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THE AUSTRALIAN MUSE CM MAGAZINE. 



FiJiAX Exhibit. — liy removing a 

 nuiuljer of Buka ceremonial i)addles 

 sj^ace ^vas found in the wall cases of tlie 

 Melanesian room for displaying tlie col- 

 lection of Fijian ethnograpliy. Among 

 tlie ol)jects placed on view are some 

 tine examples of glazed pottery, ponder- 

 ous clubs, tapa cloth, and domestic im- 

 plements and ornaments. Si)ecial at- 

 tention may be called to the exiiil)its il- 

 lustrating the kava-drinking custom 

 and the cannibalistic habits of old Fiji. 



Fossil Whale. — Last year Professor 

 T. Thomson Flynn, of the University of 

 Tasmania, had the good fortune to find 

 the skull and part of the skeleton of a 

 squalodont whale in the Miocene beds 

 near Table Cape, Tasmania, where its 

 remains have been embedded for at least 

 two million years. These wliales were 

 voracious creatures, with sharp cusped 

 teeth something like those of the shark, 

 and are now ({uite extinct, nor have 

 tliey left any direct descendants, for 

 existing whales followed anotiier line of 

 descent. They show distinct evidence 

 that whales have descended from carni- 

 vorous animals. The remarkable speci- 

 men found by Professor Flynn must 

 have reached a length of about sixteen 

 feet when alive. The difficult task of 

 preparing casts of this valuable skull 

 for distribution to scientific institutions 

 was entrusted by Professor Flynn to 

 this Museum, and Mr. G. ('. (Tutton and 

 his assistant, Mr. J. Kingsley, have 

 carried out the work very successfully. 

 Professor Flynn writes : "it is a pleasure 

 to be able to express myself in the 

 highest terms of admiration of the fine 

 work whicli your Mr. Ch.tton has iier- 

 formed in the execution oT the'^e casts. 

 They are, I firmly believe, worthy of any 

 scientific institution in tlie world." 



Snakes' Faxcis. — Mr. K. Fulton, of 

 the Public School, Upper Colo, Avrites 

 that he has recently examined a black 



snake whicli had three fangs in its 

 jaws, two being together on one side^ 

 while there was only one on the op- 

 posite side. Before and since that en- 

 quiry similar letters have reached the 

 Museum, all of which have been an- 

 swered, but, for the enlightenment of 

 otliers, it might be as well to give here 

 a brief explanation of the occurrence 

 of such peculiarities. All venomous 

 snakes have a reserve stock of fangs 

 growing in the gums and they are in 

 various stages of development; the 

 smallest is so small that it would take 

 a lens to detect it, while the most ad- 

 vanced pair (one on each side) are well 

 developed and quite ready to take an 

 active part as soon as the fangs in use 

 are lost either through accident or cast 

 aside through the natural shedding of 

 the teeth. The maxillary bone, to which 

 the fangs are attached, lias two sockets, 

 one containing the fang in use, and an- 

 other along side it for the reception of 

 the reserve fang, ^"ery often when the 

 reserve one develops too quickly it takes 

 its place beside the one in use, but it 

 does not become firmly attached to the 

 bone or venom apparatus until the old 

 one is out of the way. Snakes with 

 three fangs are not rare, and there are 

 several in the Museum collection. 



ViCTORiAX VisiTOK. — Mr. A. S. Kenyon, 

 of the Rivers and Water Supply Com- 

 mission of Victoria, recently paid a 

 visit to the Museum, primarily to ar- 

 range exciianges of aboriginal stone im- 

 plements, by v.'hich our collection of 

 Victorian stone axes and flaked material 

 has been considerably increased. 



Record Attexdaxck. — On Eight-liour 

 Day, 3rd Octol)er of this year, ;j.()()() 

 people passei'l in through the Aluseum 

 turnstile. This is the highest numl;er ot 

 visitors ever recorded for one day since 

 the Museum was founded. 



