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Extinct Whales and Wombats: Australian

The following is part of the article above alluded to from the South Australian Register :- "Sir Thomas Elder, G.C.M.G., has once more placed South Australia under deep obligations to him by coming forward with the monetary help necessary to enable further explorations to be made of the area at Lake Mulligan, in which immense quantities of fossil remains of extinct animals and birds are known to exist. The generous assistance thus rendered has come at the nick of time. The authorities of the South Australian Museum, recognising the importance of the discovery in the interests of science, have already done much to secure specimens of the bones which have been preserved from destruction; but the funds at their disposal are limited, and, unaided, they would have been unable to have carried on excavations except upon a very moderate scale. Owing to the munificence of Sir Thomas Elder, the search party, under charge of Mr. Hurst, which has succeeded in sending down a sufficient number of specimens to whet the a appetite of scientists, and even of the curious public, who have no special knowledge of palæontology, for more, will now be reinforced by Dr. Stirling, Mr. Zietz, and another member of the Museum staff. More than that, provision will now be made for the conveyance to Adelaide of larger portions of the remains than it has hitherto been possible to despatch. "Mr. Hurst has laboured under great disadvantages in the past, owing to the lack of facilities for transporting to the city the results of his excavations. It is to be borne in mind that the fossils are spread over a large tract of country embracing several square miles in extent. Moreover, this singular burial-place of the marsupial and other monsters, which were wont to roam over the continent of Australia, is situated in a remote and comparatively waterless region, so that the difficulties in the way of disinterment and removal are exceedingly great. It is only fitting that those officials of the Museum, who are most skilled in natural history, should be on the spot to superintend operations, and we may rest satisfied that everything that can be done to secure the best illustrations obtainable of the fossil remains will be done. The object to be aimed at is to procure complete specimens, and, from what has been said by those who have visited the locality, it should be practicable to achieve this. Obviously no pains or expense should be spared to bring together, bone to his bone, the framework of the gigantic creatures belonging to a bygone age, whose relics are embedded in the hardened mud and débris of what were once the huge swamps of the Far North-East."