126 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXVI. 



water medusoid or not ? Then there are the terrestrial and fresh- 

 water turbellarian worms, of which planarians form a group. 

 Intestinal parasites and earth-worms are being attended to else- 

 where, but we can afiford to have more workers, or, at any rate, 

 more collectors. Our leeches and polyzoa surely can yield fresh 

 forms to the investigator, but whether they do or not their study 

 will well repay anyone who undertakes it. 



Among insects there is a wide field, but just now what we 

 specially want to know about are our blood-sucking flies, Culicidae, 

 and other Dip^a. These are great carriers of disease, and atten- 

 tion all over me world is being concentrated on them. Then 

 come the centipedes and millepedes, which are of considerable 

 interest, but which have been greatly neglected here. 



Our spiders are fairly well known, but someone on the spot 

 should be able to identify them readily. One of our members 

 many years ago accumulated a great deal of information about the 

 spinning of their webs, but could not be induced to publish any- 

 thing. With photography to help the naturalist, the difficulties of 

 illustration to a large extent vanish, and I know of only one Aus- 

 tralian worker. 



As to our land and fresh-water moUusca, again, we in Victoria 

 are sadly in the dark. Collecting has been done in the south-west 

 of the State, but the rest is a blank. The way has been made 

 clear just lately for anyone who will take up the task. The group 

 is not a large one, and will well repay a few years' patient research, 

 and we would welcome a careful worker here. 



In addressing ourselves to the Crustacea we are on most promis- 

 ing ground. The discovery of Koonunga threw a brilliant shaft 

 of light on dark places in the classification of this group, and 

 Koonunga is not likely to be the sole representative of its family. 

 Many strange, old-fashioned beasts have been discovered among 

 our fresh-water Crustacea, and probably as many more remain 

 undetected. Why should we think for a moment that the new 

 species and genera discovered on a few summer afternoon rambles 

 exhaust the possibilities of our mountain valleys to the north and 

 east ? What treasures lie yet hidden in the salt and fresh-water 

 lakes of the Western District ! Has a tow-net or even a dip-net 

 yet stirred their depths ? Are we to wait till they are drained or 

 turned into sewage tanks before we attempt their exploration ? 

 The reed-beds are daily being reclaimed, and their rich fauna and 

 flora is passing away for ever. 



When we come to the vertebrates we are at once confronted 

 with problems of a different kind. There is not the same in- 

 sistent call for the systematise Nearly everything probably has 

 been identified as far as land and fresh-water forms are con- 

 cerned. But we want to know much of their ways of life. We 

 want observations and records of the breeding habits of the eel 

 and of our so-called mountain-trout (Galaxias). What absolute 



