1899] BEEREN EILAND 317 
8 aM.). During the period of the experiment the development of 
these plants did not proceed very far, but the series kept in the light 
was obviously the more sturdy. The third experiment consisted in 
the cultivation, on a hot-bed, of a score of common Scandinavian plants. 
These also were in two similar series, one kept in the light, the other 
darkened by night. The experiment succeeded with 18, and of these 
16 were clearly more sturdy in the light series, some of them yielding 
examples half as large again as those in the darkened series. 
To the list of the island’s fauna were added two birds: the Skua 
(Lestris pomatorhina) and the Spitzbergen form of Mormon arcticus. 
Salmo alpinus was found in a lake. Special attention was paid to the 
insects, which on isolated oceanic islands are of much interest to the 
student of distribution. Holmgren, the only entomologist who had 
previously visited Beeren Eiland, found there in 1868 only 9 species 
of Diptera and 1 Hymenopteron. The Swedish expedition has 
brought back a large collection of Diptera, not yet worked through, 
4 Hymenoptera, 1 Neuropteron, and 2 Coleoptera. Holmgren found 
only 2 Acarids ; the present explorers have at least 10. 
The chief object of the expedition was a detailed geological 
investigation of the island. This has been successfully carried out 
with valuable results. A large collection of fossil plants from the 
coal-bearing series has been made; numerous fossils have been collected 
from all the marine strata, especially from the Trias. <A geological 
map of the whole island has been constructed. The stratigraphy and 
tectonic geology of the whole island has been worked out, and there 
have been discovered in the southern part of the island a series of 
dislocations of Carboniferous age, which explain the topography of the 
hilly regions and the varying development of the Carboniferous system 
at various points. 
Mr. Gunnar Andersson and his companions are to be congratulated 
on the amount of solid work they have accomplished, and we look 
forward to the publication of the detailed results with much interest. 
It should be mentioned that the proprietor of Beeren Eiland, Mr. 
Lerner (who happens to be a German) has helped the expedition, and 
hopes to welcome it back in some future year. 
The Difficulties of the Australian Museum. 
Despite the fact that the Australian Museum is in an unhappy 
financial position, we enjoy reading the report of its Curator, because 
Mr. R. Etheridge, junior, has a way of saying just what he thinks, and 
this way—the essence of all great literature—is not permitted to 
many officials in the mother country. Mr. Etheridge’s vigour has 
