president's address. 615 



it is not communicable to man, its existence is naturally viewed 

 with repugnance by the people. In Westphalia, for instance, 

 although the disease is very common, the animals are not 

 exterminated thereby ; there are always plenty of healthy as well 

 as diseased rabbits to be seen, the fact being that the balance of 

 numbers is maintained by the healthy stock. Where this disease 

 occurs rabbits are never used as human food. 



Considering the matter broadly, it is, to say the least, highly 

 undesirable that disease should be wilfully communicated to any 

 animal to be broadcasted over the land. It is quite certain that 

 the rabbit has come to stay ; it will never be exterminated : but 

 it certainly can and ought to be kept in bounds ]:)y means other 

 than the introduction of disease. 



A matter which calls for the active attention of all lovers of 

 Nature in Australia is the preservation of the native fauna. The 

 indiscriminate and wanton destruction of birds and mammals 

 which is now going on over the length and breadth of the land 

 is appalling. It is bad enough when introduced pests like the 

 fox are threatening the absolute extinction of such characteristic 

 birds as the lyre-bird, but when to this is added the meaningless 

 slaughter, for the mere sake of killing, of anything, be it bird or 

 mammal, which is capable of being shot, by the so-called sports- 

 man, it is surely time to call a halt. A member of this Society 

 put the case excellently, when in speaking of the purposeless 

 killing of the native bear, he said — "A man who can go and shoot 

 bears for the fun of it should feel at home with a gun among a 

 flock of sheep."* To this must be added the inadvertent destruc- 

 tion of native animals through poison laid for rabbits. By the 

 careless use of poison, either in baits or in water, enormous 

 numbers of our native mammals and birds are being killed, and 

 as the latter include some of the most valuable insectivorous 

 species, their destruction must have its inevitable result in the 

 undue multiplication of noxious insects which will exact a heavy 



* Mr. A. H. S. Lucas. Handbook of Melbourne: Aust. Assoo. Adv. 

 Science, 1890, p.61. 



