December 1, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



793 



use of older students who will have their own 

 ways of working, and the very brevity of the 

 laboratory instructions allows greater latitude 

 for both student and teacher. The older 

 courses in invertebrate zoology are being 

 crowded in these days when zoology has devel- 

 oped so much of interest, but some of us have 

 always insisted that it is preposterous for a 

 man to go into zoological work without at 

 least as much knowledge of invertebrate mor- 

 phology as is set forth in this volume and a 

 man should get this as an undergraduate. 

 Students who have other scientific interests 

 or whose interest in zoology has no direct rela- 

 tion to their subsequent work may well elect, 

 after an introductory study, other courses in 

 preference to this ; but for the young zoologist 

 such a knowledge of morphology is a founda- 

 tion stone, and perhaps our author has pro- 

 duced a volume that will be more lasting be- 

 cause it makes no attempt to modernize the 

 invertebrate course, but offers it on an exclu- 

 sively morphological basis, leaving the other 

 things to the newer courses in ecology and 

 parasitology and field zoology which are al- 

 ready in our midst. 



In behalf of the publishers it may be said 

 that the typographical work is up to their 

 usual standard and the surface and quality of 

 the paper ideal for a work of this nature. 

 Winterton C. Curtis 



CAPTAIN WHITE'S RECENT EXPLORA- 

 TORY WORK IN AUSTRALIA 



For several years past I have corresponded 

 regularly with that most indefatigable ex- 

 plorer of certain unknown regions in Australia 

 — Captain S. A. White, of Adelaide. Captain 

 White, who is a member of many scientific 

 societies and institutions, resides upon his ele- 

 gant estate at Eulham, South Australia, and 

 almost every year, in one capacity or another, 

 he becomes connected with expeditions that 

 explore the entirely unknown regions of the 

 far northwest parts of the Australian conti- 

 nent. On these trips he is accompanied by his 

 wife, who cheerfully shares her husband's trials 

 and dangers, and she is more than entitled to 

 her quota of the glory and credit of their com- 



mon discoveries. No fewer than fourteen of 

 these hazardous trips have been made — some 

 of them lasting many months — the travelers 

 pressing their way into the most remote and 

 unexplored districts of this great island con- 

 tinent. Upon the return of the expedition, 

 Captain White usually publishes their dis- 

 coveries in some of the scientific journals, such 

 as the Transactions of the Boyal Society of 

 South Australia; but in addition to these ac- 

 counts he gets out popular ones in booklet 

 form, and he has kindly presented me with 

 several of these, covering some of the more 

 important expeditions. The last one of these 

 is now before me; and, as its recorded results, 

 discoveries and contributions to science are so 

 remarkable, I am sure that no apology is re- 

 quired for making a brief notice of them here. 

 This, the fourteenth excursion of the kind, 

 was made during 1914, the start having been 

 made about the middle of June. On this occa- 

 sion Captain White officially represented the 

 Royal Society of South Australia and the 

 Royal Geographical Society of Australia as 

 the associated naturalist, and he was fully 

 equipped for the most varied duties pertaining 

 to that part of the work. Mr. G. M. Mathews, 

 F.R.S.E., the distinguished ornithologist of 

 Australia, accompanied them, with other noted 

 individuals, the party as a whole being a large 

 one. Baggage and collecting material of all 

 kinds was packed on camels, sixteen of these 

 valuable animals forming a part of the expe- 

 dition, which, for this particular year, was 

 known as the " Geological Survey Expedi- 

 tion." It started at the terminus of the rail- 

 road on June 17, 1914, at a place called 

 Oodnadatta, with all hands well and every- 

 ■ thing in fine shape. After reaching the 

 Alberga Eiver, it followed this stream more or 

 less closely for a long distance, and then made 

 direct for the Everard range of mountains, 

 where considerable collecting and survey work 

 was accomplished. Skirting the foothills, it 

 returned to Moorilyanno N. Well, and took a 

 side route to examine Indulkana Spur and 

 neighboring territory. The route then led to 

 the Musgrave ranges far beyond, the expedi- 

 tion being subjected to terrible hardships on 



