REPTILES. 



I. — THE REPTILES OF AUSTRALIA. 



Dr. Sham-, in.the Appendix to White's 'Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales,' in 1790, first describefl and 

 figured some of the Reptiles observed by White in New Holland. Some of the specimens he brought home hav- 

 ing been placed in the collection of the British Museum, were more systematically described by the same naturalist 

 in his 'General Zoology,' and his work on the Animals of New Holland. 



Lacepede, in the 'Annales du Museum,' (iv. 18), described several Reptiles from the same country, and redescribed 

 several of those which had been already noticed by Shaw and White. 



Capt. Flinders, in his 'Voyage to Terra Australis,' 1814, mentions the occurrence of two kinds of Turtles [Chelo- 

 nia) one on the north coast of New Holland (ii. 154), and the other on the east coast (ii. 382). 



Peron and liCsueur, during their voyage with Captain Baudin on the coasts of Australia, collected many specimens 

 of this class of animals, which were deposited in the Museum of the Garden of Plants, and a few of which were noticed 

 by Oppel in preparing the Reptile part of Cuvier's ' Regne Animal.' Others have been described by Messrs. Duine- 

 ril and Bibron, in their ' Erpetologie Generale,' now in the course of publication. Some others were described by me 

 during my visit to Paris, when I was preparing the Synopsis of Reptiles, which appeared in Griffith's translation of 

 Cuvier's ' Animal Kingdom,' which must only be considered as an abstract of the notes prepared for my ' Synopsis 

 Reptilium.' 



In the Appendix to Capt. Philip Parker King's ' Voyages in Australia,' 1 described some new species discovered by 

 that navigator, especially the very curious Frilled Lizard, which is figured in that work. From time to time, as spe- 

 cimens from that country have been kindly presented to the Museum by different collectors, as my late friend Allan 

 Cunningham, Mrs. Joseph Wright, and others, I have described the specimens in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society,' and other scientific periodical publications. 



In the Appendix to His Excellency Ca])t. George Grey's Australia, I attempted to bring together these scattered 

 materials, and formed a list of the different species which had been described as coming from Australia, adding to it 

 descriptions and figures of the new Australian species, chiefly sent home by Governor Grey and Mr. Gilbert, from 

 the west coast, then in our collection ; and since that time 1 have, in my ' Zoological Miscellany,' described several 

 additional species, which have, in the mean time, been sent to England from the north coast of Australia by Mr. Gil- 

 bert, who is employed by Mr. Gould to collect specimens for him in different parts of that continent. 



In the Zoology of the Voyages of the French ships, 1' Uranie, la Coquille and 1' Astrolabe, some Australian Reptiles 

 have been figured and described by MM. Quoy and Gaimard and M. Lesson ; but unfortunately, though the descrip- 

 tions of the specimens are long and apparently full, yet they are so general, and the figures of the species, though 

 good for artistic effect, are so destitute of scientific detail, that it is often impossible to determine which of the Aus- 

 tralian species they are intended to represent ; and the specimens from whence they were described, do not appear to 

 be in the collection of the French Museum, for MM. Dumeril and Bibron do not refer to them in their work. 



In the Appendix to Dr. Dieffenbach's New Zealand, I described the Reptiles he had brought from those islands ; 

 Mr. Bell, in the ' Zoology of the Beagle,' has described and figured another species from the same country, which 

 was brought home by my friend, Mr. Darwin : and another species has since been discovered by my nephew, Lieut. 

 Alexander Smith, R.N., who accompanied the Antarctic Expedition. 



