THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 5 
influence, and showing them the true significance of Natural 
History, the why and the wherefore, or as Kingsley puts it— 
‘““Madame How and Lady Why.” 
One person may take a walk in the bush and see nothing. 
It was simply a walk, and with or without a companion it was 
a bore, making one wish one had stopped inside and had a smoke; 
but let him once harken to Dame Nature’s voice, and the bush 
land or garden is a different world, with wonders on every hand. 
And as he advances, diving deeper into the secrets of that world, 
only revealed to those who love Nature, he finds every little 
creature and plant has some valid reason for its existence, some 
corner to fillin the harmony of creation. Nothing has come 
by blind chance, the colours and shape of each flower have been 
slowly evolved and adapted either to attract insects that ferti- 
lize their seeds or protect them from their enemies. The large 
ground hunting beetle is clothed witk stout armour plate, as he 
is too heavy and ponderous for flight, to escape his many perils ; 
while the fragile butterfly, in gay spangles of green and gold, is 
all wings, ready to twist and turn in flight. The long hind 
legs of our plain kangaroos enable them to spring over 
obstacles that other animals would have to go round, whilst the 
marsupial pouch and long legs combined enables the animal to 
spring over burning grass in the case of bush fires, and carry 
her baby with her. The thick papery bark of many of our 
native trees are also useful in protecting them against fire, for 
in bygone days all Australia in summer time was a land of bush 
fires. 
There are many side issues that we can bring before our 
young or lay members, such as this—mimicry—the adaption of 
certain creatures to their surroundings either asa means of pro- 
tection, or as a cloak to hide their presence from the creatures 
they catch. The distribution of species both in Australia and 
beyond for the fauna and flora of our island continent are unique, 
as we find living specimens of plants and animals only found in 
the fossil beds of the old world. The few exceptions found on 
the Malay Archipelago, Africa, and the west coast of America 
only emphasise these facts. The discovery of new species, in 
all branches, is in the power of every member, as thousands 
of creatures are waiting for description and definite scientific 
names, so that they can be universally recognised by scientists. 
There is a rich and almost virgin field in every line we can 
take up; there is room for hundreds of field naturalists without 
the least fear of them overlapping each other’s work—very 
different from the old world, where every new species is re- 
corded as quite an event. Yet, how little’ the average Sydney 
native knows about the natural history or geographical features 
of his native land! Hvyen the better class of bushman “ out 
back ” will tell you that the death adder stings with the tail, 
