440 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Major G. E. H. Barrett- Hamilton's Expedition to South 

 Georgia to Investigate the Position of the Antarctic Whaling 

 Industry. — By kind permission of the Trustees of the British 

 Museum the Committee arranged for Mr. P. Stamnrwitz, a taxi- 

 dermist employed at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, 

 to accompany Major Barrett-Hamilton to South Georgia; and the 

 greater part of the grant placed at the disposal of the Committee has 

 been expended in paying his salary and in making certain preliminary 

 payments. He sailed with Major Barrett-Hamilton on October 6th, 

 1913, and work was commenced at South Georgia immediately after 

 their arrival on November 10th. 



Early in the new year news was received that Major Barrett- 

 Hamilton had died suddenly at South Georgia on January 17th, 

 while his inquiries were in full progress. This unlooked-for event, 

 which the Committee record with profound sorrow, naturally altered 

 the entire prospects of the expedition. Mr. Stammwitz had no 

 alternative but to return at once, and, after making arrangements for 

 the despatch of the specimens which had been collected, he took the 

 first opportunity of leaving South Georgia, bringing with him the 

 notebooks containing Major Barrett-Hamilton's observations. At the 

 request of the Colonial Office, and with the approval of the Trustees 

 of the British Museum, these notebooks have been placed in the 

 hands of Mr. Martin A. C. Hinton for examination. It is hoped that 

 the results of the work which Major Barrett-Hamilton had done 

 before his death will thus not be entirely lost. The collections 

 brought home comprise a very valuable series of specimens — in 

 particular, flippers, complete sets of baleen, and other anatomical 

 material from the Blue "Whale, the Common Eorqual, and the 

 Humpback Whale. These specimens have been presented to the 

 Natural History Museum by Messrs. Chr. Salvesen & Co., at whose 

 whaling station they were obtained, and they should be of service in 

 helping to decide the much-debated question whether these Antarctic 

 Whales are specifically identical with their northern representatives. 



A few birds were obtained at South Trinidad on the outward 

 journey, and a certain amount of dredging and shore-collecting was 

 done at South Georgia. The collection made includes marine inverte- 

 brates and fishes, bird-skins, plants, and a few insects and rock- 

 specimens. These have been handed over to the Natural History 

 Museum, where arrangements are being made to have them deter- 

 mined, and if necessary reported on, by specialists. — " Eeport of 

 Committee," British Association, Australia, 1914. 



