32 KATUEAL HISTORY — EXTRACTS FROM 



occurre'd in large numbers, I had an opportunity of examining a 

 great many of them with various results. In one instance, I 

 found a dead worm coiled up ; in another, a portion of a worm 

 protruding into the lower part of the tube. Again, nidi were 

 found partially filled with only the casts of worms, whilst others 

 contained more or less of a species of Conferva; and, lastly, I 

 obtained some vtdth the cavities partially or wholly filled up. The 

 receptacles varied in shape, from a sphere to an oval, and were 

 extremely thin and fragile. They also varied in size from a pea 

 to a nut. Externally they presented an appearance so singularly 

 contorted, that I could not help considering they were moulded 

 from the casts of worms. They did not appear to have any attach- 

 ment to the surrounding clay, except at the point of junction 

 with the tube ; and the clay beneath them presented no unusual 

 appearance. 



Internally they generally exhibited impressions of the worm ; 

 but occasionally I detected some of the round and contorted ap- 

 pearances which I have mentioned as being so conspicuous on the 

 outside. I cannot speak with precision as to the length of the 

 tubes, as the clay when examined had been broken up into large 

 rough masses in digging for the foundations of houses. The largest 

 noticed was about three inches long, and the general width one- 

 eighth of an inch. They often run parallel to each other, but 

 at unequal distances. I now have to notice what I consider a 

 remarkable circumstance, namely, that all the tubes contained a 

 solid cylinder of clay, and in every instance where the worms 

 occurred under the circumstances above recorded, they were found 

 to be dead. Eesearches of this kind are calculated to throw a 

 light on some of those singular phenomena which geologists occa- 

 sionally meet with in the older rocks. 



[Mem. — Several specimens of clay, containing the worm-tubes 

 as above described, were exhibited to the meeting.] 



Natural History — Extracts from the Journal of Captain Denham, 

 H.M. Surveying Vessel ' Herald,' 1857. Communicated by 

 Captain "WASHi'praTON, through the Secretary. 



[E§ad June 3rd, 1858.] 



We found upon the larger islands the small species of the 

 Kangaroo, bearing the native name "Wallaby (Halmaturus Billar- 



