128 The National Mtiscum, Melbourne. [voT."^XXXiv 



removal of the collection from his residence at Belltrees, near 

 Scone, N.S.W., to Melbourne, and ever}' possible precaution 

 was taken to ensure its safety. The skins were carefully- 

 packed in the cabinet drawers, and the cabinets themselves 

 thickly padded to prevent jarring. From Belltrees it was 

 taken on a bullock waggon to the railway at Scone, and thence 

 by rail in special trucks provided by tlic New South Wales and 

 Victorian Railway Departments to Melbourne. The removal 

 was carried out under the personal supervision of Mr. S. W. 

 Jackson, who has had the care of Mr. White's collections for 

 some years, and who accompanied the collection to Melbourne, 

 while the whole of the expenses were ])orne bj^ Mr. White. This 

 important acquisition to the Museum collections is highly 

 appreciated by the Trustees of the Museum, who, together with 

 ornithologists, general!}', applaud the public spirit which 

 prompted Mr. White to place the results of many j^ears' wi)rk 

 at the disposal of present and future workers. 



The visitors "spent a couple of hours very profitably in an 

 examination of the collection, and were much impressed with 

 the excellent condition and careful labelling of the specimens. 

 Quite a number of rare species were seen for tlie first time by 

 many of those present. Light refreslimcnts, thoughtfully 

 provided by the Director, terminated a very enjoyable and 

 instructive evening. 



Ch.wge of Name for a Shark. — One of our commonest 

 Victorian fossils is the shark's tooth known as Oxyrhimi hastalis. 

 This genus name is unfortunately preoccupied by a similar 

 name given by Meigen for a dipterous insect (see " Systematische 

 Beschreibung der Bekannten Europiiischen ZwcidugcHgen 

 Insekten," vol. vii., 1838, p. 366, pi. Ixxiv., figs. 36-38), for 

 Agassiz did not name the shark Oxyrhina until 1843 (" Poissons 

 Fossiles," vol. iii.) l^y the rule of priority, thercfcjre, the shark 

 loses its well-known name. Now as to the name for the shark. 

 Rafinesque, in 1810, described certain sharks' teeth under llu' 

 genus name of Isurus. These, according to Muller and Henle, 

 may either belong to Oxyrhina, Agassiz. or to Lamna, Cuvier. 

 However, David Starr Jordan (Univ. Calif. Publ. Geol. Bull., 

 vol. v., No. 7, 1907, p. 107) has already accepted I sums for 

 Oxyrhina on otiier grounds— namely, that Isurus is valid, in 

 his opinion, and pre-dates Oxvrhina, Agassiz. The onl\ 

 alternative left us appears to be to accept Jordan's ruling, and 

 t<; now refer our Beaumaris shark and its congeners to Isurus, 

 tiie common Victorian species l)eing Isiiriis haslalis, Agassiz, 

 sp. — F. CiiAi'MW, A.L.S. National Museum, Melbourne. 



