from years 1902 to 1908, inclusive, to be no less tlian 25,4:lG,'i4r). 

 Tliese large figures suggested that this one export alone niioht 

 be responsil)le for quite a consideraljle loss of phosphoric acid. 

 Some typical export rabbits were secured ; weighed fresh, dried 

 in the oven at 100 degrees C, and then weighed again ; the 

 dried flesh separated from the bones and ground to a powder ; 

 the whole of it weighed, and an aliquot part taken and oxidised 

 with boiling strong acids. The P.O. precipitated as ammonium 

 phospho-molybdate, redissolved, reprecipitated with magnesia 

 mixture, filtered, washed, dried, ignited and weighed as pyro- 

 ]>hosphate. The bones were treated in much the same way. 

 dried and weighed. A little ti'ouble was experienced in getting 

 a homogeneous mixture, since the bones could not easily be 

 ground to a powder as was the flesh. The difficulty was got 

 over Ijy wrapping them in a cloth to prevent any loss of flying 

 particles, and crushing them with a heavy hammer so fine that 

 the mixture could be taken as homogeneous. Results of experi- 

 ments conducted in this way showed the amount of H.^PO^ per 

 total rabbit to be about 29 grammes, or 2.7 per cent. Taking 

 the figures given above this makes an export of about 3,362,037 

 lbs., or 1500 tons of phosphoric acid in the rabbits exported' 

 during those seven years, or taking average for one year. 214 

 tons. Looked at in this light the rabbit appears not only a pest 

 responsible for a good deal of damage to the pastoralist in an 

 ordinary way, but also a pest which is constantly ridding land 

 of valuable constituents. Of course, besides those used for 

 export and home consumption, there are great numbers still 

 left to die on the land ; but these fail to be of much service by 

 dying in their burrows, most of which are in low grazing land, 

 and deep enough to be below the general level reached by plant 

 roots. Having found that Victoria loses so much by her large 

 export of mutton, and so much by an almost incidental export 

 of a pest, we naturally turn to the large export^ — wool. Samples 

 of export wool were obtained,; weighed just as they were ob- 

 tained; oxidised with acid, and the pliosphoric acid debermined in 

 the same way as in the rabbit. The first experiments showed 

 that the percentage of phosphoric acid in wool is low, and laro-e 



1 I here acknowledge my indebteflticss to Dr. W. P. Norris for liis IciiKiiiess i?i secnriiis' 

 Siiiiples of wool and export rabbits. 



