^ .NWfA. LVol. XXXVI. 



"The Gum Tree." — The December issue of this journal 

 contains the first portion of an illustrated article on " The Pines 

 of Tasmania," by Mr. G. Weindorfer, of Cradle Mountain, which 

 gives some interesting particulars of the life-history of the King 

 William Pine, Arlhrotaxis selaginoides, Don, which, on account 

 of its slow growth, ■ seems to be doomed to extinction at no 

 distant date. Articles on forestry in Western Australia, the 

 kiln seasoning of timber, and forestry in Portugal, with refer- 

 ences to the destruction of forests in France bv the recent 

 Great War, help to make up a very interesting number of this 

 publication. 



Commonwealth Milit.\ry Survey. — Another map of the 

 Victorian series has recently been issued. It is entitled 

 " Corangamite, Beeac, Cobden, and Colac," and is on the 

 smaller scale of ^-inch to i mile, which is quite sufficient for 

 such comparatively flat country. It embraces the towns of 

 Winchelsea, Birregurra, Cressy, and Camperdown, as well as 

 those named in the title, and, in addition to the huge Lake 

 Corangamite, shows some twenty-five other lakes of varj'ing 

 sizes. The parts visited by the Club excursion of Easter, 1918, 

 are, of course, included, but the omission of the name of the 

 well-known hill near Alvie, known as " Red Rock," must be 

 regarded as a distinct oversight. The southern portion of the 

 map, by the tortuous contour lines, indicates the nearness of the 

 Otway Ranges. It is issued at the same price as those of the 

 larger scale — viz., one shilling. 



Geelong Field Naturalists' Club. — ^This Club, which, 

 under many disadvantages, has made a strong fight to keep 

 natural history before the citizens of Geelong for a number of 

 years, held its first exhibition of wild-flowers at the Gordon 

 Technical College on Saturday, the 4th of October last. The 

 exhibition was enthusiastically supported by the public, and 

 proved a great success. In addition to representatives of the 

 district flora, flowers were received from the Grampians and 

 Gippsland, most of which were displayed with lioth scientific 

 and vernacular names. The president, Dr. M'Callum, in 

 opening the exhibition in the afternoon, expressed the society's 

 thanks to Melbourne friends for help in the venture, and in the 

 evening the maj'or, Mr. H. Hitchcock, who is an enthusiastic 

 horticulturist, said that the beginning now made should result 

 in a greater interest in Australian plants suitable for cultivation 

 in our gardens. 



