Thursday January 17: Most of the day spent in the city. Have made a reservation for flight to Sydney the night of January 27, and on to San Francisco on January 30. Applied for income tax clearance. Visited office of Government Botanist and there talked (partly over a sandwich lunch in the back room) with Selwyn Everest (1/C) and Stanley Blake. An appropriation has been made for building this year a brick and reinforced concrete annex to house the library and type specimens. A fireproof wall will separate this from the old wooden building. The herbarium is being gradually reorganized. Families and genera in systematic order. Species alphabetical, except in large genera. Bentham and Hooker system being adhered to. About 25,000 specimens mounted last year. Total number of herbarium sheets nearing 500,000. Library of about 7,000 books. Some rare books, including the only copy of Flora Braziliensis in Australia. Now five young graduates in herbarium and library, in addition to Everest, Blake, and Lindsay Smith. An effort being made to fill gaps in periodicals, etc., published during the war. Friday January 18: Picked up my income tax clearance and had my plane reservations confirmed. Visited the Queensland Museum and talked with Director George Mack (Mostly) and Don Vernon. Did not see any exhibits. Museum recently began showing Walt Disney pictures. Which can be hired on special terms for free educational purposes. Show put on in pickle- vat atmosphere in a basement room which seats 100 people. No increase in staff (Mack, Wood (young geologist), Vernon and another preparator). Mack as self confident as ever, and no broader. Very critical of George Tates' big work on Malayan - Australian rats, published ca. 1950. Says that a new subspecies described from Cape York does not even belong in the species to which it was attributed. Mack, for comparison, has been borrowing Thomas types from the British Museum. Learned from Wood that Stan Blake now has a doctorate granted on his published work. Trip to Ipswich, Toowoomba and Dalby January 18: Left Brisbane by Greyhound bus late in afternoon and arrived Ipswich in about an hour. Stayed overnight with brother Eric in suburb of Raceview. January 19: Went on to Toowoomba by Greyhound; about 1½ hours. Visited the Andrews until evening when I left for Dalby by rail motor, arriving at 8:50 P. M. Queensland rail motors are noisy, but would not be bad to travel short distances if they did not make so many stops. Dalby is 50 miles from Toowoomba, 150 from Brisbane. Stayed with brother Alan. January 20: Drove with Alan and his family to the very fertile Jimbour Plain, thence via Macalister across the Condamine River to the property of cousin Percy Littleton. Country in fine shape after a season of ample rains. Large scale farming of wheat, grain sorghum (milo), canary seed, sunflower seed, etc. Also dairyng and sheep raising, principally for the fat lamb trade. Great prosperity. The man on the land has done well since World War II.