.August, 1926 
The Queensland Naturalist. 
85 
Soiitliern bortier, so that 1 can claiin some sJig'lit 
acquaintance -with tnost of the types (»f flora and fauna 
which occur in the State. 
To one whose previous knowledge of Australia was 
deriA'cd from rei^idence in the Western and Southern 
])ortions of the contintmt, the striking feature of Queens- 
land is the great diversity of environment to be found 
M'ithin .its hordei's. This rliversity of en\'iron7iient leads 
to such a wealth of spt'cies of plants and atumals tliat 
it is very difficult for a single individual to acquire a 
knowledge of more than one oi* two bi*anehes of natui’al 
history. 
Yet living organisms cannot be studieil satisfactorily 
without a knowledge of their environment, and an im- 
portant part of the environment consists of other living 
organisins, jdants, and animals, with which they enter 
into competition, on wliich they prey, or which prey 
upon them. Tlie specialist in any one grou]> of Tiatnral 
liistorx’ tlius requires constant assistance from workers 
in other groups. A (’lub such as ours, which i)rovides 
O])portunities for workers in all bramdies of natural his- 
tory to meet and to makt^ excursions together, is thus 
of great benefit to the naturalist who is not a mere 
student of dead s]>ecimens. 
Systematic Avork — the study of specimens and their 
classification — is of eourse essential. ()bserA'atif>ns on 
living organisms are of little value unless the speeifiq 
identity of tlK* particular organism studied has l)een 
determined, but it must not be forgotten that biology 
is tlie study of living things, and its aim should bo to un- 
derstand the mode of life of the organism and its relation 
to its euviroiiment. Woi’k in the lierbrrium or the 
museum is an essential preliminary to this end, but is 
not to be regarded as an end in itself, 
i Jiave ali*eady remarked that the striking feature 
of Queensland is the variety of types of environment 
which occur in it. These are mostly slinkingly cluirae- 
terised by the vegetation, but the animal life of each 
type of environment, thougli less obA'ious. is equally dis- 
tinctive. To my mind, a study and classification of these 
various environmental types is badly needed by Queens- 
land naturalists. This is in the first instance Avork for 
a botanist, but Avhen the tyi)es have been defined a 
comprehensiA'e stud.y of (‘aeli aa'ouUI iuA'olve the com- 
binati<tn of botaiusts and zoologists. 
