185 



ance, overburdened with routine courses of lectures of inordinate 

 length, but have also thrown upon them large administrative 

 duties in their self-imposed efforts to found and sustain, on a 

 creditable footing, scientific societies and institutions in countries 

 where, as yet, science meets with little general sujDport or sym- 

 pathy, and where its pursuit is often looked upon as an amiable 

 craze. Lastly, the imperfections and deficiencies of our 

 Libraries and Museums — though these are rapidly improving — 

 still leave much to be desired in the way of literature for 

 reference and material for comparison. 



Under all these unfavourable circumstances, which perhaps 

 are to be expected in a young community, it is not surprising 

 that those of us v/ho are teachers of science in Australia have 

 hitherto suffered the humiliation of seeing so much of the work 

 on purely Australian subjects done elsewhere. The scientific 

 prizes of the investigator, of first importance, have not unusually 

 been, so to speak, snatched from under his very eyes. 



Such being the case, in spite of a strong appeal to have the 

 work, involved in the i:)resent investigation, done in England, I was 

 anxious that it should, if possible, be retained in the colony in 

 which the discovery W5s made. 



It was possible to desire this and at the same time to achnit 

 freely that the w^ork might have been better done if under- 

 taken by those whose vastly superior competence must be at 

 once acknowledged. As an additional reason for this wish, of 

 a somewhat personal character, it is not, perhaps, out of place 

 to say that, being, since the discovery of the animal, either a 

 member of the Council, or President, of this Society, a feeling of 

 loyalty towards both it and the colony, strongly suggested that I 

 should, by the destination of the paper, gain for both what- 

 ever scientific credit might accrue from its local publication. 

 The delay would not have been so great had I not felt bound 

 to avail myself of very favourable opportunities that pre- 

 sented themselves, of visiting remote parts of New Zealand 

 and the little known regions of Central Australia, during 

 two successive long vacations, during which periods I liave 

 leisure to undertake indei3endent work satisfactorily. Indeed, 

 as previously stated, the latter journey of over 2,000 miles, 

 of which over 1,200 had to be performed by driving, or 

 riding on horseback or on camels, was undertaken largely with 

 the hope of obtaining a further supply of specimens of this 

 animal. I think I may fairly ofter the sucessful result of the 

 journey, in this respect, as an adequate compensation for some, at 

 least, of the delay, for which I am responsible, as I shall now be 

 able to submit examples to the examination of more competent 



