BY JOHN SHIRLEY. 9 



of the finest private collections in Australia It may interest 

 members of this Society to know that the late Mr. G. Gross's 

 collection passed into Dr. Verco's hands, and arrangements 

 have been made which will prevent this valuable collec- 

 tion of Australian shells from being broken up. Recently 

 Dr. Verco has extended his studies to the great Australian 

 Bight and Western Australia generally, and in the " Trans- 

 actions of the Royal Society of South Australia " for 1912,* 

 gives a list of one hundred and fifty shells mainly from 

 Geraldton and the Abrolhos Islands. 



The Poh'placophora of Dr. Verco's list were furnished 

 by Dr. W. G. Torr, also of South Australia, who has made 

 this difficult family his special study. Dr. Torr has col- 

 lected in most of the Austrahan States, and alone, or in 

 collaboration with Mr. W. L. May and others, has pubUshed 

 critical notes and descriptions of new species which have 

 been of marked assistance, especially to southern workers. 



Tasmania has been noted for its many workers and 

 collectors in the conchological field, of whom Petterd, 

 Legrand, Simson, Beddome, Miss M. Lodder, the Revd. 

 Tenison- Woods, may be mentioned. The " Census " of 

 Tasmanian Shells of the latter, published in ISTSf was 

 revised in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New 

 South Wales, 1901, J by Professor Ralph Tate and Mr. 

 W. L. May ; since which date Mr. May has communicated 

 many papers on the moUuscan fauna of the island, mainly 

 by means of the publications of its Royal Society. Other 

 of Mr. May's papers, in conjunction with Dr. Torr or with 

 Mr. C. Hedley, appear in the same series or in the " Records 

 of the Australian Museum." Mr. May has done much to 

 clear the way for those who follow him in the study of Tas- 

 manian shells, by ridding the list of false entries, by his 

 extensive lists of synonyms, by his study of critical species, 

 and by constant reference to typical specimens, especially 

 to those in the collections of the Tasmanian Museum. 



The geological distribution of marine shellfish is re- 

 ceiving increased attention since the bulk of existing species 

 have been determined and recorded. 



* Loc. cit., Vol. XXXVI, pp. 202-205. 

 t Proc. Roy. Soc, Tas., pp. 26-57 1877. 



JP.L.S., N.S.W., 1901, Pt. 3, July 31st, pp. 344-471, PI. XXXIII- 

 XXXVII. 



