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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTH.LY 



son, Mr. J. F. Bailey, director of the garden, and, like his father, thor- 

 oughly acquainted with the Queensland flora, accompanied me on a 

 four days' trip, during which he showed me Macrozamia Denisoni, 

 growing on the top of Tambourine Mountain. It is a beautiful cycad, 

 regarded by some as the most beautiful species of the family, and has 

 an immense cone which reaches a weight of seventy pounds. 



Although cycads were always dominant in my plans, one of the 

 most delightful and profitable experiences of the whole trip was an 

 excursion to Tabby-Tabby Island. Mr. Bailey had promised to show me 

 the staghorn fern (Platy cerium) and accordingly went from Tam- 

 bourine Mountain to Tabby-Tabby, a small island owned by Mr. Wm. 



Fig. 5. View in the Botanic Garden at Sydney. The large palm is 

 Jubea spectabilis, a native of Chili. 



Gibson, who entertained us royally and took us out in his motor boat 

 to the home of the peculiar fern. I had seen fine specimens in green- 

 houses, but nothing to suggest the wonderful display on the islands 

 about Tabby-Tabby. One specimen was eight feet wide, and specimens 

 four, five and six feet wide were common. It was easy to get a score 

 of ferns on a single photographic plate, and often one could get both 

 species, Platcerium grande and P. dlcicorne, on the same plate. Many 

 of the trees were so loaded that they were leaning, and some had even 

 fallen on account of the great weight of the growing ferns (Fig. 6). 

 Besides the botanical garden, with its extensive collections, Bris- 

 bane has an acclimatization garden, in charge of Mr. Soutter, devoted 

 particularly to experiments in acclimatizing plants, the work being 



