AUSTRALIAN TARDIGRADA 



On collecting in Australia,. On the return of the Nimrod from the Antarctic 

 in the spring of 1909 nearly a month was spent in Australia in the collection of 

 various fresh-water microscopic animals, chiefly Rotifera and Tardigrada. 



In this work I was greatly assisted by some good friends in Sydney, Mr. E. G. 

 Goddard, Mr. S. Johnston and Mr. T. Whitelegge, who guided me on excursions 

 to various likely collecting-grounds in the neighbourhood. Without this friendly 

 assistance the time might have been to a large extent wasted, as in a country so 

 generally parched us "Australia seems to be, mosses are not so much in evidence as 

 in moister countries like New Zealand. 



Only two of the Australian States were visited, New South Wales and Queens- 

 land. The immediate neighbourhood of Sydney was not very productive. There is 

 usually very little moss in the Eucalyptus bush, and when some is found it often 

 yields few microscopic animals, or none. Some water-bears were got in moss from 

 the National Park, near Sydney, and in the ponds in the Botanic Gardens some of 

 the purely aquatic species were collected. 



It was only in the mountain ranges, where a moister climate prevails, and mosses 

 are more abundant, that many Tardigrada were obtained. Two mountainous 

 regions in New South Wales were visited the Australian Alps near the Victorian 

 border, and the Blue Mountains near Sydney. 



On the journey to the Alps, the last stage of which was by coach, although the 

 road ran at a considerable elevation, and the air was cool, the country still seemed 

 arid. The hard baked earth showed everywhere among the gum-trees, and no moss 

 was visible. At the guest-house of " the Creel," altitude about 3000 feet, on the 

 Snowy River, there was scarcely any moss except on the banks of the river. This 

 moss was as unproductive as that gathered near Sydney, probably because it is dried 

 for too long at a time. 



With Dr. Mackay an ascent was made to the Hospice, a government guest-house 

 in course of erection on the road to Mount Kosciusko, at an altitude of about 

 5000 feet. As we ascended from 3000 to 5000 feet the climatic changes which we 

 passed through were surprisingly great for such a small difference of level. The first 

 part of the way, from 3000 to 4000 feet, was through bush, which was dry and 

 barren, the pasturage for the few sheep which we saw consisting of little isolated 

 tufts of grass, separated by yards of bare earth. 



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