280 Rkport 8. a. a. Advaxckment of Sciexck. 



specimens and skins in the Pretoria Mviseuni, but it is almost im- 

 possible to say with certainty whether they belong to C<'rcopith.f.<:uH 

 Jalandei or pyyerythruii. More than a hundred specimens passed through 

 mv hands in our local zoological gardens ; and yet I would not flare to 

 say with absolute certaint}' whether our specimens, as well as those in 

 the museums I have visited, ought to be named by the first or second 

 name. They vary very much, and the geographical races even of this 

 highly specialised species are not properly known : the same difficulty 

 I had with the bats and shrews; I find in most lists of additions to 

 our South African museums that specimens of Rhinvlojihus ferrum 

 equinuni are added to their collections, whereas this bat does not 

 occur in South Africa. The same difficulty 1 had with (]uail-s]uikes ; 

 in fact, with nearly every family I tackled. 



Is it possible that a man who studies an extensive group like the 

 Coleoptera, for which more than a lifetime is necessary, should have 

 time to go into the details of the synonomy and the geographical dis- 

 tribution of all the other classes of animals ( If to this labour are 

 added the vexing worries of administration in all its branches, is it not 

 only to be expected that the accuracy in nomeclature must leave much 

 to be desired in branches to which a specialist caiinot possibly have 

 given as close attention as to his own special field of study ? Now I 

 ask, Is this I'ight towards science in general ; and, above all, is it fail- 

 and just towards the eminent workers in this country, that they should 

 be handicapped in this way ? I am convinced, also, that numberless 

 inticcuracies must exist in every South African museum in branches in 

 which they have possessed no specialists, and this makes our work as a 

 whole next to useless for the rest of scientific workers of the world. 



If Dr. Broom of Stellenbosch had not taken upon himself to make 



■ a study of the Chrysochloridte, and if lie had not kindly examined and 



named all our specimens, would any of our museums yet have named 



their specimens according to the results of his careful studies, or would 



they still be all named Chrysochlorivs hotteiitottus ? 



It is clear that in view of the fact that we have to do with almost 

 an unmanageable amount of material and few workers, we ha\e to 

 specialise. At our j^early meetings of the proposed Museum Associa- 

 tion we have to di\ide our laboui-, and by this process alone we can 

 hope to come to some final and reliable conclusions about the fauna 

 and Mora of South Africa. Only by this co-operation of and division 

 of labour among our local institutions can we expect that our scientific 

 work can be used and be accepted by the I'est of tlie systematists and 

 biologists of the world. But then w(» ought to organise and. work 

 according to a common plan. We are but a small class of workers; 

 we ought to enlist the aid of numerous lay workers, to organise and be 

 efficient, and not stand each for himself as if each museum were "• the" 

 institution of South Africa. After all, if we continue as heretofore 

 we can only be looked upon- and look upon ourselves — as collectors 

 of much material with perhaps a tinge of special eminence in one 

 branch oi- other; but the bulk of the scientific work will be done else- 

 where as heretofore, and South African science, the advancement of 



