NOTES AND QUERIES. 225 
white, or rather of a very pale flesh-colour; but even in the 
course of the second day the back of the head becomes grey, and 
this grey becomes darker on the following day, and continues to 
extend. 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 

Prof. Weismann’s Essays on Heredity.—lIn response to the interest 
aroused by this subject, a collection of these essays has been translated under 
the care of Mr. E. B. Poulton, of Oxford. The volume is nearly ready, 
and will be published by the Clarendon Press. 
MAMMALIA. 
Threatened Extinction of the Kangaroo.—That there is an extreme 
likelihood that, unless preventive measures be taken, the Kangaroo will, 
in the course of a few years, have become a curiosity in its native country, 
is a statement which will probably be read with some amount of surprise, 
and perchance incredulity, by naturalists in England. That this assertion 
is, however, based on fact is proved, not only by the testimony of Australian 
naturalists, but also by American tanners, who find that, owing to the high 
prices now obtainable for the skins, large quantities of small unsaleable 
hides are forced upon the market—a course of action which they are 
beginning to recognise must inevitably result in the extermination, within a 
comparatively short period, of the Kangaroo. The following extract from a 
letter which I have recently received—in my capacity as secretary to the 
committee now seeking to secure better protection for the native fauna and 
flora of South Australia—from Mr. R. G. Salomon, one of the largest tanners 
in the United States, with respect to the desired prohibition of the sale in 
our colony of Kangaroo-skins under 1 fb. in weight may be of interest :— 
“T beg leave to say that it is of the greatest importance, not only to South 
Australia but also to Victoria and to Western Australia, that immediate 
steps be taken to stop the killing of small Kangaroos, or the total exter- 
mination of this animal will be brought about. It would surely be better 
to stop the killing of the young animals entirely in every part of Australia, 
by enacting a law which would impose a fine for the killing of any Kangaroos 
whose skins weigh less than teu-twelfths of a pound. Lighter skins than 
these are almost unsaleable, and yet there are very large quantities of such 
forced upon the market. The Kangaroo-skin is mainly used in the United 
States, and almost all those that are sold to England are resold to consumers 
in this country. As stated, I am deeply interested in the passing of this 
law; and shall, on the other hand, do everything possible to induce every 
tanner in this country to agree not to buy any skins not in conformity with 
