Section D. 



BIOLOGY. 



ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, 

 CHARLES IT E D L E Y, E. L. S. 



Assistant Curator of the Australian Museum, Sydnei/. 



THE MARINE FAUNA OF QUEENSLAND. 

 1.— A PLEA FOR A BIOLOGICAL STATION. 



The occupant of this chair has the privilege of delivering an 

 address on some subject with which his section is concerned. The 

 nearer that subject is to speaker and audience the better, and I 

 find a topic at hand for discussion in the Marine Fauna of Queensland. 



We will consider this fauna politically as a public asset, and 

 scientifically as a field for investigation. 



The man of science, who is a good citizen, while indulging in the 

 intellectual pleasures of his work, keeps watch on matters within his 

 ken of public weal. 



So we will first discuss the advantage of establisliing a biological 

 station. Last year tlie Koyal Commission which reported on the 

 pearlshell and bec:he-de-mer industries, recommended that a competent 

 staff of marine biologists should be stationed in Torres Strait to dis- 

 cover and publish information on the pearlshell and beche-de-mer. 



In its marine fauna, Queensland has a great national asset. Few 

 countries are so well endowed. Even without cultivation a rich 

 harvest has been reaped of oysters, pearlshell, beche-de-mer, turtle, 

 tortoiseshell, fish, dugong, and other products. The great extent of 

 sheltered water offers facilities for the cultivation of tliese, and of 

 foreign articles, such as sponge and precious coral. 



It is so simple to gather and to sell the produce of the sea, that 

 we fail to realise how the fisherman's earnings may be increased by 

 exact knowledge and systematic research. But the reward which the 

 miner has obtained, and which the farmer is reaping, is in store for 

 the fisherman also. 



