THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 79 



with descriptions of the Monograptidae are contained in the 

 volumes of this magazine, their absence is a great calamity. 



References to descriptions of species and genera will be found 

 in Etheridge's " Catalogue of British Palaeozoic Fossils " (Public 

 Library, University Library). Lapworth's classical papers on the 

 " Geological Distribution of the Rhabdophora," give, in a remark- 

 ably clear manner, all that was known at that time of their 

 distribution. It is owing to Lapworth, above all others, that we 

 are in a position to use Graptolites, as we can, in subdividing the 

 rocks in which they occur. These papers will be found in the 

 "Annals and Magazine of Natural History," ser. 5, vols, iii., 

 iv., v., and vi., and are in the Public Library. 



Prof. James Hall's work on the Graptolites of the Quebec 

 group in Canada is only to be seen in the University Library. 

 It contains beautiful figures of a great number of species. 



Prof. Sir F. M'Coy has described and figured several of our Vic- 

 torian forms in the " Prodromus of the Palaeontology of Victoria." 



In conclusion, I may say that Graptolites are amongst the 

 most difficult of all forms to identify, and one has to be very 

 familiar with a bed to identify any of the forms at sight. The 

 differences between species, though constant, are often so minute 

 that it seems at times almost impossible to separate them. The 

 detailed descriptions must be taken word by word and carefully 

 worked out. As shown by Lapworth's paper on distribution, 

 there is perhaps no group that has suffered more by the pub- 

 lication of carelessly identified species than this one, and even 

 here in Victoria mistakes have been made by observers that 

 have been quoted to our confusion by other workers in Europe ; 

 so I shall conclude by hoping that no one will at some future 

 time have to quote the Victorian Naturalist in order to show 

 that some species has been there mentioned as occurring at some 

 spot where it could not possibly have been found. — T. S. Hall, 

 Melbourne University. 



NOTES. 

 The Preservation of Indigenous Animals. — The matter 

 of the preservation of the native fauna and flora has now become 

 a pressing difficulty in many parts of the world, and if steps are 

 not soon taken by Governments or other authorities to check the 

 destruction which is taking place, the list, of animals especially 

 which have become extinct since the beginning of this century, 

 will in the near future be found to include many of the finest 

 animals now inhabiting the earth. Of course the extension of 

 civilization is primarily the cause of the disappearance of many 

 animals, but the " big game hunter " is responsible for great 

 destruction, especially in South Africa and America, while the 

 exigencies of trade and fashion have also contributed largely 



