30 
NATURE NOTES 
be shown that the animal was not killed in the breeding season. 
“Possums” may not be poisoned: penalty not to exceed ;^io. 
This humane Act shows that Queensland has come into line with 
the countries of the Old World, and indeed it is necessary that 
something shall be done if the indigenous fauna of Australia 
is not to be utterly swept off the face of the country. 
Referring to the animals scheduled in this Act, a few words 
may be of interest. The “native bear” is not a ferocious 
monster of the ursine family : it is one of the sloths, and is 
content to pass its innocent and vacuous life in a gum tree, 
in a fork of which it will station itself contentedly for hours, 
without moving. It has a warm coat, and on account of this 
the poor “ native bear ” is being ruthlessly and rapidly exter- 
minated. The opossum was the commonest of the pouched 
animals of the Australian bush, and the lively little creature 
formed an important part of the aborigines’ food. However, 
the combined attacks of “ sportsmen,” aborigines, and skin- 
collectors — the “ possum ” skin has considerable commercial 
value — have thinned its numbers. The tree kangaroo is rare, 
and is only found in the interior of the Colony — for many years 
its existence was doubted. That great marsupial, the plain 
kangaroo, is likewise becoming rare in many parts of Australia, 
and it is protected in some parts. The platypus, endowed by 
science with the queer name Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, has long 
been practically extinct. Owing to its physical peculiarities it 
was impossible that such an animal could survive the vigorous 
campaign carried on against it. It is interesting to note that 
in far-off Queensland educated public opinion is strong enough 
to cause the passing of such humane legislation. 
The Californian Sea Elephant. — A correspondent, in 
sending us the following extract, suggests that the concluding 
sentence, if not “ wrote sarcastic,” seems rather like locking 
the stable-door after the horse is stolen : — 
“ For some years past it has been generally believed that the 
Californian sea-elephant, which Gill distinguished as Macrophinus 
angustirosiris, had become extinct. No European museum con- 
tains a specimen of an adult male. There was one in the 
Museum of the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, but 
that perished in the fire that ravaged the city after the earth- 
quake last year, and no other is known in America. Recently 
Mr. Harris, one of the Hon. Walter Rothschild’s collectors, 
received information that a few individuals survived on the 
lonely island of Guadalupe, off the coast of Lower California. 
Naturally he visited the spot, and he succeeded in obtaining six 
individuals from what is almost certainly the last haunt of this 
animal. These specimens, which have now reached England, 
are of great importance as filling a gap in the Tring collection 
and in other museums. The island lies a good way off the coast. 
