48 
The South Australian Naturalist 
The term '^\quatic Botanist’’ may be objected to, but it is no 
worse than “Marine Biologist" and will be as equally well under- 
stood. At mention of the word ''Aquarium" most people think of 
fish and general!}’ of goldfish, but the aquarist is concerned with 
many other aquatic animals and, of necessit}’, of plants also. 
Setting aside one’s earlier experience and confining attention 
to the eight years representing the life of the South Australian 
Aquarium Society, it ma\’ be said that on no occasion, either 
during excursions or meetings, have satisfactory determinations 
of aquatic plants been made. We, of course, know V alUsnerla, 
Myriophylhi'm, Potamogeton, Nitella and so on. but specific recoi,^- 
nition is a different matter. I have approached botanists in this 
and other Australian States and while all are prepared to name the 
flowering land plants not one seems to be interested in the sub- 
merged vegetation. Of course there are such workers and the 
object of this little note is to bring them to light, for I feel certain 
that much useful work on our aquatic plants still remains to be 
done. If some young and aspiring botanist would take up the 
stud}’ of the algae and other aquatics, instead of following older 
workers in identifying sub-species of Eucalypts, for example, 1 
feel sure that a promising field is open to him. He would not 
lack for material, for members of the SocicT}’ would willingly 
supply specimens in return for their names. 
It is perhaps consistent with the observed fact — that aliens 
nourish in our summer clime — that ValUsnerici spiralis, which in 
England we knew as a quarter-inch-widc leaved plant, should in 
the Murra}’ produce leaves quite an inch wider, but it seems a 
little strange that no varietal name has been proposed for a race 
that has acquired such remarkable broad and long leaves. It 
is commonly belie\’ed that male flowers are not produced in Aus- 
Iralia, propaeation being sole!}' b\' runners. Male flov'crs were 
found in tlic Finitiss in abundance, while the stems of the lemale 
flowers were so thick that they formed a veritable meshwork of 
corkscrews, in patches many }’ards in diameter. However T am 
wandering. We want a aquatic botanist! 
E. R. W. 
President S.A. Aquarium Society. 
Notification has appeared in the Press that Mr. N. 1 indale, 
of the Museum, has succeeded in procuring several ley-bones of 
the Kangaroo Island emu {Dromaius diamevensis) of wnich pie- 
vioush' onh' two specimens were known to science, both taken 
alive b\' Captain Bandin In 1802. The museum has since received 
from \Ir, Burgess several part-skeletons from the Kelly Htll 
caves. 
