EDWARD PIEKSON KAMSAY BTHEKIDGE. 213 



Among the more interesting mammals described by Dr. 

 Ramsay was H i/psipryvmodoii vioschatus^,^^ a Rat Kangaroo 

 representing a new genus and species. This was collected by 

 liimself in the dense scrubs in the Rockingham Bay District, 

 and though not rare, is still far from plentiful in collections. 

 A Wallaby, Mucropns browni and a Bandicoot I'erameles cocker - 

 elli from New Ireland^i were named after their discoverers, 

 the Rev. Dr. George Brown and Mr. James Cockerell, while a 

 second Bandicoot, Perameles hroadbenti^-- was another striking 

 species first made known by him. He also named several 

 other mammals, including Bats, Rodents and Marsupials from 

 Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, while he was 

 fortunate in receiving a distinct variety of the Echidna, 

 Tachyglossus aculeatus var. laweai^ from Poi't Moresby. This 

 was forwarded by the Rev. W. G. Lawes, and is differentiated 

 from the mainland form by the greater development of the 

 hair and its particularly narrow skull. 



Dr. Ramsay's organisation of a collecting expedition by 

 Messrs. Cairn and R. Grant, to Bellenden Ken-, Queensland, 

 the unexplored home of the then recently discovered Tree 

 Kangaroo (Dendrolagu^), was the means of greatly enriching 

 the mammalian and ornithological collections of the Australian 

 Museum. 



His Herpetological work was less conspicuous, but he de- 

 scribed several new Reptiles, including a well-marked variety 

 of the. common Death Adder, Acanthoiiliis prcdoxyics, from 

 Cape York. His efforts towards the furtherance of Ichthyology 

 were of great importance, not so much on account of his writings 

 as by the establishment of an Ichthyological Collection and his 

 encouragement of contempory workers. He was in constant 

 communication with Count F. de Castelnau and Sir William 

 John Macleay, both of whom wrote extensively upon Australian 

 fishes, and from whom he acquired many specimens which 

 greatly enriched the Australian Museum collection. His 



-" Ramsay — Proc. Linn. New Soutli Wales, i., 1877, p. 33. 



-1 Eamsay — Ibid., pp. 307, 31U. 



" Ramsay— /fail/., iii., 1879, p. 402. 



23 Ramsay — Ibid., ii., 1877, p. 32. 



