INAUGUIUL ADDKEHS. 
u 
The described species uf living anini;ds, according to a very 
leceiit calculation by Drs. Kmiiss and Lauiprecht, largely fi’oin 
the works of Ijeunis and fSronn, reach in number one quai-ter of a 
uiillion ! Of these are ISlannnals 2,300, Birds 11,200, Fishes 
9,000, Mollusces 2,300, Insects 107,000 (with 80,000 Beetles), 
lint even in latest day.s the.se number.s became considerably aug- 
mented, thus that of the Micro-Lepidoptera from this part of the 
world by the stremuius iesearche.s of iVIeyrick. 
The admis.sible specie, s of described living plants number not 
less than 200,000 now, as about 120,000 vasculares, taken in a 
ctmservative sense, ha^"e been fairly well defined, and as Prof. 
Kaceardo has given in his large recent work alone 27,000 diagnoses 
of fungaceous plants, so that the total number of supposed .species 
uli'cady to be dealt with in descriptive Biology caiinot fall very 
much short of half a million sjjecies. Mitten enumerated and 
difignosticised, twenty years ago, already I7o0 sorts of genuine 
mosses for South-AiTierica ; the zealous and accomplished two 
Vice-Presidents of the Biologic Section have, in spare hours, 
after their pj'ofe,ssional engagement.s, recorded respectively 400 
species of seaweeds from the littoral regions off’ and itear Port 
Phillip, and GOO species of Polyzoa from the extratropic .shores 
of Australia, the polyzoic fauna merely of our great Bay here 
being richer tlum either that of the British .shores or that of the 
Mediterranean Sea. Over 1000 species of Australian lishe.s are 
contained in the Cen.sus, which we owe tti the Hon. Sir AVilliam 
McLeay, whom, to our regret, ilhie.ss obliged to relinquish in the 
Melbourne meeting the position, a.ssigned to him as a veteran of 
scientific prominence. Mr. Mastersls Catjdogue of Au.stralian 
Pleetle.s, Largely from collections of the distinguished naturalist 
just named, and commenced by his renowned uncle, comprises 
7200 species ; but since that was published considerable aug- 
mentations have taken place. Indeed, thousand, s and thousajids 
of khuls of insects, particulaily others than coleoptera, are 
fluttering and buzzing a.s yet unrecognised, unclassified and 
undescribed in Australian air, entomologists throughout Europe 
and many elsewhere envying those here for the yet easy chance.s 
af obtaining novelties. 
Let as an instance of rarity of .species be adduced the re-dis- 
covery of Amamia mam-millaris through some action of my own 
within the last few months on the very isolated Abrolhos-rocks, 
oppo-site Champion Bay, perhaps the only place of its existe 7 icc, 
from whence a solitary .specimen of this oceanic alge, as one mo.st 
exquisite for delicate beauty, structural tenderne.ss and lovely 
coloration, was brought by Peron during Baudin’s expedition of 
1802, ami described in 1809 by the Caen Professor Lamoruoux, 
thus tantali,sing phycologists all the while. 
Irrespective of the seven descrijjtive volume.s, mainly by the 
incomparable Oentham, on the universal vegetation of Australia. 
