PRESIDENTS ADDRESS.—SECTION D. 75 
country, and found myself surrounded by objects as strange as 
if I had been brought to another planet that I conceived the 
idea of devoting a portion of my attention to the mammalian 
class of its extraordinary fauna. . . . While in the interior 
of the country, I formed the intention of publishing a mono- 
graph of the great family of the Kangaroos; but soon after my 
return to England I determined to attempt a more extended 
work under the title of the “Mammals of Australia.’ ” 
This, indeed, seems to be a rather surprising, not to say a 
very disappointing progress report to be promulgated early in 
the second half century of Australian colonisation. If very 
important classes like the mammals and birds had received 
unmerited neglect, can any more hopeful tidings be expected 
concerning the rest of the fauna? At the same time, it is neces- 
sary to point out that in the passages above quoted Gould does 
not state his case very clearly. The necessity for his coming 
was that both the work of collecting the birds and mammals, 
and the methods of utilising the resulting collections were up 
to that time for the most part radically wrong in principle. It 
was not that nothing at all had been done; for in one sense 
only too much had been accomplished. 
THE COLLECTORS AND THEIR COLLECTIONS. 
At the outset the botanists and zoologists who concerned 
themselves with the scientific study—with the naming, classi- 
fication, and descriptive cataloguing—of Australian plants and 
animals were European men of science. Very early the botanist 
began to recognise the fact that the Australian flora was so 
intrinsically interesting that it was worth while going all: the 
way to Australia to see the flora for himself, to study it under 
natural conditions, and to collect specimens for future examina- 
tion. The zoologist for a much longer period was less keen 
about personal knowledge of the fauna; and very much to his 
disadvantage he adopted the more independent attitude of ex- 
pecting “the Mountain to come to Mahomet.” But whether the 
biologist came out to Australia or whether he did not, his 
prime and indispensable desideratum were the same—collections 
for study; the largest, the most representative, the best pre 
served collections that could be brought together by collectors 
who knew the importance of supplying all requisite information 
respecting correct habitats, and of supplementing the strictly 
collecting work by carefully recorded field observations. As 
in the case of a Challenger Expedition, so in that of taking 
over a continental flora and fauna, very much indeed depended 
upon the collectors, and their qualifications, aims, and methods. 
Botanical.—During the Pre-Victorian period of colonial 
history the following official, responsible, expert British col- 
