302 11EP0RT8 ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. 



The Fauna of the Lal-es of Central Tasmania. — Report of the Com- 

 mittee, consisting of Professor G. 0. BouRNE (Chairman), Mr. 

 J. J. Lister (Secretari/), and Sir E. Ray Lankester, appointed 

 to assist Mr. G. W. Smith to proceed to Tasmania to study the 

 Anatomy and Development of Anaspides, and to investigate the 

 Fauna of the Lakes of Central Tasmania. 



The Committee have received the following report from Mr. G. W. 

 Smith :— 



The expenses of this expedition were defrayed partly by a grant of 

 40/. from the British Association, and partly by Professor G. C. Bourne, 

 Avhile New College, Oxford, by granting me leave of absence while hold- 

 ing a fellowship, made it possible for me to go. 



The expedition was undertaken at the suggestion of Professor G. C. 

 Bourne for the purpose of studying the freshwater fauna of Tasmania, 

 and especially Anaspides tasmania'., the peculiar mountain shrimp only 

 known to occur in one or two localities in Tasmania. 



On arriving in Hobart at the end of September I made arrangements 

 for living at a small chalet near the top of Mount Wellington, and by 

 inquiring from the settlers in the neighbourhood and from Mr. Rodway, 

 the original discoverer of Anaspides, I found out the chief localities where 

 the mountain shrimp occurred. The locality where they were most 

 abundant was in the pools of the upper reaches of the North-West Bay 

 River, which rises near the top of Mount Wellington, about two hours' 

 walk from the chalet where I was staying. I spent altogether six weeks 

 on the mountain observing the habits of the animal in its natural state 

 and making as accurate observations as possible on its anatomy. It was 

 also possible to establish that the female deposits her eggs immediately 

 after fertilisation, and that there is no complicated metamorphosis. The 

 result of these observations, the main points of which are published in 

 the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society,' June 24, 1908, is to vindicate the 

 Anaspidacea as a primitive and separate order of the Malacostrtea, 

 showing affinities to several other orders, especially the Mysidacea and 

 Decapoda, with many peculiar characters of its own. During my stay 

 on the mountain 1 collected a number of other freshwater Crustacea, 

 especially Amphipods of the genus Neoniphagus, the Isopodan genus 

 Phreatoicus, and Astacopsis. I also made a study of the birds and 

 obtained specimens of the characteristic kinds, while, with the help of 

 Mr. Rodway, I became acquainted with the more interesting features in 

 the flora. 



Several expeditions were also made during this period, one to the 

 tarns in the Harz mountains, where Anasjndes was again met with, and a 

 collection of the Entomostraca, &c., made, and another to Brunij Island 

 with a camping party from Hobart, where some freshwater lagoons were 

 investigated. 



During Christmas week a^camping expedition was arranged on Ben 

 Lomond, a mountain in the,^north of the island, on the top of which are 

 several small tarns, and the freshwater fauna of these, including various 

 Entomostraca and Amphipoda, was collected. January was devoted to 

 the lake district on the central highland plateau of the island. Two 



