First Australian Expedition 25 



of these men in geography, geology, botany and ethnology was 

 hardly less important. 



Through the liberality of Mr. Arthur Curtiss James, this 

 Museum, cooperating with the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and 

 Sciences, was able in 1912 to send Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy 

 to South Georgia abroad the whaler "Daisy." Doctor Murphy 

 succeeded in securing abundant scientific data and important 

 collections of mammals and birds, including the material for the 

 group of King Penguins. 



Vanishing Life of Australia 



We are approaching the close of the Age of Mammals all over 



the world, but in no continent has the devastation been more 



rapid than in that of Australia, owing to three 



First . causes : deforestation, an enormous fur trade, and 



„ ... an increasing* leather trade. In 1921, it became 



Expedition , * 



apparent that the American Museum must secure 



its representative collections now or never. Accordingly an ex- 

 pedition headed by Curator William K. Gregory was sent to 

 Australia to meet representatives of leading Australian scientific 

 institutions' to lecture in the various cities, and to explain the 

 chief purposes of the Museum, which are to secure an exhibition 

 of the wonderful and unique life of Australia, present and past, 

 as distinguished from a research collection which belongs prop- 

 erly in the Australian Museums and in the great British Museum 

 of Natural History in London. Accompanying Doctor Gregory 

 was Mr. H. C. Raven, a most experienced and able collector, who 

 has already reported a very encouraging beginning in this great 

 undertaking. At the same time, Doctor Gregory planned a series 

 of exchanges between the American and the Australian Museums 

 — especially of educational exhibits — which will be mutually ad- 

 vantageous. Scientific men, as well as the government, of Aus- 

 tralia have shown a cordial attitude towards the work of the ex- 

 pedition, which has recently received a written indorsement from 

 the British Ambassador at Washington, Sir Auckland Geddes. 



The total amount expended on tMs work during the year 1921 

 was $7,176.15. 



The location of the Australian Hall has not yet been definitely 

 determined. An initial exhibition of the Australian collections 

 will be displayed in the center of the Philippine Hall. 



