PREFACE 
The following plates representing some of our Mammals, for which these brief descriptions have been written, were 
published, in the first instance, by the Council of Education, as Object Lessons, for the use of their Schools. 
Mr. A. W. Scott, M.A., was entrusted with their execution, and his talented Daughters, Miss Scott and 
Mrs. Helena Eorde, lithographed them. Most of the Drawings were taken from life-photographs, and the rest 
from the best mounted specimens that could be procured. Only 16 Animals are represented herein ; but a 
general summary is given of those which are not figured. It is to be hoped that the Council of Education will 
continue this very useful Work to completion. 
The letter- press supplies all the most necessary information, including remarks on the anatomy and the 
geographical distribution of the animals referred to. The price of Mr. Gould’s elaborate Work places it beyond 
the reach of ordinary means, and Mr. Waterhouse’s “Natural History of Mammalia” — the best treatise on the 
Marsupiata ever published — has been long out of print, so that the present Book may be considered the only 
one of its kind now available. 
A general summary of our Vertebrata will be found in that useful publication “ The Industrial Progress 
of New South Wales” — but it is too short to be of much use to the Student, though sufficient to dispel many 
popular errors. Works of this kind deserve more encouragement ; and it may not be out of place to mention here 
that a valuable series of Plates illustrative of our fossil Mammals, drawn by the same artists, together with 
Geological Maps of the Wellington Caves and the surrounding country, by Professor Alexander M. Thomson, 
Dr., Sc., of the Sydney University, are in the hands of the Trustees of the Museum, ready for publication so soon 
as the necessary funds shall have been provided. 
The Council of Education will perhaps allow me this opportunity to appeal to residents in the Country 
Districts for contributions to our national collection. The Echidna and the Ornithorhynchus, shot during August, 
September, and October, but especially their young, being the most desirable donations. Other specimens, such as 
Eossil Remains of all kinds, sun or smoke-dried Skeletons, Skins of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Eishes, and Small 
Animals in brine, Insects and Shells in spirits — will be thankfully received and duly acknowledged by the Trustees. 
A most valuable gift, the young of an Echidna or Spiny Ant-eater (not larger than a Erench bean), was lately 
presented by Mr. Sydney Hill, being the second specimen of so small a size ever obtained, and yet the Echidna 
was discovered nearly a century ago, and described so far back as 1792. It is strange, but true, that not a single 
very young Ornithorhynchus, or Duck-mole, is in one of the Museums in Australia ; the specimens which Dr. 
Bennett captured in 1834 were unfortunately lost, and I am not aware that others have been secured since. 
These facts show sufficiently that the study of Natural History, in which many persons feel interested, is still 
much neglected. No doubt everybody is desirous of finding new or curious objects, but the consequence is that 
the more common specimens are exceedingly 1 rare in collections, and cannot be referred to when required. 
What, for example, is of greater value to the Earmer, the Breeder, or the Veterinary, than a series of 
skeletons of our domestic animals, showing the differences in their bony frame ; or sets of skulls to illustrate the 
changes which the teeth undergo. Certainly there are books on these subjects, but the examination of such 
specimens is more instructive than many pages filled with description. Objects of this kind are easily prepared on 
large Stations, and would form more desirable gifts to the Museum than the malformed animals which are so 
frequently presented in the mistaken belief that they are the most appreciated by the public. But there are better 
reasons why the teeth in particular should be well studied. The sufferings which result from disregard of natural 
laws should be forcibly impressed upon children; and they should frequently be reminded that the second set of 
teeth which they receive from a bountiful Creator is also the last. 
Ready at all times to give information to visitors to the Museum, I specially invite Teachers to come, 
with their school-children, and inspect the Objects of Natural History and Ethnography exhibited. The collection is 
the most complete, as regards Australian specimens, ever brought together either here or elsewhere ; the only great 
want now being the Catalogue, which doubtless will be provided so soon as the Trustees find the means of 
publishing it. 
Australian Museum, 
Sydney, 28 October, 1871. 
GERARD KREEET. 
