^'^'i 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM 



''—"^ MAGAZINE 



Published by the Australian Museum 

 Editor: C. Anderson, M.A., D.Sr. 



College Street, Sydney 

 Annua] Subscription, Post Free, 4/4. 



Vol. I., No. 10. 



OCTOBER, 1923. 



Editorial 



AN event of more than usual import- 

 ance to Australian nmseums Avas 

 the recent meeting in ^Melbourne of 

 representatives appointed by the var- 

 ious State Museums and Universities 

 to discuss matters of common interest. 

 This conference was partly the out- 

 come of a suggestion made by our 

 President, Dr. T. Storie Dixson, who, 

 in an address before the Board of 

 Governors of the Public Library, 

 Museum, and Art Gallery of South 

 Australia, urged that a fuller measure 

 of co-operation between the various 

 Australian museums Avould be to the 

 advantage of all. The authorities of 

 the South Australian Museum there- 

 iipon proposed that a conference should 

 be held to discuss the matter. Later 

 the scope of the conference was ex- 

 tended so as to include such questions 

 as the conservation of our indigenous 

 animals, the issue of permits to collec- 

 tors, the disposal of type specimens, 

 and cognate matters. 



The conference met on August 17th, 

 concurrently Avith the Melbourne ses- 

 sion of the Pan-Pacitic Science Congress, 

 and passed the following resolutions 

 for transmission to the Federal and 

 State Governments. 



1 . That this conference expresses its 

 gratification at the action of the Com- 

 monwealth Government in appointing 

 Advisory Committees in each State to 



assist the Customs Department in con- 

 nection with permits to take protected 

 animals. 



2. That it be a recommendation to 

 the State Governments that they 

 appoint similaiT committees. 



3. That in all cases where specimens 

 are exported the exporter be required 

 to produce the State authority for 

 collecting such specimens, and no 

 person be allowed to export more than 

 the number of specimens shown on the 

 collecting permit. Three days" notice 

 to be given of intention to export, in 

 order to permit of proper inspection. 



4. That in all States a gun license be 

 imposed, and a royalty placed on skins 

 obtained for commercial purposes, re- 

 venue derived from these two sources 

 to be available for defraying the cost of 

 administering the Animals Protection 

 Acts and the conservation of the in- 

 digenous fauna. 



5. That overseas collectors be re- 

 quired to furnish types or paratypes 

 of new species and duplicates of rare 

 species obtained in the Commonwealth 

 and its territories to an Australian 

 museum, preferably of the State in 

 which the collections are made, and 

 that local collectors should, as far as 

 possible, make provision for the re- 

 tention of types and rare species in 

 Australia. 



