2 JOrnXAL, NATVFAL HTST. SOCIETY OF SUM. Vol L 



latter will be of use in working out the geographical di^^tribution of 



species. 



An immense amount of work in ever}' branch of Natural 



Historj'- is waiting to be done in Siam — work which possesses all the 

 pleasure and fascination attaching to any form of pioneer research. 

 Hitherto it has been an almost untouched field. Few expert natur- 

 alists have visited the country, still fewer have lived in it, antl the 

 records of both its fauna and flora are meagre. It is not to be expected 

 that any large number of species will be added to Science, at least among 

 the vertebrates, but it is in the distribution of those species already 

 known, and in the life-histories of the little-known ones, that so much 

 remains to be accomplished. 



Siam, as would naturally be expected, has species in connnon 

 with those of each country which she adjoins, and although the great 

 majority of them are found over the whole area, the lin)it of distribution 

 of man}' lies through her own terrritory. Of tlie fauna of }3urma and of 

 the Malay Peninsula we have a fairly extensive knowledge, and the 

 literature upon the subject relating to those countries is considera))le, 

 and is indispensable to anyone working in Siam. The same, unfor- 

 tunately, cannot be said of Indo-China, in regard to which no publica- 

 tion of any great value has yet apiieared, to which reference can he 

 made for information concerning the many species peculiar to that 

 country and Siam. 



The two regions of which we probabl}' know the least are, 

 the lai'ge tract of country to the east and north of Korat, bordering 

 u|)on Indo-China, and the mountanous district west of Petchaburi, 

 adjoining the Burmese frontier. J^oth offer a rich field of new 

 material and will well repay any naturalist who t-an find the time and 

 mor.ey to visit them. 



It is to l)e hojted that within a year or two the Society will be 

 in a position to publish certain hand-lists relating to the fauna and 

 flora of this connfry. The^e will be published separately from the 

 •loUDial. Tliey will naturally lie far from comi)lete, hut they will toi'iii 

 a basis for future work and should he valual)le as a rt^ft^-ence 

 to anyone studying the particular subjects dealt with. A circular 

 letter relating to this matter h.a- already been issued, and it is hoped 

 that exevx men;l;er will assist the Society in its undertaking. Tiie 

 Cummitti'f will be only t(0 jiha^cfl to helj-i meuibt-rs in every way 



