THE NATURAL HISTOKY OF CHINA (g 



In connection with the fishes of China I should like to 

 point out to the members of the Royal Asiatic Society th a 

 the museum contains practically no specimens of these ton 



cilr" Dr i:f1? br?teB ' a / T th ° Ugh thG P J * eSent S 

 Guratoi Dr. Noel Davis, and I are trying to remedy this 



f.tt 1 7 U U h \Z SP J end V d *** if S ~ would und!" 

 take to look after this branch, for of all things the Shanghai 



Museum ought to have, a good collection of fish, both marine 

 and fresh-water, is one of the most important. In this 

 branch, if m no other, lies a fine field of research for it 

 has an economic as well as a scientific importance that none 

 can deny. 



Invertebrates. 



We may now consider for a brief space the invertebrates 

 of China. Had my line of research in China been more in 

 the direction of the invertebrates, this lecture would have 

 been devoted almost entirely to them, for, important as the 

 vertebrates are, they pale into insignificance when compared 

 with the lower forms of life. Yet, sad to relate, the latter 

 have been very much neglected. Zoologists have almost 

 invariably gone after the higher types of animal life, treating 

 the lower forms more or less as unimportant side lines. 

 This is a great pity, for the country is particularly rich in 

 its invertebrate fauna, and would well repay work done in 

 this direction. It is true that one or two branches of in- 

 vertebrates have been well worked, notably in the case of 

 the lepidopterous insects, and sea shells. Other branches 

 of insect life, however, have been badly neglected, while 

 almost nothing, or, at least, very little, is known about the 

 terrestial mollusks. What little is known shows that the 

 land snails of China are of vital importance in the matter 

 of determining how the fauna of these parts acquired its 

 present distribution. Here, then, is another field of research 

 open to some enthisiast. 



One other very interesting branch of zoological study 

 that the country offers is that of the marine and littoral 

 invertebrate fauna. This is a branch that many of the 

 members of this sociaty, and of the whole Shanghai com- 

 munity, for that matter, might take up without undue 

 expense or exertion, for most people spend some of their 

 holidays at the seaside, where marine forms of life are thrust 

 upon one's notice. The museum has some good material in 

 this line, but what is wanted is someone to take up this 

 branch and go into it thoroughly, and I can promise that 



