6 NATURAL SCIENCE [July 
even worse than was at first supposed. Not only had the roof to be 
renewed, but the flooring and joists of the main hall were found 
to be burrowed by the termites, which had also made their way 
through the masonry joints into and under the floor of the Ethno- 
logical Hall, and had as completely destroyed the woodwork of that 
structure as of the roof. The remedying of all this naturally led to 
great expense and to much waste of time in removing and again 
replacing the whole of the collections. It is satisfactory to find 
that, in spite of this, work has been begun on a new spirit-room and 
workshops, although in connection with those as well as with many 
other matters, Mr Etheridge finds it necessary to note “ much 
unnecessary delay.” 
To return to the brighter side of affairs. The presentations to 
the Museum include several items of much interest. Chief is the 
celebrated ‘ Dobroyde’ collection of Australian birds and eggs 
brought together by the late curator, Dr E. P. Ramsay, and his 
brothers at their home in Dobroyde, Ashfield, N.S.W. This collec- 
tion contains a large number of type-specimens. It was purchased 
from Mr J. S. Ramsay by the Government of New South Wales 
and delivered by it to the trustees of the Museum. Mr W. A. Horn 
has presented further collections from the results of his recent 
expedition into the interior, and these include further type-speci- 
mens. Another valuable donation is a piece of meteoric iron, 
weighing over 44 lbs. It was found on the Nocoleche holding 
near Wanaaring, N.S.W., and will be known as the Nocoleche 
Meteorite. The donor was Mr G. J. Raffel. The meteorite has 
been cut and polished by Mr H. A. Ward of Rochester, N.Y., and 
a few slices are available for exchange. Mr C. W. Darley, engineer- 
in-chief for harbours and rivers, presented the Museum with some 
fossil remains of a dugong, discovered during the excavations for a 
canal at Shea’s Creek, Alexandria, near Sydney. This is the first 
instance of the discovery of dugong remains so far south. A note- 
worthy addition to the collections is the skeleton of the Indian 
elephant, which, under the name of Jumbo, was a familiar feature 
of the Sydney Zoological Gardens. This has been satisfactorily set 
up by Messrs H. Barnes and H. Barnes, junior, but space is not at 
present available for the mounting the skin. It is most distinctly 
to be noted that this Jumbo is not the same as the erstwhile 
ornament of our own ‘ Zoo’ and of Mr Barnum’s show. 
The whole impression made upon us by this Report is that the 
staff of the Australian Museum, however undermanned and under- 
paid it may be, has managed in spite of unprecedented difficulties 
to accomplish some excellent work from both the scientific and the 
museum point of view; and it is sincerely to be hoped that the 
Government of New South Wales may with the return of pros- 
