62 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



very loose cocoon of moss and earth on the surface of the ground 

 or just beneath it. A few fed on to the end of November. 



The full-grown larva is 23^2 inches in length, stout and 

 somewhat stumpy looking, head flat and slightly retracted ; legs 

 ten, the true legs being folded tightly together when the larva 

 is at rest ; a curved horn on twelfth segment. Colour varies 

 from putty colour to dark smoky-brown. There is a dark dorsal 

 line extending from the horn about half-way towards the head. 

 Immediately after the thoracic segments underneath is a light- 

 coloured patch, and the 7th and 8th segments each have con- 

 spicuous white blotches on the side. 



These larvae are very sluggish, remaining absolutely rigid during 

 the day time, even if touched, and crawling very slowly at night, 

 stopping instantly if a light be brought near. 



The first moth emerged on 26th February, and they continued 

 appearing until the end of March, invariably emerging very late at 

 night. 



NOTES ON A RARE VICTORIAN SHARK. 



By Jas. a. Kershaw, F.E.S., Curator of the Zoological Dept., 



National Museum. 

 {Read lefore the Field Naturalists'' Club of Victoria, lith July, 1902.) 

 On the 2nd May last a large shark was captured in Hobson's Bay, 

 off Williamstown, which was quite unknown to any of the fisher- 

 men and others who saw it. Jt was captured through becoming 

 entangled in the nets of some local fishermen, which it damaged 

 considerably, and unfortunately bruised itself a good deal in its 

 powerful struggles to escape. 



Its captors immediately disembowelled it, and had it conveyed 

 to the city for exhibition purposes, where it was secured for the 

 Museum. 



It proved to be a medium-sized male specimen of the Basking 

 Shark, Cetorhinus maxirnics, Gunner, and measured a total length 

 of 1 2 feet 1 1 inches. 



This species, which is the only one of the genus, is a very rare 

 visitor to Australian waters, but is well known in the European 

 seas, and particularly along the British coasts, where it is 

 frequently found entangled in the herring nets of the fishermen. 

 On the west coast of Ireland it is regularly hunted for the sake of 

 the large quantities of valuable oil obtained from its liver, one 

 fish yielding from a ton to a ton and a half. A specimen cap- 

 tured in Cornwall, which measured 31 feet 8 inches long, is stated 

 to have yielded 198 gallons of oil, and medium-sized specimens 

 are valued at from ^30 to ;^~4o each. This is probably the 

 largest species of shark known, and attains a total length of from 

 35 feet to 40 feet. At certain seasons it is gregarious, and con- 



