10 president's address. 



from these nodiiles, including some organisms which may possibly be the B. tiime- 

 facieiis of Erwin F. Smith, or perhaj^s the Rhizobimn of the Leguminosae, and 

 othei-s that differ in licjuefyLng gelatine. As far a:? the examination was carried 

 each nodule appeared to have a flora of its own. Infection experiments with the 

 bacteria so obtained gave entirely negative results. An investigation into the 

 fermentation of the tan-bark used in connection with the corrosion of white lead 

 resulted in the discovery of bacteria which grow actively at 60° C. ; and some 

 proof was obtained of the fermentation by this high temperature organism which 

 slso ferments sugar under certain conditions. The results obtained to date form 

 the subject of a jaaper which is ready for publication. A short note has also been 

 prepared on "the extraction of acids from cultures" being the outcome of an un- 

 successful attempt to obtain tartaric acid from the fermentation of sugar. At- 

 tempts were also made, but without success to obtain a glucoside from the activity 

 of wattle-bark bacteria, and to obtain eugenol from leaves of Melaleuca containing 

 raethyl-eugenol, by yeast fermentation. 



The Council has granted Dr. Greig-Smith leave of absence during 1921 for 

 the purpose of visiting Eurojie and getting into touch with the more prominent 

 workei-s in the l)acteriological laboratories there. 



Dr. J. M. Petrie, Linnean Macleay Fellow of tlie Society in Biochemistry, 

 completed his cliemical examination of the leaves of Macrozamia spiralis, the re- 

 sults appearing in Part iii. of the Proceedings for 1920; he was unable in this 

 )nvt>stigation to identify any of the chemical constituents with the syinptoms of 

 poisoning observed in long-continued feeding of animals with the leaves. The 

 general investigation of Cyanogenesis in Plants was contintied. Part iv. "Tlie 

 Hydrocyanic Acid of Heterodendron oleaefolia — A Fodder Plant of New South 

 Wales," appeai'ing in Part iii. of the year's Proceedings. Future work in this 

 subject has for its object the detei-mination of the factors concerned with the 

 storage of cyanogenetie glucosides as reserve food-material and the conditions 

 under which these may become poisonous. The leaves of the poisonous plant, 

 Erythrophloeum from Darwin have been investigated, and a very small ([uantity 

 of an alkaloid obtained from them. The alkaloid is a mast powerful poison, and 

 an attempt is being made to ascertain its definite pharmacological action on 

 animals. During the early part of the year Dr. Petrie's work was unfortunately 

 inteiTupted by a severe attack of pneumonia and chi-ouic bronchitis which took 

 some months to pass off. 



Miss Vera Irwin Smith, Linnean Mju-leay Fellow of the Society in Zoology 

 has continued her studies of Xcmatodcs mid of the life-histories of Brachycerous 

 Diptera. The family Stratiomyiidae is l)eing dealt with first, being of special 

 intcre-st because of the peculiar intennediate position it occupies between the 

 Orthorrhapha and Cyclorrhapha. The first results of this study have been em- 

 bodied in a paper on the life-history of Metoponia rubrieeps, which appeared in 

 Part iv. of the Proceedings for 1920. A second paper, dealing with the mouth 

 parts of the same insect, is in course of preparati(m. Attempts are also being 

 made to breed it through from the r^i:. The families Mydaidae, There\idae and 

 Asilidae arc also under observation, many larvae iiaving been collected and bred 

 thnmgii to various stages. Miss Smith's studies of the Nematodes have result«l 

 in the completion of one paper, "The Nematode Parasites of the Domestic Pigeon 

 in Australia," which also appeared in Part iv. of the year's Proceedings. It is 

 her intention to continue these studies and deal in the same way with the jiara- 

 sites of the goat, chicken and lizard in .\ustralia. 



