The largest expedition to Australia ever undertaken by the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and one of its largest expeditions in recent years, will sail on July 25 from New York City direct to Sidney, Australia, by way of the Panama Canal. William Morton Wheeler, Professor of Entomology at Harvard, will lead the expedition. The trip, made possible by a gift of an anonymous friend of the Museum, will occupy a year.
The party will include, beside Professor Wheeler, Dr. C. M. Allen '01. Associate Professor and Curator of Mammals at the Museum, Dr. I. M. Dixson, medical officer of the expedition, and P. J. Darlington, Jr. '26, Ralph Ellis, and William Edward Schevill '27, graduate research workers.
Visit Less Known Spots
The plans of the expedition call for visits to a number of the less known areas of zoological interest in Australia and Tasmania. The party will cooperate actively with local scientific institutions and the zoological collections secured will be divided between the cooperating institutions of Australia and the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Collections will be made of mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects. The material will supplement important collections made by Dr. H. L. Clark and Mr. W. S. Brooks '09, who have recently explored extensively in Australia, and have brought the University a large series of marine invertebrates.
Must Hurry to Get Fauna
The rapid disappearance of the Australian fauna makes it especially desirable to carry on active collecting before it is too late. It is hoped that after the expedition returns, the Museum of Comparative Zoology will have one of the best balanced representations of Australian fauna to be found anywhere.
Dr. Dixson plans to study parasites, internal and external, of the animals secured, and it is also hoped to obtain anatomical material which will enable Professor G. B. Wislocki, who comes to the Harvard Medical School next year to continue his important studies on the anatomical relations of the principal mammals which he has carried on so brilliantly during the last few years at Johns Hopkins.
Allen a Veteran
Professor Wheeler, the leader of the expedition was awarded the Dewey Medal of the Academy of Natural Sciences on April 21 of this year for his outstanding work on insects, notably his studies of the comparative psychology of ants." The Medal is bestowed every three years for the best publication, exploration, discovery or research in the natural sciences.
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