THE AUSTKALIAX MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



counteract it tor the benetit of the 

 growing crops. When a man has bodily 

 pains, or is attacked by an illness, the 

 malady is often removed by the n.ative 

 sorcerer, who pretends that he has ex- 

 tracted the offending cause. Magic can 

 onl,v be overcome by countei'-magic, and 

 so the time of the savage is hirgely em- 

 ployed in bringing evil on liis enemies, 

 or counter-charming against their ma- 

 chinations. 



Tlie mentality of the native does not 

 permit him to put things and events 

 to the test of natural laws or conunon 

 sense. This is a stage to which he has 

 not attained. He is taught certain 

 things and he adopts tiiem as tlie ar- 

 ticles of his creed, and never dreams of 



doubting the wisdom of his J'orl)ears. 

 Should he show signs of disbelief he 

 would be sul).iect to the ridicule of his 

 ti'ibal companions. Repeated successes 

 of the sorcerer tend also to establish 

 the beliefs inculcated. On the other 

 hand, most of his efforts are brought 

 to a successful conclusion by the readi- 

 ness of his fellow tribesmen to believe 

 thai he can do what he professes. More- 

 over, the untut(ned mind generally likes, 

 or is prone to be deceived, and even 

 many ci\ilised people prefer the ex- 

 perience which makes them stare and 

 wonder, rather than to develop tlie 

 critical faculty which enables them to 

 ascertain the truth and eliminate such 

 things as m_ysteries from their creed. 



Peculiar Agencies of Animal Distribution. 



By F. a. McNeill. 



Under the striking heading "Shrimi)S 

 from the Sky," there appeared in the 

 pages of the Sydneij Morning Herald 

 of August 1st, 1918, a notice from Sin- 

 gleton, N. S. "Wales, reporting the fact 

 that large (juantities of shrimps fell 

 with rain during a prolonged shoAver, 

 and continued to descend for some time. 

 As was then suggested, a whirlwind 

 could well be the responsible agency in 

 bringing about sucli an apparently 

 strange happening. Winds of this na- 

 ture develop under unstalilc atmos- 

 pheric conditions, and, wliile travelling 

 along, could lift ]iortions of a water 

 surface much in the same way as they 

 carry u|) dust. Small freshwater fishes 

 still alive have not unconmionly been 

 conveyed in this manner. The slirimp 

 in ((uestion afterwards proved to be a 

 common freshwater species {Parati/a 

 au.it ralhensis), and not a marine form, 

 as was thought at the time, blown in- 

 land from the sea 40 miles distant. It 

 occurs tlirougliout the greater portion 

 of the interlacing river systems of N.S. 

 Wales, and in other jiarts of the con- 

 tinent. Apart from this wide distribu- 

 tion, however, the species is found in 

 isolated water lioles and lakes, as well 

 as in small water courses. Manv of the 



latter are situated on very high ground, 

 and this leaves one at a loss to explain 

 ott'hand tlie manner in which the crea- 

 ture gained access to these disconnected 

 and out of the way places. The record 

 from Singleton provides one definite 

 solution to account for the peculiar dis- 

 tribution of this species of shrimp. In 

 other parts (if the vrorld, however, the 

 occasional tiansportatii n of small ani- 

 mals by whirlwinds, wliich has been refer- 

 red to "by Charles Darwin as "what may be 

 called accidental means," probably does 

 not |)rovide the main means of distri- 

 bution along the peculiar lines exhibited 

 in the. case of the Australian Parati/a. 

 It is proliable that this latter lias been 

 il;istril)uted mainly by the agency of 

 migrating wading birds, which must 

 carry tlie eggs or young on their legs 

 and feet, entangled with the mud and 

 slime that congregates on those i)arts, 

 much in the same manner as pond 

 snails adhere to these appendages in the- 

 case of ducks. Another instance of 

 peculiar distribution is exemplified in 

 the case of the ''Yabbie'' (Parachaeraps 

 hicarinatus), a freshwater crayfish well 

 known for its depredations in artifieially 

 constructed dams in Western N.S. Wales 

 anil otliei' iiarts of the eastern and sou- 



