THESYDNEY AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM
SEPTEMBER 15, 1965
Registered at the General Post Office. Sydnev. for transmission by post as a periodical VoL. 15, No. 3
PRICE, THREE SHILLINGS CONTENTS
Page
WOMBATS-H. J. Mar/o1v 65
TilE UsEs OF SIIELLS BY PRIM ITIVE MA -Frederick. D. McCarthy 70
SPAW 1 G BEIIAVIOUR 1 TilE QuEENSLA D LUNGFISII. Neoceratodus Forsteri-Gordon C. Grigg 75
BuiLDING STo ES OF A GREAT CITv-R. 0. Chalmers 76
WIIITE-WI GED CIIOUGIIS-/an Row/ey 81
BLISTERING FRO� I BRI'>TLE-WORM-J. C. a/dwynY 86
TilE BEIIAVIOUR OF S110RE CRABS-D. J. G. Griffin 87
Jo11 LIIOTSKY AND TilE AUSTRALIA MuSEUM-G. 11. Whitley 92
• FRONT COVER: The Common Wombat. Vomhatus hirsurm. found in New South Wales, Victoria and eastern South Australia. This photo shows the Common Wombat's coarse fur, short ears and bare snout, compared with the fine and silky fur, Ion�: ears and hairy snout of the Hairy-nosed Wombats ( Lasiorhinus), which occur on the inland plains of South Australia and Queensland and which are illustrated in the article on wombats on pages 65-69. The cover photo (by H. Burrell) shows clearly the powerful foreclaws with which wombats dig their burrows.
VoL. 15. No. 3 SEPTEMBER 15. 1965 *�*w**************...... ,***********w**�***...... · . ... · ...... · · ·'· ...· ....'l .• •. •••. .••• · • · • •· "�'...... 'l...... , .. r· ...... · ·· ·· • • · ...... ··:� � . : :) .·* * ·. ,, ·�/ :�: ) � � 8 GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS to � � �'*' ('* ::' �*: =:= ·* . ''Australian Natural History'' . •. ::� � �: * : The order form below is to enable readers to send "AUSTRALIAN :* :i* NATURAL HISTORY" to friends as a Christmas gift. * '*: * · �=· = H the form is filled in, and this page tom out along the �_:: perforation and sent to the Government Printer, your friends will / ·. :: =·:.·= �: �, be informed by letter that the magazine is being sent to them as =;:'�'· ' ' a Christmas gift, with your good wishes. :*: * * � To : The Go1·ernment Printer, Harris Street, Ultimo, N.S. W. ( :: Please enrol as a subscriber to "AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY" ;� ·*· for one year (4 issues) @ 14/- posted '*' �:* =�:: ---······--·· * '*' for issues @ 3f6d. per issue posted : : (cross out line not required) . ·:*: .,... the person 11'110se name appears below: �;* Name of person to whom copies are to be sent: :*)' *:* ....'*' :· ·: .. .. "' M r. �� : : Mrs. -·--··-·-······-··---·------···- ···-·-······--···-··-·-······--··-···--- : : :'; Miss * ' ' : : * Address of person to whom copies are to be sent: - ��=!:: :�i -·---·-·-······-······················-·····-·-···-·-·-··--········-·-·-···----·-·-··-·--·--·--··--······-·-·--···········-····-·-----··-·······-·-··-·--· ;:.; : :: :: :: Name and address of sender:------·---- =;.. :.= : : ·-·--·----···-- ·--- - * :*' · ) : ·: ::�:: Additional names and addresses should be sent on a separate sheet of paper. � : : :. .: Please send the appropriate payment with the order form. Postal notes and :.'*' :��: cheques should be made payable to THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING :!*:: ' ' OFFICE and exchange added to country and interstate cheques. *:�: :�: All Christmas Gift Subscriptions will start with the December, 1965, issue. � .. . *:* . ·:�·: · ····� ··· ·" "•..t/· ·· ···� ··� ·· "'-" ·, ··� " ·· .·· �··�..:·· '*-'' ·"� ·" ·"·.,.· .� " " •'·� ··:._..t.,;.";, ''� ·· ·· ·"� " ": :· · �< •· v � �..t.t:. ;, � ;,.'f,; �� ;;; � * * ;;�/ * .�"'- "'- "'- � ,'1�. . � .71<: .. � . .'1'-. ."?t/':..?1 • .• �.7F...?f- -...�.'f' ,;>i. :>�<:. ..;;;.I":' · ..· • .. · I •., ...� . ..I ..• • • ..•:ae --*• ;¥':..:¥: .. 'F.... • ..7f".. .71<:,7F...W. .. ;;;.F.. . •, ..>t<:,;>i·� ...... 71<: � • * .*7F.. / AUS IAN NATUR ISTORY
Published Quarterly by the Australian Museum College Street, Sydne�·
Editor: J. W. Evans, Sc.D. Annual Subscription, Posted, 14/-
VoL. 15. o. 3 SEPTEMBER 15. 1965
WOMBATS
By B. J. 'IARLOW
HE marsupials or pouched mammals olestids and related forms are placed in the show a markedly discontinuous dis order Paucitubcrculata. The bandicoots Ttribution, since living members of this group are placed alone in the order Peramelina and arc found only in the Australasian region all the remaining marsupials, which are and the New World. Each of these areas Au tralasian, comprise the order Diproto possesses three main groups of marsupials, donta. the true opossums, opossum-rats and the The Diprotodonta arc characterized by extinct borhyacnids in America and the carnivorous dasyurids, bandicoots and the possession of long procumbent lower phalangcroids in Australia. lt has been incisors and embrace the phalangers or pos customary in the past to group this great sums. the large extinct diprotodonts. kansa assembly of extremely diverse marsupials roos and wombats. into one order. the Marsupialia, but many modern workers have advocated their sep The Classification And Distribution Of aration into different orders since they Wombats show comparable diversity with the placen When compared with other families in tal mammals. the Diprotodonta. the wombats show very In a recent revised classification of mar little diversity since there are only three supials. Ride has erected four orders which gener:1. one of which. Phascolonus, is ex more adequately halance the two infra· tinct. Of the living genera, Vombatus classes Metatheria and Eutheria which com comorises two living and about six extinct prise the marsupials and placental mammals pecies. while Lasiorhin11s contains two respectively. The true American opossums living and two extinct species. Wombats or didelphids. the extinct American borhy in the genus V nmbatus arc known popularly aenids and the Australian dasyurids are all as Common Wombats, while those in the included in the order Marsupicarnivora. genus Lasiorhinus are the Hairy-nosed while the American opossum-rats or caen- Wombats.
September, 1965 Par:e 65 Hairy-nosed Wombats. Lasiorhi11us lati/ro11s. The Ion!! ear; and "hite hairy muzzle can be readily distinguished. [From a painting by John Gould.]
Common Wombats are confined to the reduced. but in its external appearance and eucalypt forests of eastern Australia and the in other anatomical features it is closely islands of Bas Strait. The mainland species. related to Lasiorhimts and d:>cs not merit Vomba!us hirsutus, extends from northern generic separation. New South Wales, south through southern Although wombats arc widely distributed Victoria to the eastern part of South Aus in southern and eastern Australia. this i tralia. The smaller lsland Wombat, V. the only living family of the Diprotodonta ursimts, is now confined to Tasmania and which is absent from cw Guinea. Flinders Island. although it formerly occur red on several other islands in this area. The Morphology Of Wombats The Hairy-nosed Wombats are found in t�e inland plains. The Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats are heavy thickset bear-like WombJt, Lasiorhinus /a�ifrons . extends from animals with a vestigial tail. Adult animals the westcm bank of the Murray River in may measure about 4 feet in total length and South Australia across the Nullarbor Plain to weigh up to 60 pound . The head is short the bordo;r of Western Australia. This and blunt with rather small eyes. The limb,; are short and thick and each foot bears five a,imal hows a remarkable discontinuity of digits. In the forelimb cash digit ha a stout distribution. since the ubspccics. L. I. bar nardi, occurs in central Queensland at Cler claw, while in the hind foot all the digits except the big toe bear claws. The second mont. The second species of Hairy-nosed and third toes of the hind foot are joined as Wombat, L. gi/lespiei, i confined to Queen'\ land in the plain country between St. in the other Diprotodont:t and bandicoot . George and Clcrmont. This latter specie but to a lesser degree. has been placed in a separate genus. Wom The hair of Common Wombats ( Vom batula. by som:: mammalogists. incc the batus) is very dark brown or black and frontal bones of the kull are greatly extremely coar e and thick, while in Hairy-
Page 66 A IIHraliall Natural History Above: Typical habi tat of Common Wombats, Vombarus hirsurus. in dry eucalyptus forest in the Great Dividing Ran!!e of e\\ South Wale . Below: Habi tat of Hairy-nosed Wombats, Lasiorhinus /arifrons. in the lime- tone plains on the "eM bank of the M urray River at Blanchetown. South Au tralia. [Photos: Author.l
nosed Wombats ( Lasiorhinus) it is mottled The teeth of wombats present many in grey and very fine and silky. The cars of tcrcstin� p.::culiaritics when compared with the latter genus arc much longer than those those of other marsupials. The majority of of Common Wombats. The snout of Corn· marsupials have a different number of in mon Wombats is covered with naked granu cisor teeth in the upper and lower jaws, but lated skin. while in the Hairy-nosed in the wombats these teeth arc reduced to a Wombats the snout is covered with short sin�le pair in each jaw. Moreover, wombats velvety hairs. a·c the only marsupials in which all the In the skull, the n::1sal bones of Vombatus teeth have persistent pulps which allow them are relatively long. while those of Lasior to grow continuously throughout the life of hinus are short and very broad. 1 n addition. a postorbital process is present in Lasior the animal. hin us. which is completely lacking in Like the majority of marsupials, Hairy Vombatus. nosed Wombats have 13 pairs of ribs ; in
SepTember, 1965 Page 67 the Common Wombats. however, the Many mar upials show the phenomenon number of rib i incrca ed to 15 pairs. of convergence towards placental mammal . where members of the e unrelated groups Ecology And Behaviour Of Wombats may come to re cmblc each other very closely. both in appearance and behaviour. Wombat arc nocturnal herbivorous mar incc they occupy similar ecological niches. supials which arc well adapted for digging. This convergent evolution i brought about During the night, they feed on gras cs, root through the !'election by the environment and other vegetable matter and during the of imilar mutation which arise spontanc day they retire to a ystcm of burrows which ou ly in each group. Wombats show a they dig with their powerful foreclaws. The remarkable convergence toward certain burrow systems of Common Wombats arc large, burrowing, ground quirrcl called far more simple than tho c of the hairy marmots which arc found in mountainous nosed forms. sine\.: they normally consist of regions of northern Asia and orth a burrow with a single entrance about 18 America. Although they are not closely inches in diameter, situated at the base of a related, wombats and marmots resemble tree or rock in the mountainous cucalyptu. each other not only in their external form forests where the c animals live. In con but al o in their internal anatomy. If a trast. Hairy-nosed Wombat appear to comparison i made of their skulls, it will construct large communal warrens on the b.:: seen that both animals have a single Oat limestone plains. Each warren may have rair of incisor in each jaw. which have about 20 burrows which interconnect and enamel only on the a:1terior face. A the .:: whose entrance arc situated below a lime- arc worn away. they provide a harp chi cl tone ledge at the bottom of a crater about hapcd cutting edge which is well adapted 10 feet in diameter. Well worn pathways for gnawing or cutting through roots. In radiate from the burrows to the feeding both animals. there i a large gap between grounds in both groups. Wombats normally the incisor and molar teeth at the rear of move with a fast huming ambling gait, but the jaw.. and all the teeth have per istcnt if hard-pressed can break into a clum y pulps and �row continuously throughout gallop in which they can only be overtaken life. on foot with difliculty. especially over rough ground. Status And Conservation Unfortunately, little i known about their Wombat have the dubious di tinction of reproduction. but it would appear that they being the only marsupial which arc not give birth. in the late autumn. to a inglc rrotcctcd in Australia. Furthermore. in young which is independent by the following •ome area�. a bounty is paid on their scalps summer. �incc they may undermine rabbit-proof
A compari�on of the sl-ulls of a \\Ombat (left) and a marmot (right). The large gm1"ing incisors and the cheel.. teeth. "hich gro" continuou ly. are similar in each specie;. A large gap or dia'>tcma i\ present bet\\een the inci,or., and cheel.. teeth in each \kull. [Photo: C. V. lurner.]
Paf!l! 68 Australian atura/ Hi�IOn fences with their burrows. ln spite of this, chromosomes of the koala are very dif Common Wombats arc plentiful in uitable ferent from those of the phalangers. The localities in eastern Australia and Tasmania. placentae of the koala and wombats also while Hairy-nosed Wombats exist in large show considerable similarity. since the allan numbers in South Australia. Common tois is apposed to the chorion, although the Wombats have declined in numbers in th� vessels do not become vascularized to form islands of Bass Strait where they wrrc a true allantoic placenta as they do in the formerly plentiful. Hairy-no·cd Wombats bandicoots. Only the koala and wombat arc also extremely rare or possibly extinct share this type of placenta. in certain parts of their former range. par Because of our lack of good series of ticularly in the Rivcrina of New South Wales fossils which might indicate the true rela and in central Queensland. tionships of these marsupials. it is better. at the present state of our knowledge, to Th� Relationships Of Wombats retain the wombats and koala in separate families which have probably arisen in The relationship of wombats to other dependently from the basic phalangcr stem. Diprotodonta remains obscure ince no fos sil have b�cn di covered. so far. which are There is still much to be learnt about earlier than the Plcistocenc. but it is prob other aspects of the biology of wombats. able that they form an offshoot from the rarticularly in the fields of ecology and main phalanger stem which gave rise to the behaviour. Although wombats form an im other families. Several workers have sug portant clement in the marsupial fauna of gested that wombats arc closely related to Australia, they have received little attention the koala. and that the phalangeroid fea in comparison with other species. An in tures of the latter are due more to conver tensive study of all aspects of the biology of gence than true phyletic relationship. This this isolated family of marsupials would be ug:,:cstion i supported by the fact that the both stimulating and profitable.
The bright-red land hermit crab Coenobita perlatus is a conspicuou and relatively LAND HERMIT-CRAB OF abundant scavenger on the cays of the Coral Sea, as TI-IE CORAL SEA REPORTED described in the article "Collecting in the Coral Sea". by D F. McMichael FROM THE BARRIER REEF and J. C. Yaldwyn. in the last issue of A ustralia11 Natural 1/isrory (Vol. 15. o. 2. June. 1965. pages 33-38). Though found on many tropical shores throughout the lndo-West Pacific area from the Red Sea to Samoa. this species has seldom been seen on the cays of the Great Barrier Reef. Jt ha� been recorded. however. from Lady Elliott Island. Lady Musgrave Island in the Bunker Group. One Tree Island in the Capricorn Group and from cays in the Swain Reefs. all from the extreme southern end of the Barrier Reef. This speci men in a Tonna shell wa photographed on One Tree Island by Keith Gillett in December. 1961.-J .C.Y.
September, 1965 Page 69 A shell disc belt. ornamented "ith animal teeth and seed,, from Bougain' ille. Solomon Islands. String'> of these discs were U'>ed a� currency in many �lelane,ian and licrone�ian island>. [Photo: Howard Hughe'>.)
THE USES OF SHELLS BY PRIMITIVE MAN
By FREDERJ K D. McCARTHY AUS1ralian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. A.C.T.
THE tructurc of mollu cs, con isting of Research by archaeologi. ts on these a ne hy animal and a hard protective midden has revealed important informa shell. incorporates many characteristics of tion about the climate. environment and very great u e to man, primitive and civi ecology of the people who left them as camp lized. Mollu c such a the cockle. whelk. debris. In Europe, outh-east Asia and oyster and other which occur in va.t num lndone ia the middcns have produced tone bers on mud-nats. rocky shores and sandy implements of the Middle Stone Age. the beaches formed a taplc part of the diet of Mesolithic. back to some I 0.000 year ago. coa. tal peoples in many part of the world In the south island of cw Zealand the and constitute the bulk of the SQecies in carlv Maori hunters extinguished the various Au tralian kitchen midden . Inland the kind of moa and were forced to become mussel was a valued native food. The shellfish caters. as at Paunowca after 1450 women brought in to camp basket and bags A.D. In Australia shell middcns excavated full of mollusc from their daily foraging. by arci-Jaclogists in northern and eastern and these were either eaten fre h. baked in Australia have yielded radio-carbon dates a hes or roasted in the fire. inety-thrcc ba-::k to 4070 B.C. Shells have not survived occies were recorded in Queen!>land shell i'1 the oldest occupational deposit'> left by middcns. man. even in u tralia.
Page 70 A tWra/ian Natural History Utensils Many large shells, such as the baler. hel met clam and conch. make perfect natural containers. The Aborigines who lived alonNew Guinea and along the cast coast of Australia. Shells were commonly used as fish hooks and barbs. and their attractive nacre patterns formed the lure to catch bonito and other fast s.vim ming surface fish.
Ornaments The shells fashioned most commonly into ornaments by Australian and Pacific natives are not the attractively coloured ones. Part or whole pearl bells are favoured. as arc whit� shells like the clam and baler. Equally popular are small species such as the cuwt y and nassa and fragment of other shells Papuan girl from Ambasi Village. [pi River. suitable for stringing into necklets and orna wearing elaborate shell ornaments. [Photo: ments. The Australian Aborigines made Frank Hurley.] necklets and forehead bands out of neatly and shell ornaments were traded from the shaped discs of pearl shell on the coasts and north and south coasts into the central high· of mussel shell inland. Jn Polynesia a lands of New Guinea where they are still variety of small shells were strung into neck of considerable value, and serve as a cur lets. hut shells were not used as ornaments rency for paying bride dowries. urchasing very lavi hly by these people. p pigs and other important transacttons. Pearl The Melanesians, however. covered them- and baler shell ovals mounted in a red bind
clve with a remarkable array of shell fore , ing were laid out in long rows. in the gr�at head bands, necklets and breast pendants. ceremonial gift exchanges, hundreds bemg armlets. belts and pubic covers. In coastal disphycd and exchanged at a sin11le festival New Guinea the men and women in fe tival attended by many thousands of natives. attire almost obscure::! the upper parts of A similar long-distance trade took place their bodies with these ornaments. but in the with two types of shell ornaments in Aus southern groups-New Caledonia. New tralia. The men of the Garadicri tribe Hebrides and the Solomons-thcrc was a on t he north-west coast cleaned the outer more restrained use of shell decoration of surface of a large pearl shell qnd decorated the human body. the lustrous inner surface with incised de signs. painted red. of linear oattcrns . and Trade And Gift Exchange . human and animal figures often combmed Cowry. clam and gold- lip pearl shell with pl ants. They were worn d�ngltng from
Sep1ember, 1965 Pr.gc 71 a human hair belt, both front and back, by inland Queensland where they were the initiated men. From the Garadjeri these mounted in pairs on a blob of black gum ornaments were bartered and exchanged as on the grip end of spearthrowcrs. In gifts along traditional trading routes -which western Queen land and the orthcrn Terri extended down the north-west coast, along tory they were decorated with neatly the Canning Stock Route. southward incised stars painted red or black and worn throuJh the deserts to South Australia, we t as highly valued pendants. ward into the orthern Territory. central Thus, hells travelled up to 2,000 miles, Australia and western Queensland. The through the local groups of Aborigines. further they travelled the more valuable across the vast interior of the contment, thev became and each shell was cut into to meet the d�ntand of the iflitiatcd men for stri.ps to meet the demand for them by dis vrnaments and magical media, and to main tant inland tribes who used them for magi tain their gift exchange relationships with cal purposes-rain and love making, hunt lifelong partners in their own and neigh ing. sorcery. and as charms against sick bouring group . ness. They repla:::cd the traditional quartz cry�tals in many areas "·' the m::dia of An equally interesting example of shells magic, their lightness, flashing urfaccs and forming the central feature of a gift ex the qualities imparted to them by their dis change and trading system is that of the tant origin giving them tremendous mystical Kula in the Louisiade Archipelago in south powers in the minds of the Aborigines. ea tern Papua. Here a Conus shell arm ring, called mwa/i, was prepared by remov Tn a similar fashion. oval piece cut out tng the top and end and polishing the out of the baler shell on the mid-cast coast of side : it was decorated with shell di�cs and Cape York travelled outh-eastward into str;ps of pandanus leaf. Another ornament. the sou/ava necklet, consists of trings of red shell discs with attachments of co�vries and other shells. The mwa/i and soula1'a were passed in opposite directions from partner to partner. and island to island. in a remarkable gift exchange sy tern. Both were highly valued. and the older examples were named, but were not owned by indivi duals: great pride was felt in their tem porary possession. and the names of pre vious holders were recited like a genealogy. Elaborately decorated canoes were con- tructed for the K ula voyages, while restric tion on the behaviour of the participants, much ceremony and ordinary trade added to the interest and excitement of fulfilling the ritual and social obligations imposed upon the individual and communities in volved in the circuit. The arm-shells be came a valued ornament along the entire south coast of Papua. Beauti.fully carved weapons, polished ad?cs mounted on cere monial handle . and other domestic objects were al o Kula valuables not used in daily life.
A pearl shell pendant from the Garadjeri tribe. north-,,e.,tern Australia. These orna Currency ments were cut into strips to enable the One of the most important uses of shells demand for them to be met as they travelled through tribe in the interior of the continent. was as a currency by the Micronesians and [Photo: Howard Hughes.] Melanesians, but the Australian Aborigines
Page 72 Australian NMura/ History Various uses of shells by man are sho,vn by the two fish hooks (top left) from the Solomon Islands: two examples of ko and 'clap hell money (bottom left) from Rosscl !;land: a pearl shell plaque from New Georgia and (below it) a clam shell plaque from Malaita. Solomon Islands: and an oyster shell knife from north-western Australia. [Photo: 1-loward Hughes.] did not follow this custom and had no such to add to their holdings of it. A young measure of value. In Micronesia discs up man entering a secret society paid the mem 10 half an inch in diameter made of a white bers of higher ranks with shell money and or red shell were combined with wooden other valuable objects as he rose in status discs to form strings of money. J n the Bis 111 these important organizations. Carvers marck Archipelago. white nassa shells. who created the spirit and ancestral figures threaded on cane into strips and rolls, be and other decorative work for relatives of came a currency called diwarra. In a dead person in New Lreland received pay southern Melanesia. from the Solo mons to ment which included shell money. The the Banks and Santa Cruz Islands, di cs of family of a girl to be married was similarly red or white shells. a quarter-inch or less in paid by the groom's family as part of the diameter. formed a currency in which the bride price. Canoe builders. guardians of red type was the most valuable. The e young initiates and magicians were paid by discs were also fashioned into elaborate belts this means for their services. A most com and other ornaments. plex monetary system existed on Rossel Island based on two kinds of money, the These shell currencies were used in the one made from polished Spondylus shells more important transactions in native life as and called ndap, the other consisting of a rule. but the diwarra also served as money thick discs of clam shell, from half to one in daily life. Prestige wa derived from the inch in diameter. strunQ on cane and called possession of wealth of this kind and every nko. Wonajo, a great ancestral creator effort was made by leading men and families spirit. made the bulk of the money before
September, 1965 Page 73' a strongly contrasting note. ,.\ rare type of shield from the Solomons is inlaid with ver tical rows of white shell rectangle . and a similar motif is borne by the chiefs' stafl's i'rom this area.
Music Shells strung together as rattles. and the conch trumpet soundd by successful war riors and fishermen a- their cano.::s neared their home villa!!es, were the main use of shells as musical instruments. lt will thus be seen that a variety of mol luscs entered into a wide range of activities among the native of Australia and the Pacific Islands. They provided a valuable source of food, tools, utensils. ornaments. currency, mu ical instruments and decora tive material. and were the central feature of magic, gift exchange and important trans actions in many communities.
REFERENCES
"The tory of Mane).'' by F. D. McCarthy. in Cowry and assa shell . opercula and PI.!:!S The Australian Museum Maga:::.ine, Vol. V. o. tusks give thi� Sepik River ma k a rather 11. July. 1935. pages 386-393. "The Shell lnla) terrifying appearance. though they were prob Decoration of the Solomon Islands.-- by F. D. ;:bly Intended to be decorative. [Photo: �1cCarth). in The A usrralian Museum Magazine, Howard H ughes.] Vol. VII£. o. 5. July. 1943. page 154-9. the people came to Rosscl, and it therefore possessed a traditional as well as a monet:1ry value. There were 22 values of ndap and J 6 of nko, and a limited amount of the cur rency in circulation. In the southern Solo mons large clam shell rings and cylinders were objects of great value, as were the arm MUSEUM'S NEW CURATOR rings on Tanga and Feni Islands to the OF ANTHROPOLOGY north. Shells were not important in the ritual and economic life of the Polyncsians. Mr. D. R. Moore has been appointed Curator of Anthropology at the Australian Inlay Decoration Mu eum in place of Mr. F. D. McCarthy, who recently resigned to become Principal An interesting type of decorative an in of the Australian Ln titute of Aboriginal Southern Melanesia that of inlaying the is Studies, Canberra. war canoe . carving , bowls, clubs and other objects with shell egments carved into a Mr. Moorc, who was educated at Cam variety of shapes. Grooves, cut in the bridge University and the University of wooden surface . were filled with gum into Sydney. has in recent year been research which the segments were pressed. Hun assi tant in the Department of Anthropology dreds of pieces were used in a variety of at the Univer ity of Sydney, research officer patterns on the high prow and sterns of the in bibliography, Australian In titute of war canoes which were among the most Aboriginal Studies, and a member of arch elegant craft of Oceania. As the wooden aeological expeditions in the Hawkesbury urfacc of the various objects were painted River area, ew South Wales, and Cape black. the white shell inlay pattern formed York Peninsula. Queensland.
P.!�e 7-l Ausrralit:n Na111ral lli"t<�ry Sp awning Behaviour in the Queensland Lungfish, Neoceratodus fo rsteri
By GORDOl\' C. GIUGG Department ()f Zoolog), niver�ity of Queensland
\\ hi le on a field trip to the Burnett River, By now there was little doubt in our mind' Queemland. in connection with re;,earch into that we had b�en watching a pair oi lung fi;h other a pects of the biology of NeoceraJodus, spawning. The1r behaviour fitteu with what we some ob ervations were made on its behaviour !.. new about other fish. and with \\hat we would at spawning. o tir>t-hand account of such have expected. Further. the weed where the behaviour e\i;ts in the literature. Macleay (notes ll'>h had spent most of their time ''as searched on a collection of h\h tram the Burdel..in and the followmg mormng. and about 80 eggs were Mary Rivers. Queen land. Proceedings of 1he found \\ ithin a hen time. ndoubtcdly further search \\ould have r�vcalcd many more. Linnean Sociely of 1 ell' Sowh Wales. 'iii. 1883, 211) gave hearsay evidence that ;pawn was deposited in indentations on the muddy bottom By way of interpreting the behaviour described in water six to ten feet deep. but spawn is found above. it would seem that three phases were adh�ring to water-v. eed such as Hydri/la and observed. Firstly. there wa a pha e in which C/adophora in water tv.o to four feet deep. and the fi h moved about together over a wide area among the Ooating roots of Water Hyacinth. of the ban!... This could have been in search of a uitable area. ccondly. ''e obs�rvcd the v.hich ea ts doubt on the validity of Macleay·s .. report. .. foliO\\ the leader phase. during "hich one fish. presumably the male. ho"ed interc t in the Spawn can be found from August until October eloaca of the female. nudging her \\ith his snout. (Dr. M. C. Bleakly, personal communication ). "I his would probably stimulate her to oviposition. On the night of I Oth Augu\1. 1964. in Barambah 1 he significance of one fish taking strands of Creel.. about half a mile above its junction with weed in it mouth i unknown. Thirdly. the fi h the Burnett River. Mr. . M ih\ ard (Department di\ed together through the weed. the male fol of Zoology. niver ity of Queensland ) and I lowing the female and presumably pouring milt observed ;everal large lungfish swimming about O\er the egg . Tail shaking at this stage might close inshore. over a large weed-covered banl. facilitate the now of reproductive products. in from two to three feet of water. After watch Macleay rep;>ned also that the fi h stayed near ing them for a short while it became obvious the eggs after �pav.ning. and were not easily that tv.o of the fish were staying close together. disturbed. but our observations do not support the movement of one clearly influencing that of thi . the other. From an elevated rocl.y ledge six Because of the intermediate evolutionary posi feet above the water "e \\ere easily able to tion of the Dipnoi. a study of the reproductive vie\\ the fi hes· acti\ itie\ '' ith the aid of head physiology and behaviour of eoceratodus \\ ould torchc\. the light from which did not eem to be most worthwhile, particularly ''ith a viev. to disturb the fish. Gradually their movements comparing it with fish on the one hand and became more restricted in range to a patch of amphib:ans on the other. v.eed about ten feet from the edge of the water. '' imming to and fro. over and through the weed. they ga'c the appearance of playing .. follow . the leader. . During this time the ccond fish repeatedly nosed the clm:cal region of the le11der and was seen to .. bump .. it everal times "ith its snout. 1 hi;, same fish was �ecn several times to take in it mouth a long strand of what ap peared to be we!:d. and w avc it about. Both fish v.crc then ob;,ened from time to time to di,·e repeatedly through a localized area of '' eed. COHRECTION often di\appearing from 'ie'' for a fe'' feet. .. In an article entitled "The �aclcay lV Iuscum at .. During the e dives . one fish v.ould follow the the University of ydne}:· publi'>hed in the June. other closely and both \\ere seen to shal.e their 1965. i�sue of Atl\tralian mural 1/istorv. th! tails rapidly from �ide to side. On one o:ca�ion . �uthor made mention of '·Sir Alexander Macleay .. a third fhh appro�ched but one of the pair dashed at it. cau\ing the intruder·s rapid retreat. We <;Jur attention ha; been dra\\n by Mr. A. H. had cnm!T'enced v.atching at 9 p.m. An hour Ch1sholm to the f.•ct that Alexander 1acleay diJ later th� two fish h'ld ceased divin!l through the net receive the honour of knighthooJ. weed'>. and the shallo'' ban(.. ''as deserted apart from a couple of later visits by single fish. The author of the article and the editor regret probably to feed. this error.
September, 1965 Page 75 One of the �and\tone quarries at Go�ford. ew outh Wale\. ote the vertical working face on the IO\\er bed of free
Uy ll. 0. CHALi\1Eil
large cities a great variety of building these the particular stone imparts quite a materials. both in the form of natural distinctive character to a city . . Itone and manufactured substance , is to be seen. When big costly buildings arc being Hawkc bur� Sand tone planned. the architect pecific whatever building tone he wishes to use, even if it Sydney is a notable example of this. 1 t is avaiYable only from far-di tant part\ of stands in the centre of a sedimentary ba. in the country, or even from abroad. of great thicknc . and extent. The c scdi mcnts were dcpo itcd and accumulated in p to the beginning of the tccl and con Triassic time, 220 million years ago. in a crete era of building. if there happened to great freshwater lake. The dominant mem be an ample source of good building stone ber in this sequence of sedimentary rocks i in or near big cities. it was of course used a bed of massive andstone. about 900 feet in abundance. u ually in the form of drcs ed thick, described by geologi t a the Hawkes blocks that formed an integral part of the bury Sandstone. In the trade it i named structure of the building fn in tances like according to the locality where it i quarried,
Page 76 Australian Natural History e.g .. Paddington Sandstone. The best type from about the 1880's on. it has been used of building stone, and this is particularly extensively in the form of dressed blocks abundant among the Hawkesbury Sandstone, for the foundations and basecourscs of many is "frecstone" in which bedding planes arc of Sydney's older sandstone buildings, and absent and there is therefore no tendency in one or two instances in the entire con for the rock to split. struction. Its correct name is microsyenite This freestonc. although moist and grey but it has alway been known in the build when first quarried, soon dries out and ing stone trade as Bowral Trachyte. mostly turns yellowish-brown due to the oxidation of the iron compounds that cement lt can also be seen in many city buildings the sand grain . Some varieties turn white in the form of polished slabs forming a on drying�Thc attractiveness of the Hawkc - decorative veneer on exteriors. One of the bury Sandstone in Sydney buildings could most notable examples is the head office of only have been fully appreciated in the the Commonwealth Banking Corporation. p1-c-industrial era when there was little dis The rock is easy to identify. It is an attrac colouration in the absence of smog. From tive greenish-grey colour and the presence 1788 onwards it was used in practically of occasional coarse-grained intersecting every notable building, such as the ni veins of intermingled light-coloured feldspar vcrsity of Sydney, the Australian Museum, and dark-coloured pyroxene. forms a pleas the Public Library, the Art Gallery, the ing contrast in pattern. Town Hall. Central Railway Station. the G.P.O .. the two cathedrals and innumer Building Stone As Veneer able churches and private homes. As the design of stone-cutting equipment In the early days the many pressing prob and the quality and variety of abrasivcs im lem of the infant colony left little time to proved, and with the advent of the steel worry about principles of sound selection of and concrete framework in major construc building stone. In fact. whatever was handy tion, the older practice of using big blocks in the form of surface boulders or natural of stone as major units was gradually aban outcrops was used. Therefore. in some of doned. Stone can be fashioned in much the earliest buildings crumbling and fretting the same way as timber. lt can be sawn. of sandstone can be seen. By the time the planed, turned on a lathe. fluted and period of major building was beginning, polished. Building stone for many years about the 1850's, important quarries were now has been used only in the form of a being worked at Pyrmont. In quick suc veneer never exceeding 2 or 3 inches in cession. to cope with the increasing demand, thickness. These slabs� are attached firmly more quarries were started at Annandalc, to the building by metal cramps and cement. Marrickville. Wavcrlcy. Cooper Park. Mos Even our abundant Hawkesbury Sandstone man. Hunter's Hill and in so many other is u cd now only in this veneer form. A uburbs that it would be impossible to list notable recent example of sandstone slab. them all. Outside the metropolitan area to applied in this way is to be ccn on the new the north. there arc also big sandstone wing of the Australian Museum. where quarries at Gosford. Wondabyne and Pyle's both Bondi and Maroubra stone have been Creek. These developments ensured an used. Sandstone slabs are given a smooth abundance of good-quality stone. or rubbed finish since fragmental sedimen- tary rock cannot be polished. lgncou rocks such as granite, trachyte and porphyry Bowral Trachyte arc much harder and more compact, and Mt. Gibraltar, better known as "the Gib", take a high, lasting polish. These arc called which rise above the town of Bowral, con '·hard stone" in the trade and are most com sist of a medium-grained i!!neous rock that monly seen in the form of polished slabs has been intruded ;;to the a·djacent Hawkcs used as exterior facings on the lower courses. bury Sandstone as a large plug-shaped mass. Granite slabs, unpolishcd but with an even lt is more durable, harder and much less surface, are used for flooring or pavin_g_ porous than sandstone. For this reason, Limestone and marble. chosen for their
September, 1965 Page 77 attractiveness of colour and pattern. are Three Major Building Periods u cd in poli hcd form as panellin'! and skirt Since the foundation of Sydney. three ing in interiors. In mooth but unpolishcd major period of building can be defined, form the c rocks arc used both a floorin!!. fir tly from 1788 to 1914, econdly. from labs in interiors and on exterior . Strictly� the early 1920' to 1939. The third and it is a mi nomcr at the present to call any present period began about the mid- 1 950's. stone a "buildinl! stone··. Probably the In the prc World War l period, Sydney bec:t name would be ''decorative building �andstone and Bowral Trachyte were mostly stone". Most building tones arc given di - u ed. Moruya grey granite made an appear tinctivc names. The two best known local ance. notably in the polished columns of r ... d 12ranites used in Sydney buildin12s ar.:: the G.P.O. and the Customs House. Highly called "Rob Roy Red'' and "Regent Red". coloured marble howing striking patterns The former comes from Sodwall and the were favoured at about the turn of the cen other from near Mudgec. tury. There were two notable types. Fern brook in the Bathur t district and Borcnorc between Orange and Molong : examples of the former are now hard to find but the renovation of the main bookin!!. hall at - Central Railway Station hows a fine di - play of Borenorc panelling to much greater advantage than previou ly. Decorative stones. c pecially limestone and marble. gain and lose favour more or le<; accordin to the dictate of fashion. -g 1-ernbrook i rather an ornate. overpat tcrncd marble, so variegated that it was diflicult 10 get large quantities showing any de12rce of uniformity. In the po t World War I period, architec tural taste inclined towards impler pattern:,
Page 78 A usrra/ian arura/ 1/isrory 1 he \vombeyan marble quarry. .S.W. Note the clo�ely-spaced driil hole� both on ih: quarry face and on the loose blocks on top. [Photo by courte�y of lelocco Bros.]
former is on the Australian Fixed Trust� 1-innish red granite. each turned from a building in o·conncll Street. sin!!le block. on the Martin Place corner of Gcorgc Street. A major quarry was developed at Moruya to supply the huge quantity of rough dressed A dark coarse-grained igneous rock from granite blocks for facing the Harbour Bridge Norway i appropriately named by the trade .. .. pylons. but the grey granite favoured for ·'Blue Pearl or ''Emerald Pearl because polished labs came from ralla. This can of the abundance of lu trou feld par be seen on the exterior of the head oOicc of crystals showing a shimmering pale-blui h the Bank of New South Wales and the Gov iridc cence. This was used to good effect ernment In urancc Oflice. on one or two Sydney buildin�s in thi Imported granites were used for the first period. time on a grand scale in Sydney. Va t quan tities of .!!ranite of the mo t attractive colour The Present Building Period and uniform texture arc exported to all �:art of the world from the amc quarries The third building period, tarting in the in Finland that Peter the Great drew on so mid- 1 950's, again brought many chan�e . exten ively in the building of Leninl!rad. Probably the most strikin.!! development i Red granite from these quarries has been the extensive u c of �reyi h-whitc. smooth u ed most lavishly on the lower portion of but unpolishcd Wombeyan marble on ex the hc·1d office of the Co:111nonwcalth Sav teriors. The most notable examples are the in1s B:n1' (formerly the New South Wales Commonwealth Centre and the Reserve State Savinqs Bank). The many other fine Bank. Attack by atmo phcric acids should buildings in Martin Place show a great be limited on such a compact unpolished variety of decorative and building stones. marble. Some of the contorted and banded both Au tralian and forci!!n. Mention must french and ltalian marbles that have been be made of the two upcrb tall columns of used externally may give easier acces to
September. 1965 Page 79 the e damaging atmospheric constituems Sodwalls, Mudgee and Uralla seem to be in which may ha ten deterioration. the discard-only temporarily. one hopes. The grey granite mostly used now on ex Beautiful deep-green brecciated serpen teriors is from Harcourt, near Bcndigo, in tinitcs from the Italian Alps, some with white Victoria. Another Victorian granite from calcite veins, and bearing attractive names Oromana, near Melbourne. ha become such as Verde Is ore and Verde Antico. popular. It is an unu ual colour. The Eeld have appeared on the exteriors of many of spars are green and stand out in a dark. Sydney's newest buildings. One hopes that somewhat purplish, background. the deep green will not fade in our bright Sydney unshinc. Black rocks have always been sought as A safer choice. even if it is not so spec a contrast to the more extensively used tacular, is the green porphyry from Book lighter coloured building and decorative ham seen on the QA T AS and P. and 0. stones. In the 1920- 1939 period one such igncou type, a gabbro. was imported from Sweden for exteriors. A black marble from Yass was used as a skirting in numerous banking halls and vestibules. Two Aus tralian gabbros have admirably filled the need for hard, dark rocks and surely make it unnecessary ever again to import Swedish Black. One is from Adelong, .S.W., and
the other is ·• Imperial Black" from Sedan, 40 miles north-cast of Adelaide. Exterior use of the former is seen in many city build ings, notably QA T AS and the Common wealth Centre. The latter is tastefully used as relatively narrow panels on the exterior of the Reserve Bank, and can also be seen on the Guardian Assurance Building.
Time will not permit mention of the many manufactured types of material that have always competed with natural tone. The use of these material is becoming increas ingly common. One hopes that a return to using building and decorative tones is heralded by the excellent example of the Re erve Bank. one of our newest buildings. Here nothing but natural Australian stone has been used. In addition to those alrcadv described. ground-level flooring and paving 1 he Reserve Banl.. building. Martin Place. Sydney. 1 he >Quare ''hitc slab on the \\hole slabs are made of pale greyish-white, very of the e\terior are of Wombeyan marble. "I hin coarse-grained granite from Tocumwal. The .. vertical paneb of South Au�tralian Imperial lift fro;ts arc faced with polished slabs of Blac\. ·· gabbro are placed bet\\ecn the marble sr riking white saccharoidal marble. with bold �·abs. [Photo by courte�y of the Reserve Banl.. .l black streak from Ulam, near Rockhamp ton. A pure white variety of this was used as flooring in the main banking chamber� l:;uildings. On this latter the Bookham por of the Rural Bank Head Office. built in the phyry is used in conjunction with a lighter 1920- 1939 period. While this black-streaked green granite imported from Germany. variety has been u ed in Brisbane and Mel Polished slabs of Bowral Trachyte are still bourne, it is apparently only starting to bcin� used. The .S.W. granites from come into favour in Sydney.
Pa(!e 80 Australian Natural History White- Winged Choughs
lly IAN KOWLEY
Division of Wildlife Kesearch, CSIRO. Canberra, A.C.T. USTRALIA appears to have more than its share of bird which live in groups Alarger than the simple pair necessary for effective reproduction. This fact ha been emphasized during the last decade by the advent of bird-banding and. in particular, the u e of colour bands to distingui h indi viduals and to enable their behaviour to be followed in detail. Perhap the most ociable of all our birds is the White-winged Chough. Corcora.\ melanorhampus, which occurs throughout eastern Australia from central Queensland to the South Australian fringe of the Nullar bor desert : it i absent from Tasmani·1.
De pite a superficial resemblance to the An adult chou,Qh "ith '" o three-\\eel..-old European choughs. unfortunately perpetu nestlings. 1 he ne'>t sho\\s several rings of ated in their common name, no close rela mud corre;pondin!! to the number of worl.. tionship to the c corvid exists and their se� ion� spent building it. (Photo: 1. . R. . 5harland.l exact taxonomic po ition is somethin� of an enigma. Peter' Birds of the World, Vol. birds in the population by banding nest· XV ( 1962) groups the four Australian mud Jings. Lately. improved trapping techniques nest builders together in a family of their have enabled entire groups to be individu own, the Grallinidac ; this is subdivided into ally colour-banded ( 133 birds) and group two subfamilies, the Grallininae containing composition. behaviour. and interchange the two magpie-lark (Au tralian and cw between group have been tudicd. Lt wa Guincan) a�d the Corcoracinae containing obviou ly very important to know the sex the chough and the apo tic bird, Struthidea of the birds under ob ervation but de pitc cinerea. thorough search no external clue could b.:! Corcorax arc medium-sized birds (350 found. A a la t resort, the sex of bird p.rams) with strong leg , a long urvcd bill was ascertained by viewin_!! the gonad � _ and relatively poor powers of fltl!ht : thctr through a small incision in the left flank. plumage i soft in texture and dull black (My thanks are due to Dr. W. K. Whittcn, relieved only by a white wing patch extend D.Sc., B.V.Sc . . for this work.) o ill ing over all I 0 primarie cffc-::ts were observed and since then a clearer understanding of the social relation Social Organization ships has been possible. Young bird on leaving the ne t arc de Choughs live in groups of from two to pendent on older group members for at 20 birds. averaging about eight. and through least two months and their plaintive high out their lives live as a community, each pitched piping. as they beg for food, is a individual contributing to a �reatcr or le scr feature of early summer. By autumn they extent toward. group activity. appear to be self- upporting but rennin with Over the six year of thi tudy it has been the !!roup. which foral!es and roosts close p:l �ible to build up a quota of known-a]C together. Thi<; persistence of the young
Septcmher. 1965 Page 81 Typical vie\\ of the study area near Canberra. tands of Brittle Gum. E. maculosa, such as these are becoming rare. and a recently ringbarkcd block is visible to the right of the middle distance. [Photo: Eder;c Slate:·.] within the group for several years is funda than females, while in others females pre mental to the social structure. A typical dominate. example of a group of eight is : an adult Sometimes a group disintegrates following male and female with six immatures con the death of a member and the fragments sisting on an average of two progeny from may attach themselves to established roups each of the la t three breeding seasons. In g - or start afresh on their own. The adult time, a group may arrive at a stage where more than one adult female is present and male appears to be the corner-stone of the group and his loss is usually followed by then multiple laying occurs. a is shown group break-up : the loss of an adult female by two eggs being laid in less than twelve may be made up from within the group 11ours and the occurrence of a total clutch with little disturbance to the ociety. double the usual size. However, the rigid mud nest (on the average, a bowl 7 inche in diameter and 3 inches deep) makes Nest Construction it physically impossible for more th:m four The nests are characteristically pla::ed on young to reach fledging despite the large a hori?ontal limb of a tree, frequently a number of potential attendants ; in fact [ simple branch, a illustrated. but sometimes have only once recorded four fledgelings. a lateral fork or even vertical stubs :1rc At first glance this appears to be a thor incorporated in the structure. Shade leaves oughly wasteful process and in fact the rarity are important as protection from sun and of its occurrence in other families suggests t::redators, but these are usualy borne on that it is an evolutionary cui-de-sac. Never another. higher limb so that from the ground theless. it appears to be these group with the nests present a clear and surp�isingly more than one mature fe:nale (and thes:: obvious silhouette. Although we call them �lone) which can mana'!e to r�ise two "mud-nests" they are not entirely made of - broods in the season: the first brood is mud any more than arc adobe hou es ; about cared for by part of the QrOUp while ;h� e-.ual volumes of fibre and mud are used. remainder re-nest. Late� the whole _group The birds first !lather a bill-full of gra s or reunites. Some groups have more males ba::k and t!len take this to the mud-source
Page 82 A !t Sep!en;ber. 1965 Page 83 disaster, relaying, and even rebuilding, may Certainly they find the friable surface of the occur until success is attained. Ln ew seed-bed easy to rake over and the recent South Wales the earlic t eggs are laid in seeding operations have probably exposed July and clutches have been recorded for many msccts in the process. Birds shot for each month up to and including February. examination under these conditions always There appears to be no correlation with contained insects and only sometimes grain : 1 ainfall and most of the late clutches arc those stomachs which included a few grains laid in rcspon c to earlier failures. contained many other items as well. sug gesting that, if encountered, a ced was Territory accepted, but that there was no definite Choughs feed mainly on insects ··raked" search ior grain. from their hiding places by means of the Since arable farming is relatively uncom long, curved bill. Despite their strong legs, mon on the Southern Tablelands of ew food-searching by scratching with the feet South Wales, cultivated areas act as foci has never been observed. �or most of the of attraction for the choughs in the neigh year the favourite foraging area is fore t bourhood and give rise to quite sub tantial litter. which provides a wide range of food flocks in autumn and winter. These flocks from frogs and centipede down to ants : arc mo t conspicuous and have been fre. observation at many nests has shown that fat quently reported ; in reality they are not true white melolonthoid grubs form the main flocks with any unity of behaviour. but are part of nestling diet. After the young fledge fortuitous agglomeration of Corcorax Llc group spends most of the next two or groups at a localized food ource. Each three months litter-raking : the closed group maintain its identity and, indeed. canopy of the forest provides good protec they can usually be clearly separated by eye tion for the young from aerial predators. a they forage : if put to flight each group Towards autumn the group moves into more departs a a unit. often in different direc open habitats, such as pa ture . stubbles and tions. cultivation : a change of diet occurs, and seeds become more important but never By trapping at these winter feeding places, make up more than IS per cent of the diet. we found that only certain group frequented At thi time choughs arc liable to be accus::d cac;, one and that, although they often tra of depredations on newly-sown cereal crops. velled two or three miles to get there and A group of eight choughs drinking close together at a waterhole. [Photo: G. S. Chapman.] Page 84 Australian 1\'arura/ 1/istury might rctrap readily, we rarely trapped been convinced that one of the group acts them elsewhere. This suggested that, as sentry, but they very rarely all have their although chough groups foraged over :t 11eads down together and in practice are wide area in the non-breeding sea on, these very difllcult to stalk unob ervcd. The � _ movements were not truly nomadic but were need for constant alertness 1n a species restricted to an area familiar to the group. which is rather slow and clumsy in its move Observations of colour-banded birds has ments and spends most of its time con defined thi '·home range" as from two and spicuously on the ground is self-evident. a half to three square �1iles and within this In defence, the group excel itself. area the group tends to follow a re_gular Choughs' constant enemies arc magpies, feeding route or ·'beat" which may take Gymnhorina tibicen, who feed on very several weeks to complete. Chough groups similar items and are extremely common in may forage over home ranges which overlap the open savannah country traversed by those of neighbouring groups ; due to the choughs for much of the year. Magpies arc size of these areas and the time taken to very aggressive and are much faster and complete the beat. it is rare for groups to stronger on the wing, o that bird for bird meet. but when they do a brief but very they arc more than a match for chough noisy display-battle ensues with much pos On the ground. however. as soon as a turing and whistling by the birds. This strafing attack is imminent. one of the group postu�ing is very characteristic of_ the spccie_s calls the alarm and all members clump to and consist of alternately fanmng the tall gether, face the attacker with wings partly and wings. The fanning display occurs in open to disp! September, 1965 Page 85 Blistering fr om Bristle-worm Marine naturalists and collectors in many parts near Grafton. northern 1ew Soutl:l \Vale>. brusheJ of the world are well aware of the painful sting the back of hi'> left hand against an average ing cau,ed by the almost world-wide. warm sized Eurythoe complanata in a rock crevice. water, intertidal bristle-worm Eurythoe com Bristle penetration occurred e\tensivcly on the planata. "I his is 11 polychaete worm, and, as the di!>tal joints of th� second to lifth lingers. The name suggests. has a frin2e of numerous setae. bristles were immediately removed as completely or "bristles". projecting from each side of the as possible by hand. the 1 emainin,l! broken piece, body. The setae of this particular polychaete, being rubbed otf on a rough wrface. (This action unlike those of most other members of the group. was probably a mistake. It is thought noN th:ll a Me slender. rigid an!ll brittle slivers. composed lot more trouble -,hould have been taken over mostly of calcium carbonate. which stick into the careful removal of these bristles with forcepJ the fingers or other unprotected skin of the un or adhesive tape. with as little breakage a> pos wary collector and then break off to rema;n sible.) No pain '>'a noticed. though the pene as a closely-spaced. but irregularly-shaped. full trated area> were irritated. o mediotion wa., white pincushion. lt is these setae. or the frag used. ments embedded in the skin after removal of the Seven hours later. the finger joint affected were proje�ting portions. which cause the stingin� pufry and swollen with the skin tight. The 1 eactlon. Eurythoe is light salmon-pink in colour. up to about 7 inches in length and is found on actual areas of penetration were tend�r. Oral rocky beaches under stones� or within narrow antihistamine tablets were ta' Swollen and blood- filled bli ters (in- dicated by white circles) on the back of a hand. caused by Ihe sting of the intertidal polychaete hristle-\\Orm Eurv- tlwe CO//I{J/l/11(/f{l. fPhoto: D. F. McMichael.l Page 86 Australian Nawra/ llistory Part of a muddy estuary with burrow� of 1/e/oeciu; cordiformis surrounded by mounds and. bet\\een them. burro" s of H emiplox fori/roll.\ [Photo: uthor.] The Behaviour of Shore Crabs By D. J. G. GRIFFI Zoo!.ogy Dcparlmcnt, University of Tasmania the mud flats at river mouth , on near the front and i sandy brown in colour. 0 mangrove wamp and sandy beachc /-1eloecius is clo cly related to the trooical throughout the world are to be found Ghost Crab , Ocypode, and Fiddler Crabs. colonic of burrowing crabs. These crabs Uca. lt has a very convex body with un have a wide, rectangular body and long eye- notched outer borders and is dark purple talks which are generally raised vertically or brown in colour. Outside Ta mania when the crab is active but can be folded 1/emip/ax occurs along southern parts of into prominent. imilarly elongated socket . the Australian m::tinland while the distri The e are the Fiddler Crabs, Ghost Cr:tbs bution of Ifeloecius extends up the ea tern and Sentinel Crab which belong to the scaboJrd of Australia at lea t as far as Bris Family Ocypodidac. Belonging to the ame bane. In Ta mania these two crabs are family and to another closely related one. commonly found together on mudflats from are the Soldier Crab . with convex, oval lowest low tide to highest high tide level, bodies, slightly shorter cyestalks and ex and are active when the tide is out. H. tremely large outer mouthparts, covering larijrons burrow low down on the shore, nearly all of the front below. ometimcs preferring rather sandy areas, while J-1. co··diformis is found on higher. Two species of ocypodid crab occur in well-drained parts of the shore. Ta mania: 1-/emip/ax lmifrons1 and He/oe cius cordiformis2• 1-/emip/ax is mo t clo ely Burrowing Behaviour related to the Sentinel Crabs, Macrof1hthal mus, of tropical regions. It has a flattened The burrows of the two species arc quite body with the outer borders twice notched different. In /-/. /arifrons the tunnel pro- September, 1965 Page 87 cccd at a hallow angle into the mud. Jn mouth alternately. After the extraction by the burrow of H. cordiform is the tunnel the mouthpart of the organic food material, is vertical and quite deep and ends in a the mud to be di carded form in a large slightly larger chamber close to the water wet ball at the bottom of the mouth and table : the mouth i almost always circular, either drop on to the ground or i wiped sometimes flu h with the urfacc and some away with one of the nippers. The ground times. in wet mud, �urroundcd by a where the crab i fecdtng thus becomes prominent mound of excavated material. littered with these mall bJIJ of mud. The Melbourne Ward=� de cribcd, more than 30 crab begin feeding a oon as it emerge years ago. the process of burrow con true from it burrow. Then it move off, top lion in J-/eloeciu.\. Mud is craped up and ping nearby to feed again. If undi turbecl it held by the claws of the walking legs and continues moving away from its burrow in the crab moves out of the burrow to deposit a straight line. However, discarded food the ball of mud close to the mouth or drag pellets do not form the regular arrange it a hort distance awa). As Ward ob crvcd, ment found in evcral other pecics of shore the dcpo ition of the mud ball involve its crabs. passage acro the front of the body. Bur row construction in 1/emip/ax is e sentially Fighting And Aggrc ive Wandering the ame. the wet mud being dragged out into the open and deposited in a heap clo e While wandering acro s the mud .:.very by and in line with the direction of the crab passes near other crabs and burrows. burrow. In both pecie one burrow often Sometimes a wandering male appears to has two and sometimes three entrance take no notice of others but at other times tunnels. will top and attack it neighbour. In He/oe cius the nippers arc extended forward straight in front or in a bent po ition. and Feeding the body is rai cd quite high off the ground. The method of feeding is c sentially the The nearby crab re pond with a imilar amc in both specie . While feeding, the posture. The two combatants then move crab sits on its "'haunches··. Small particle towards each other until the nipper of one of mud are picked up by the nippers, which crab pass over or under tho c of the other. arc spooned and hairy, and carried to the top sometime pa ing on each ide of the op of the mouth, the outer mouthparts gaping ponent' body. Frequently they move to receive them. ach nipper supplic the clo er, nippers forwards, and pu h against Male 1-/e/oeciul cordiformis displaying (left ) and feeding (right ). [Photo: Author and D. hepherd.] Am·n'' "' (1/ura/ 1/isrory T"o male Hefoecius cordiformis fig11ing. 1 he one on 1he lefl has jusl emer_ged from ils burro\\ . o1e 1he mud pelle1 droopin_g from I he bollom of I he o1her"s moulh. [Pholo: Aulhor and D. Shepherd.] each other or feebly grasp the body of the ln 1/emip/ax imilar aggre ivc wander opponent. At length one of the- crab ing occur but fights take a slightly different withdraws and moves away. Such fights and more complex form. They begin with seldom last more than about a minute. If. forward stretching of the nippers and rai - as usual, fights take place near a burrow. ing of the body, as in Heloecius, but after the victorious crab, if it is the intruder, a very few abrupt lunges each individual immediately sets about enlarging or modify extends the nippers outwards from its body ing it newly acquired home. If an owner o that those of each combatant almo t has successfully defended it burrow it touch at their extremity. Pausing for a usually continues feeding. Although the e moment like thi . each crab suddenly jerks crabs were studied mainly in their natural its nippers backwards and forwards very habitat some were marked with a quick quickly several time in mutual tapping of drying lacquer and placed in a large tank the cxtrcmitic . Ju t as suddenly, one crab partly filled with mud. Observations of sinks to the ground, folds its nippers and these marked crab how that larger males moves off. Feeding,v burrow maintenance nearly alway win fights. Indeed, it is the and fighting occur throughout the year. larger males which mo t frequently wander Burrow Defence through a colony di pos essing burrow owners, sometime several in succession. During the warmer part of the year. pending only a mall time at each new especially in ummcr, male crab may be burrow. Furthermore, defeated owners seen motionlcs. near the mouth of a bur row in a characteristic posture. In 1/eloecius usually wander off to attack a nearby the body is usually raised off the ground, burrow-owner, thus initiating a chain re the legs almost straight. the nippers sli�htly action. However. this does not result in flexed and hanging down from the body. all the crabs in the colony fighting for bur In J-1emiplax the body is not rai cd quite row ince only a few males at any one so high off the ground and the nipper are time engage in uch "aggressive wander somewhat more flexed. Crab n11y remain ing·· and many owner uccessfully defend in this position, only hifting a leg or two. their burrows. or turning around a little, for up to an September. 1965 Pape 89 hour at a time, showing little attempt to ru h into the burrow at nearby sounds or movements, the bad) gradually drying in the sun. This �tance can probably be inter preted as burrow defence : crabs st:111ding like this have never been seen approached aggres ively by another crab. Reproductive Behaviour At certain time of the year, mostly .lrom October through January, males of both species will be seen near the mouth of their burrow, elevating the body on outstretched walking legs and waving or jerking their nippers. In 1-/e/oeciu.\ this waving has given rise to the species· common name of Sema phore Crab. The nippers. normally folded in front of the body. arc stretched out until the hand i slightly more than at a right angle to the arm, the body is raised up and tilted back on the hind legs and the nipper . which unflex further. are car ried higher into the air above the body. The nippers are then jerked down very quickly with scarcely a pause and the body )ails forward on to the front legs, which are frequently raised off the ground at the time of maximum elevation of the nippers. Generally both nipper are rai ed and A male 1/emiplar larifrom db;>la)ing. lowered in unison and only very eldom I Photo: Author and D. hepherd.l does one become lightly out of phase with the other. Several of the e "wave " occur seldom include more than six separate con ecutively, each set intersper.ed with wave . feeding. At the height of di play in 1-/e/oe cius such waving� may occur at up to 20 In both species approach of a fem:1le may or more per minute quite re�ularlv. How coincide with a brief ideway movement ever, each display seldom includes more of the whole crab, nippers till elevated than I 0 separate wave . or stretched sideways. However, lemale apparently take no notice of di playing In 1/emip/ax the form of the di play i male . Thi '"display" takes place at a cer rather difTerent. The body is raised high tain time of the year preceding the appear ofT the ground and tilted backwards, the ance of egg-bearing females and i u ually nipper fully unflcxcd and extended up mten ified or initiated at the approach of wards. the body ometime held vertically a female. lt is therefore clearly sexual in on the almo t straight leg . Sometimes ,he nature and homologous with the ''fiddling"' body is balanced on the second and third of species of Uca. walking lc_g , the other being lifted off the ground� The fir t part of the display, the At the height of summer omc male raising of the nippers, takes place quickly f-leloecius will be observed at the mouth whereas the downward movement is rela of a burrow with the walking leg of one tively slow. At the maximum reach of the ide partially in ertcd. each leg moving nippers the whole body and the nippers quickly and independently in a kind of remain poised momentarily and ometimes drumming. Soon a female emerge and tremble lightly. The rate of display is is quickly gra ped by the male, whose nip about I I waves per minute : each display per extend around the body of the fem:1le Page 90 A usrralian Narural 1/isrory o that the two crabs face each other with of the relatively new field of animal be the undersides almost touching. The two haviour is the analysis of similarities in may remain like this almost motionlcs for the b.::haviour patterns of closely related many minutes except for the male pick species. it i instructive therefore to com ing gingerly at the female' back. Such pare the behaviour of these two Tasmanian mating occur out ide th:.! burrow but h.:�s crab.; with that of closely rebted S!JCCics. not o far been observed often. [n Hemi It is not surprising to find that many of plax mating is carried out in a similar the patterns exhibited by 11e/oecius cordi fashion but doe not appear to b:: preceded formis arc strikingly similar to those of by .. drumming". Fiddler Crab . The method of feeding and burrow construction, the habit of plugging Cycles Of Behaviour the burrow' the female's disreQa rd of dis .. Each of the behaviour pattern so .lar playing male and the ..drumrning pre described occur in a cycle. When the tide ceding mating are all found in species of recede , the crabs emerge and immediately Uca. Specie of Uca al o tand near their begin feedmg. Soon a few start excavating burrow for long periods in a characteri tic their burrows or wandering about. often pcsturc. Mo··c interestingly, the rorm of as far as the water' edge. collecting mud the exual display in 1/e/oecius clo cly which i packed in front of their face and resembles the "vertical waving" of ·'narrow dragged into their burrow. Several such frontcd'' Uca species while this same dis collecting expeditions, omctimes intcr play i simiiJr to the threat display of the sper ed with feeding, may take place. Malayan Soldier Crab and a closely related Others may take up aggressive wandering. species of 1/yop/axi. Indeed, in Heloe ln summer others begin di playing, retreat cius one male ometimc repulses another ing into their burrows or feeding for short with an extraordinarily quick movement intervals. As the time of high tide ap which is rather like abbreviated cxual dis proaches and the sea returns to cover them play. The placing of Heloecius and Hemi for a few hours, many male crabs which ptax in different ubfamilies on solely have been displaying or fighting revert to morphological evidence is ubstantiated by burrow maintenance. Now, in He/oecius, the differences in certain aspects of fi September, 1965 Page 91 JOHN LHOTSKY AND THE AUSTRA LIAN MUSEUM Uy G. 1'. WHITLEY Honorary Associate. Australian ;\luseum HE Australian Museum is till indebted A for fragment of its early history, which J 0 URN E Y F n 0 .!I S Y n YE Y mrghtT otherwise never have been preserved, to an extraordinary character who arrived in Sydney from Brazil in 1832. He was AUSTRALIA� ALl.,�, John Lhotsky. a 32-ycar-old doctor and l \PI HI \1\l'\ f"\ I HI. naturalist. interested in politics and many 1/11.\""I"J/S Ill" J.I.Y/".111 1", FL"Oiil".irn·. A.\"0 .11.1/ ICfl, lOJI· other subjects, but who had an unfortunate and chronic tendency to get into debt and run away from his creditor . Perceiving that there was a vacancy for GEOGI\APHlOAL & NATURAL RELATIOif a Colonial Zoologist at the Colonial m: Till Museum, as the Australian Museum wa ' nJ"STH\" 1"1: .11 I·:I:�Lil, ITS AIIOIIIG ISJ:�. "'· then called. Lhotsky put his ndme forward for the position to the Governor, Richard f.,ltl TIIJ"I: 11 lfll -"'"" cr_\£RH. 1.\"F\llt.IIATIO\ Bourke. and the Colonial Secretary, Alex J1tiSI'I'CTI :""(, TIIC ander Macleay. I have been privileged to COJ.O\Y Of :\E\1 SOl'Tll WAl.F.. ·. consult. at the Archives Office of New South Wales. the Colonial Secretary's cor lJ)} Dr. J)o{Jn 1l.IJOtGli)J, respondence of 1832-3 and, at the Mitchcll Library. the '1ewspaper of those years, from f'ol11teill, .Y. S. lfulc1, F. R. llot. S. /Jaruria, rtr. which, with grateful acknowledgment, the following extract bearing on John Lhotsky •• - and the infant Museum are quoted. Lhotsky SYD:\"I:Y: lOa: Sot.D BY J. lssu. Hoot-.seu.I:R, PrTT·STnFrT. was never appointed to the Australian LOl\00:\":- Museum staff : he went on an expedition to the Snowy River (which he named in 1834). The title-page of John Lhot Page 92 Austra/ia11 Natural HisJory Colonial Government to advance him £40 not therefore with propriety avail my elf of the Doctor's services''. for which he �gave a bill on the Au trian Amba ador in London. Rival Newspapers' Views Letter To Governor The Sydney Ga:;elfe supported Lhotsky, On 3rd October. 1832. he addre sed for in its i sue of 18th June, 1833. we himself to the Governor of ew South read :- Wales. Richard Bourke (Colonial Secre The !>illlation of Colonial Zoologi't having be tary letter, 1832/7404) :- come vacant now two years by the death of it<> May it please Your Excellency. occupant. we take the opportunity ol expressing our earnest hope that it may be conferred upon [After a flowery introduction. Lhotsky poinb that talented and enterprising alllral Historian. out the Museum of the Cape is not unknown. Dr. Lhotsky... As the salary is only £150 per the Botanic Gardens at Calcutta and the Mauri annum. we are sure 110 111011 of .1·cie11ce would tius are celebr.lted.] But Your Excellency will come out with so paltry an inducement; and we permit me to expre � my surprise that in this therefore doubt not that Hi Excellency will pro Country . . . there exi�ts no public collection vide for our Colonial Museum. which is now in of living or dried plants. . . . But the incon a state of Orphan hip near two years. with a venience resulting from the deficiency of a per on of Dr. Lhotsky's abilities and activity. general Museum are most palpable in the de who happens to be already on the spot. We are partment of Mineralogy. ince this is of all happy to learn that the Dr.'s Lecwre continue others the �cier.ce. which by it strong conection to be attended by highly respectable audiences. [�ic] with the metalic [sic] and mining arts 11ho derive increa ing benefit from them. pos�essing the greatest en·ect over public economy. In all events the establishment of a scientific The Syd11ey Ga:;ette had a rival news Museum might prove interesting to the olony. paper, the Syd11ey Monitor. nder a head but above all the Mineralogical part would be the ZOOLOGY, 1110 t important. Althoug" there may exi I indeed ing. in bold capitals. we read in the Sydney Monitor, 19th June, 1833 2, the commencement of a Zoolouical- Collection . p. in this town. yet even this must suffer from the col. 3:- 11 ant of professional in pection. . . . The Syd11ey Gazette earnestly beseeches the Governor to job away the public money in Lhotsky's Proposal appointing Dr. Lhou,ky to be Zoologist. The Governor declined to give anything towards a Lhot ky then proposed :- Colonial Agent. on the plea. that he was not That it may be perhaps beneficial to the authorised to do so. How then can this proposal Colony. to apoly to the establishment of a of the Swl11ey Gaz.!tte be attended to? The editor o general Mu eurri of ew outh Wales. thi pro speaks f appointments. as if the public money perly �cientific funds, which are as T under tand. were His Excellency's own p:llrimony: and that undispo ed of. I allude to the salaries of the while churches and 'chools in our interior. and a Colonial Botanist and Zoologi t. both of which Colonial Agent. are denied us for want of ufficient ituations are. I perceive unoccupied. funds. His Excellency is at the same time at liberty to spend it in philosophical gew-gaws? o. That the person employed for this purpo�e Let those who are fond of birds. fishes. beasts. and should form a Herbarium and a Mineralogical minerals indulge their taste at their ou·11 co.1t, as Collection. which should be incorporated with the subscriber' to our several colleges do. until of course the exi ting Zoological Museum. which we are abundantly provided with schools. �hould be completed. churches. a Colonial Agent. road . bridges. salaries That such a per on �hould begin with the w� to Members of a Hou�e of Assembly. &c .. &c. tematical arrangement of the Botanical Garden. the eminarium. etc. .. .. W. C. Wcntworth's Comment Lhot ky then mo t respectfully ollicit the situation for himself. He submitted a In the Syd11ey Monitor. 13th July. 1833. documents: Diploma as Dr. of the Grand is a long account of a public meeting at Ducal University of axe-Weimar, Diploma which W. C. Wcntworth stron<.!ly criticized of Roy. Bot. Soc. Bavaria. Mineralogical Government expenditure and advised drastic printings. and a letter to Sir E. Parry. reduction in alarics, from that of the Gov Lhotsky's request to the Governor is ernor downwards: "The Colonial Botani t.'' minuted : "Dr. Lotsky to be informed that he fumed. "wa once a necessary Establi h both a Zoologist and a Botanist are ex mcnt, but . . . the Colonists can do very pected out, the latter having been applied well without it. The SU!TI expended on thi for thro the Sccy of State and that I can gew gaw i 764/. 18s. 8d. without apparent Septemher, 1965 Page 93 ' becau.emy lime and attention being taken up byeelllng good done to the Colony ... ". And again w� and vegetables, my min� is conl<'queatly ne,t (p. c l . . 2. o 4). Wentworth peaks:- qu1te 10 that equable slat�, wbec:ha work of this kind 1 mu t draw your ;:ttcntion to another item. requires. But u the causeis coonec:ted wilh tbe acts of namely 20:>/. .h•r a MuH•um: I w ould a�l,. what the uiatiog admioi•tration, I may be permitted in tbi5 bencllt the public der've from thi� p1cce of �uper work (the object of which is to convey generd iofor· tluou� cxpcn�e? Gentlemen. the per\on who filled mation respect ing New South Wales), to advert to it, the si:uat!on of Zoologi�t. died some time ago: Although this young, and (as it now is) poor, dis and his place hu� not yet been filled! yet hi� treued, lingering Colony is ann ually taxed from £ 1000 £t300for Natural History, I he wri r alary ha� smce b�en going on! I would ask to te of thelle line!! was not deemed worthy to receive, either before or sub Gcnt.emen. wh.lt ha� become of the arrear�? aeq_uent to the expedition herein narrated, any official (Hear. hear). Can it be �upposed th:ll any person au11tance whatever. My offence against the Govern has been allowed to pocket the money'! 1 he e are ment wu indeed ao inexpiable one. I reminded Governor queMions wh!ch I cannot amwer. One thing I dJ Boorite and Mr. l\1•Leay, nearly two years •ince of a know conten.� of th s mluahlt' in tltution that the i salar_r, wbich was and continues to be volcd for a deacl d H. 1. (a laugh) are conveyed home. an that man,• and I petitioned that the ncant sit ualion migh t Mini�ter� are fairly .ltuffcd with bird� and rare curiosities: and by the e means an mtluence b • a maintained at horn;:. equally disgraceful to th:: It wu aader lbe admiai•tntioo of Conraor Darllag, that Mu Maa W'U Yery j•dicioualy (o uaded io Sydaey, and lho ailaatioD or partie� and to the Colony (Loud cric� of hear ). c.J.i&l z..logittg wat at'u. aw Mr. \V. Holmea, who died at More· Gentlemen, l will not ��y that this i' bribery. toll &7 ia Aupat 1830. Howewer tho nla.ry coatiaoed to be roted, &I1ppean by tho fo iiOWIUI OC:COQOl of but it certainly tend\ to perpetuate that ascend ancy at home of certain personages. \O long the COLONIAL ESTIMATES VOTED. 1831 �or � 131 113'1(lor 11133) 11133(!01 o83') ll34 ( r.. lW). bane of cw South Wales. No Mtailed CM.. tM ...,.• '-l liiiUft•j Towvd• the 0",...... it c.t.. l&l Z... (;olpial o( tbe be le.Dd.. B�•t . ••• .{I •. .,tl l:olM�I �lu- a -.1uy wluc Pard 1U1 P.udutH .,..._ .(100, Government "Extravagance.. aa Z.0.1]Mfi':O" JtUa .u '"oc.l •p«•· 1p«.. la•tct � .a. lW iw a • O:c. ' u,O.c. 10• a •-Wt. wMhdU.IUO In the Sydney Moni10r of 20th July, .[ ,t100-••ol .�... ._ol ...... aUo ,. •l"J .. • dad , 1833. the alleged Government extravagance � ... Nd. btea co-uMDaecl· ...... t· ·· • again comes in for comment (p. 2, col. 2). .,..., ,. upo• ., ,-brte ....MJ-1 1 ttc. mte.,.z, The Mineral Surveyor's branch ought. it was thought. to merge into that of the Sur The aum lluu annuall� fOltt1 is .aid lo IJr �in·n lo Mr. M•Ln) veyor-General : the Colonial Botanist wa ovcrp:�id at £200 a year : and the annual cost 1.>4' on� of his Department wa3 £764 J 8 . 8d. "This lx>•tn11ccl upon pro tempore. nnlil C<'\1\tironc'll or n-•okPOr, that tl�i' work 11 ill be a collectors ... lasling warning 10 I lot future Go\·crnmenls oftloc Colony, [In England (William) Cobbett's Register not 10 - (divert) e•·cn .oorlo in•i�tooili<":uot amounts of public mone)·, aud 10 lfi,tress in llotll 11nr :onv ""''on, was similarly complaining of the cost of up who has a juM claim upon ;uch fuud,·. 1'1oi> work keep of the British Museum and asked !combined witlo otloer fue l,, ma\' al.o indu<"e our loom� "what u;;e any part of the whole thin5 can go•·crnment, to •end in fulure '10 1he"' 1li.1ant Colouie� nh·n of ap1i1ude for rul�rli : as iudi1iolu:ol• of an Ollpositc descripeion, (like Go•�rnor Darfin,. for iu;tauct•, \\ho red li:r.l'd in rliflercnt ""·''• £.)0,000 do orong [oj, :uloooinislralion), are r:1[11dly alirnatiu" I he fee l ing> NEXT COLUM of lloc communiey from tlo:ot line of rc>p�c:l and :olfcc- ------Two page\ from John Lhotsky's Journal ( 1834) in which he complains about the vac:lnt position (or hi"' �itn1i6r, anti Mr. l>n�t Thotnp•on, (Citrl of the of Colonial Zoologi�t at the 1useum. William l'ouncil Chambrr, in "'luch rlac.• lh� �·U�('Qttt •• krpl). '"r lu" Mf"CA••,f"GI mUe.utbor('. Tht <'Ollt-ctlon "1t( at •11 !) ia("ru.sed lty Holmes. the Australian 1useum's first custodian. addtUont. ortiHr•l to llf' made ocu•ion•lty h) .. ome-pratortuor oilier died in I 31. not 1830 as stated by Lhotsky. J.tf•tit. �urb anJ .auntbr t:ttli are loutll) damourm�t for :a more nu. [From the origin�! in the Mitchell Library. enrrnu' lr�tl'11ti'r '.)ud ). 1l1nn tl1e prutol (,me of t.i Wfml1�r-.. Sydney.] Page 94 A usrralian aruraf History be to the industrious classes of this king lt i� a disgrace to thi prosperous colony which i� as rich in the animal and vegetable kingdoms dom? "-Sydney Monitor, 7th August, I 83J . a \\ell as in the mineralogical. that we cannot p. 2, col. 4]. say to the strant;er v.siting our hores-come and In a later article, entitled "Dr. Lhotsky's see our museum of curiosities which arc almost peculiar to our exten�ive continent. Expedition", Sydney Monitor, 7th Augu t, 1833, p. 3, col . 2-3. there is a further ref I remain. Sir. erence :- Your obedient servant, We perceive :n the estimates for 1834. the sum T.D. of £200 appropriated for a Zoological aiTair. We have heard that a Mr. Home came out some year back. appointed Zoologi t by the Home Govern A letter from John Lhot ky to the editor meAt. w11h a alary of £ 13l! a year: but he d:ed of the Sydney Monitor wa published in at Moreton Bay m August. I ll3 1. In looking that new paper on J 8th October, 1834 over the revenue account for 1832. we can sec (page 2, column 6). as follows :- no item among the di bursements. on account of Zoology or a Museum ... If a l'lovell or a Hume To the Editor of the Sydney Monitor. or a Sturt or a Lhotsky choose to go a bot:Jnising or geologising . . . pay their expenses for th� rr. time-being and THE HAVE DONE WITII ...The situation of Colonial Zoologist, and THEM. But have no hangers-on. no regular 1 espectively the £200 were claimed : ESTABLISHME TS. no PERMANENT SAL ARIED men of science .. 1st. By J. Lhot'>ky. R.D. in the latter end of 1832. The name Mr. Home m the above 2nd. By G. Bennett. of the Royal College of paragraph was an error for Holmes. (Sec Surgeons. London. in the beginning of G. P. Whitley, Australian Museum Maga I b33. Mr. Bennett (a rather hnown man :ine, March 1961, p. 306.) amongst English naturalist ) . was so little . encouraged here. that he wa obliged to In view of the sentiments rcgardin,g sell his boats. implement . &c .. and to leave museums and zoologi ts held by W. C. the Colony. Wentworth and the press of the age, it is 3[rcl]. By D. De Dassel. a native and graduate small wonder that Lhotsky was never of Hanover. about the same time, for the sake of which he made an expedition from appointed our Colonial Zoologist in succc - Mcreton Bay. landwards. ion to William Holmc . Every one got an evasive an wer. The Gazette says:-"The money was voted. Wentworth's Views Opposed .. but not drawn out of the Trea ury. "Credat Some correspondent (perhaps Lhotsky Judeus Ape/la".* This reminds me of a servant who would bring in account hay and corn for a himself?) attacked W. C. Wentworth' dead horse saying it was never eaten by a11y body. deplorable views as to museums and scien And rf the money was voted but not paid. it tist . in the Sydney Gazette. lst August, ought to appear alllltwlly in the COLONIAL 1833. p. 3, cc!. 4:- REVE UE: which it did not. awral History of the Colony. Dr. Lhot ky can wish no public ituation under prese11t circumstance ; he inscribed his book •·ro To the Editor of the Syd11ey Gczetle. SIR. tlte i11habitants of Nell' South Wales" (the number In a late mtmber of your paper, some ref of which is 75.000 �ouls): anti if these will have erence is made to the vacancy in the atural a good and sound administration. they mu t sup Hi tory department in this colony ...and l Jm port men of the oppo ition. Without oppo ition. only surprised that a pJper bearing the title of no popular party, no liberty, no prosperity of the "Mo11itor", should style it a gew-gaw, or that a preat mass of th September, 1965 Page 95 Poor Lhotsky. he must have been a text :- .. lonely geniu , he may have been a humbug. hot�l..y. 1833. Nawral History Depart- J. .� even a rogue in omc respects, but at lea t ment. ew outh Wales Magazine. Vol. 2. we can recall with gr:�titude the snippets of o. I. pp. 120- 122; 1835. "A Journey frcm hi tory he left behind him concerning the ydney to the Aw.tralian Alps . . . 1834." especially pp. 57 and 66. early Australian Mu eum. J. McPher on. 1938. "The Turbulent Dr. Reference to Lhotsky and the Colonial Lhotsky." Medical Journal of Au tralia. 9th April. Museum additional to tho e quoted in the 1938, pp. 661-667. Australian ill useunt WHAT ARE GAS Field Trip to WORlllS? Northern Territory In the winter of 1964. an intriguing inquiry was received from the manager of a pastoral company Through the kindness of the Director of the m the Broken Hill area. While sinking deep Animal Jndustrie-, Branch of the orthern Terri bores for water. ome worm-like animals ('?) haJ tory Administration. the Acting Biologist. Mr. been brought to the surface in gassy water, and K. R. Slater. invited the Museum's Curator of our corre'>pondent wanted to know if we could Reptiles and Amphibian . 1r. H. G. Cogger. tell him anything about them. Unfortunately. Curator of Bird�. 1r. H. J. Disney. and Curator none of the so-called "gas worms". "hieh are of l\1ammals. Mr. B. J. 1arlow. to vi it the apparently l..nown to drilling contractor . was Northern Territory to collect specimens. Exct>p preserved and. although a lookout ha-, teen l..ept tionaJiy good rain had fallen in some areas in for them ince. none has been seen. early 1arch. which gave promise of good collect Our correspondent also informed us in his letter ing condition; during late March and April. when that a drilling contractor (whose name he gives ) the Museum party was in the field. once found small live minnows in ga'>sy wata Four major field trips were made "ith Mr. removed from a test bore he was sinking in th.: later. who b ba ed at Alice Springs. The � Menindie area. mcluded Kings Canyon. an area north-ea" of The Granites. Palm Valley and the northern edge of The occurrence of "worms" and fi�h in water the Simpson De ert. coming up from bore holes is most interesting and it is important that 2ny such animals should Valuable specimens of mammals. birJ� ;;nd be pre erved and labelled and sent to the Austra reptiles were collected for the 1useum and int�r lian Museum for examination and identification. esting comparisons of the various habitats whit·h An appeal i therefore made to any land worker were encountered were made. who sees any animal actually brought to the sur ignificant ohservatiom were made on the face during bore-.,inking operation to collect a reproduction of in-,ect-eating birds. and specimen� good sample of them and to place them in methy of reptiles which were ne'' to the Museum\ col l?ted spirits or in a solution of formalin in water lections were obtained. Several species of intcr<''-t· (7 parts formalin to 100 parts water ). and to ing mammal were trapped alive and brought to send them to the Mu'>eum with a note describing Sydney for further study. the circumstances. o little is known about the animal� living in the soil spaces or underground The succes� of thi-, field trip was largely due to water that even the snnllest bit of evidence i the facilities 2nd e'\perience which were pla..:c.J at important the disposal of the tafT of the Mu Pt ge 96 A usrralian arura/ 1/isrory THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM HYDE PA RK, SYDNEY BOARD OF TR STEE PHESIDENT: E�IEHITLIS I'HOFESSOII A. P. ELKI:\', �!.A., Ph.D. CIIOWN TIIUSTEE: E�IEI11TUS PBOFESSOII A. 1'. EI.KIX, �t.A., Ph.D. OFFICIAL TH STEES: THE 1-10:>1. TilE CIIIEF jUSTICE. 111£ IIOX. TilE PHESIDEXT OF TilE LECISLATI\'E COUXCIL. TilE 110:\. TilE CIIIEF SECHET.-\HY. TilE 110:"\. TilE ATTOHXEY-CE:\EHAL. TilE 110:\. TilE TIIEA UHEH. TilE 110:\'. THE MI:\'ISTEH FOB PUBLIC \\'O BKS. TilE 110:\. TilE �IINISTEH FOB EDLICATIO:\. TilE AUDITOII-GI':NEIIAL. TilE PIIESIDEl\'T OF TilE 1\'E\V SOUTII WALES �IEDICAI. BOABD. TilE SUBVEYOH-CE:\'EIIAI. Al\'D CIITEF SUIIVEYOH. TIIF. CHOW:\ SOLICITOH. ELEC.'TI\' E TBUSTEES: F. �I< 00\\' ELL. C. 11. SLADE. B.Sc. H. J. :>.'OBLE, C.B.E .. B.Sc,\�:r., �I.Sc., Ph.D. PIIOFESSOH L. C. BIIICII. O.Sc. E. j. KE:\'1\'Y, �t.Au>t.I.�I.M. PHOFESSOII D. 1'. �I ELLOH. O.Sc., F.H.A.C.I. G. A. ]0111\'SO:\'. I'IIOFESSOR ]. 11. A. �lc�IILLA:\, �t.S., PROFESSOR 11. N. Bf\1{131 R. F.R.S. O.Sc.AI!r. R. C. RICIIAI{f). S. IIA\'I LAND. C.B.E. W. 11. MAZF. M.Sc. 011\ECTOH: J. W. I VA S. Sc.D. DEl' TY DIRECTOR: 11. 0. FLETCIIEH, M.Sc. SCIENTIFIC STAFF: Birds: 11. j. de S. DISNEY, �I.A., Curator. H�ptiles and Amphibian�: 11. G. COGGEH, �I.St· .. Curator. \lammals: B. j. �IAHLOW, B.Sc., Curator. I ishes: F. 1·1. TAl BOT, M.Sc .. Ph.D .. Curator. Insects and Arachnids: C. :>:. S�IITIIERS, �!.Se., Cnr•IIOJ; D. K. �lc.\1.1'1:"\E. �!.Se., \"istant Curator. �lollust-s: D. F. �lc�IICIIAEL, �t.A., Ph.O.. Curator. Crusta EDITOI\IAL ASSISTANT AND PUBLIC EDUCATION OFFICE!\: RELATIONS OFFICEll: I'ATR ICIA M. Me DONALD. ll.Sc .. M. l· d. PI'TI R COl LIS. EXIIIBJTION DEPAilT.\1£:"\T. AHT A.:'iD DE ICN SECJ'IOX: F. J. BEE.\1.\:"\. LIBHARJAN: PIIOTOCIIAPII£1� AND \'ISUAL AII)S OFFICER: �� IHY DAVIF.S, B.Sc., L.A.A. 11. IIVCIIES, A.H.P.S. The Australian Museum The Museum is open free, daily, at the following times: Tuesday to Saturday, and public holidays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Mondays, 12 noon to 5 p.m. (during school holidays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.); Sundays, 2 to 5 p.m. It is closed on Good Friday and Christmas Day. To teachers and pupils of schools and other educational organiza tions special facilities for study will be afforded if the Director is previously advised of intended visits. A trained teacher is available for advice and assistance. Gifts of even the commonest specimens of natural history (if in good condition) and specimens of minerals, fossils and native handiwork are always welcome. The office is open from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 4.30 p.m. (Monday to Friday), and visitors applying for information there will receive every attention from Museum officials. College St., Hyde Park, Sydney 'Vholly set up nnd printed in Australia for the proprietors, Th(l' Trustees of the Australian :M useum, b)• V. C. N. Bli�tht, Government Printer, S)•dney, N.S.W. Australian Museum Card REG.NO.: PUN4035 DATE: 14 Jun 2013 ITEM: DOMICILE stone • GEOGRAPHICAL AREA[ am locality rei] : "East Sepik, Papua New Guinea" HOW ACQUIRED: Donation NAME(S): Unknown ACQUISTION HISTORY: NAMES: ROLE DATE OBJECT NAME CHANGE: 1 stone INDIGENOUS NAME OF OBJECT: CULTURAL ASSOCIATION: NAMES: ROLE RECORDS: BIBLIOGRAPHY: NOTES: RESEARCII: DESCRIPTIONS: DI MENS10NS: He1ght: Width. Diameter: Circumference: Depth. Clothing Size: PERMA ENT LOCATION: [P3-1 1-01-03)