524 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
fierce heat (and carried in a sack) registered 36° *6 — an extraordinary 
range of temperature for a Mammal. The average of sixteen species of 
Marsupials was 36°, i.e. 3° below the average of other Mammals. The 
wombat registered 34° *1, Petaurus 35° *7, the koala 36°, Phalangista 
36° *6, the tree kangaroo 37° (the human standard). Variations from 
34° • 9 to 38° • 4 were observed in a healthy koala. 
The average for emus was 39° *5, for fowls 41°, for ducks 42° • 1 ; but 
in most orders the temperature ranges about 42°. The author concludes : 
“ The Monotremes and Marsupials form a gentle gradation between the 
Reptile and the Carnivore or Ungulate ; while, so far as indications 
point, there is reason to believe that the lower birds are still reminiscent 
of a once existent chain of links which equally joined the cold-blooded; 
lizards to those warmest-blooded of all creatures, the Passeriformes and 
Fringilliformes.” 
Distribution of Terrestrial and Freshwater Vertebrates in Vic- 
toria.* — Mr. A. H. S. Lucas shows, by means of lists, the marked dis- 
tinctness, frequently extending to genera, of the faunas of the north- 
west plains of V ictoria, and of the well-watered south-east hill and coast 
country. This points to the long persistence and ancient origin of the 
Dividing Range. From zoological evidence, “ it seems clear that the 
Bass Straits were formed sufficiently to serve as an effective barrier 
before the dingo and the most highly differentiated tree-forms had 
reached southern Victoria, and after the forest had been established and 
the streams stocked with the existing fish, long after the separation or 
evolution of the two Victorian faunas had taken place. During the 
process of widening and deepening the straits, the dingo invaded Vic- 
toria, the Thylacine and Tasmanian Devil disappeared, while the koala 
and the beautiful flying opossums came in from the north along the 
eastern strip of Australia, and took possession of the Gippsland forests, 
along with a less desirable immigration of the fruit-eating bats, and, 
speaking generally, the present distribution of Vertebrates in Victoria 
has been effected.” 
Monograph of European Amphibians.^ — Dr. J. von Bedriaga’s 
monograph may be noted here on account of the abundant material 
which it contains in regard to secondary sex-characters, coloration and 
marking, larval forms, geographical distribution, and mode of life gene- 
rally. 
Fauna of Baikal Lake.J — Prof. R. Hoernes takes account of the 
conclusion of Credner and Czerski that the Lake of Baikal is not geo- 
logically a relict sea. As Penck has pointed out, a distinction must be 
drawn between a relict fauna and a relict sea. The Lake of Baikal may 
not be a relict sea, — the geological history is against this interpretation ; 
but there can hardly be any doubt as to the relict character of the 
fauna, both Invertebrate and Vertebrate. The animals are most pro- 
bably in greater part migrants from the large early Tertiary inland sea. 
Number of White Corpuscles.§ — Dr. E. G. M. Bruhn-Fahrseus con- 
cludes an elaborate investigation, which has considerable biological 
* Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria, ix. (1897) pp. 34-53. 
t Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscow, 1896 (1897) pp. 575-760. 
j Biol. Centralbl., xvii. (1897) pp. 657-64. 
§ Nordiskt Med. Arkiv, vii. (1897) No. 20, 106 pp. 
