being met with in the flood 

 waters. Some of the land mollusca are remnants which have 

 found a haven of refuge of restricted area " on the southern escarp- 

 ments of the elevated land or in the deeply shadowed gorges of 

 the same," forming single colonies, or if more then widely 

 separated. The Crustaceans are either burrowers like Astacopsis 

 or Telphusa, or they are Entomostracans which like Apus develop 

 only after their eggs have been dried up. The Honey Ants have 

 learned to store up honey in a remarkable way, certain workers 

 being set apart as receptacles for the honey collected by the 

 other workers of the community. 



An elaborate series of observations extending over several 

 successive meterological cycles— if such were possible — would 

 probably show a considerable corresponding ebb and flow both in 

 regard to species and to individuals. In times of unusually pro- 

 longed and trying drought, the fauna in spite of the assumption 

 of adaptive characters must still suffer severely; and recovery 

 only become possible by a succession of "ery good seasons leading 

 to increased fertility on the part of the survivors, or providing 

 for the influx and establishment of immigrants. 



Thus the Larapintine region furnishes an Australian phase of 

 a state of things analogous to what obtains in arid regions 

 in other parts of the world. In keeping with the characteristic 

 and paramount claims of humidit}^, the call is for animals 

 pre-eminently endowed with sestivating capabilities. In Central 

 Australia in winter the winds are cold, and the nights 

 frosty; but allowing for all this it is still a land of sunshine. 

 It may even be called a land of perpetual summer by contrast 

 with some parts of North America, of which Merriam says that 

 the cold in winter is so intense that it is quite a common 

 occurrence for trees five or six feet in diameter to be frozen to the 

 heart. In so far as hibernation is due to the influence of intense 

 s s 



