102 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
tinct Trigonia, and the lamp shell, Waldhemia australis, 
both of which have been found in Sydney Harbour. 
Species belonging to many other groups might been men- 
tioned, but a visit with a marine, zoologist at low tide to 
Long Reef, Watson’s Bay, or the entrance of Botany Bay, 
would amply repay our members, add to their knowledge, 
and revive the interest in marine collecting, which has of 
late waned in our Society. As showing the wealth of 
specimens to be found in a confined area, a friend of mine, 
the late Mr. A. V. Henn, some twenty years ago found 
a derelict bottle at Watson’s Bay, and with great patience 
and care sorted out its contents, which comprised 155 
distinct species of shells. I have felt constrained to speak 
thus of my early friends, the shells, in hope that some of 
our members will take up the study in earnest of this 
branch of our marine fauna. 
Though my earliest field naturalist work was almost 
entirely shell collecting, I had always taken a keen in- 
terest in our butterflies and moths, but had not attempted 
a collection, owing to want of knowledge of their preserva- 
tion. However, my friend, Mr. Henn, remedied this diffi- 
culty, and I well remember my first lesson in capturing a 
moth in his dining-room one evening, with great danger 
to the ornaments and gas globes. 
: As regards numbers of species, Sydney is one of the 
best districts in Australia for butterflies, for, in addition 
to being the northern limit for a number of southern, it 
is the southern limit of many tropical species. And with 
this is bound up the whole question of the distribution 
of butterflies (and also most other animals) in Australia 
and the neighbouring islands. 
Australia has a few survivals of very ancient types, 
long predating the other portion of the butterfly fauna. The 
origin of these few: species is doubtful, and will probably 
never be known. ‘The great majority of our butterflies 
fall into three groups, first, the Australian group, inhabit- 
ing Tasmania, Southern and Southern-Hastern Australia, 
and said to be derived through Antarctica. Though this is 
probable, as yet I have not been able to find any direct 
evidence of it. In this group the two or three species 
which I consider still older may possibly find a place, but 
this is, in my opinion, very doubtful. The region inhabited 
by this group has been termed Buronotian by Professor 
Tate, and Bassian by Professor Baldwin Spencer. Though 
