BY H. H. .SCOTT A>fD CLIVE E. LORD. 3 



ships were fitted out. This revival lasted for about fifteen 

 years, and then the decline commenced until in the earlv 

 nineties the whaler Waterwitch was the sole vessel engaged. 

 It is of interest to recall the fact that William Lanny 

 ("King Billy"), the last Tasnianian male aboriginal, follow- 

 ed the calling of a whaler. He made his final voyage in 

 the Rinunjniffle, and was paid off on February 26th, 1S69, 

 and died a few days later 1-*^^'. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Students of the Tasmanian Cetacea have for many 

 years been in search of some Tasmanian records relating 

 to the munificent osteological presentations made to several 

 English scientific institutions l)y the late Dr. "\V. L. 

 Crowther. Siiico the year 1902 Mr. Srott has been work- 

 ing on the Tasmanian Ceiarea '"j , and has been most anxi- 

 ous to obtain Tasmanian records relating to the late Dr. 

 Crowther s collections for the purpose of investigating the 

 question of the comparative anatomy of certain species. 

 Upon Mr. Lord's appointment as Curator of the Tasman- 

 ian Museum a thorough overhaul of the Museum store speci- 

 mens was made with the result that a series of hitherto 

 undcscribed specimens were brought to light. As certain 

 of these were undoubtedly ]iortion of the Crowther collec- 

 tion a thorough investigation was decided upon. Upon 

 this being made a considerable amoimt of interesting data 

 was obtained, which appeared well worthy of being placed 

 on record, and the following notes are therefore the result 

 of our observations. 



Between the years 1866 and 1871 the late Dr. W. L. 

 Crcwther. of Hobart, who was intei'ested in the whaling 

 industry, collected a large number of skeletal remains of 

 various Tasmanian Cetdmi, and presented them to several 

 English Museums. Some of these specimens still claim 

 folios in the Catalogues of the British Museum and the 

 Royal College of Surgeons' Museum. Mr. Scott made an 

 effort in 1902 to trace some of Dr. Ci-owther's specimens in 

 the State, as he was then engaged in publishing a series of 

 articles on this subject. At that time his inquiries did not 

 meet with success, hut the matter was always kept in mind. 

 Owing to the recent revision of the Basement stores of the 

 Tasmanian Museum some old boxes which had evidently 

 l>een stored away from the time they were moved from the 

 old Museum of the Royal Society to the present building 



(4a) Bonwick. The Last of the Tasmanians, p. 395. 



(5) Scott. Lnunceston Courier. 1902. Scott. Notes on a fossil whale 

 from Wynyard, Pap. and Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas., 1913, p. 167. 



