176 The late Mr. J. G. O'Donoghue. [voY'xxxiii. 



he became hon. secretary, and continued in that office, 

 devoting much time to its duties, until stricken with severe 

 illness in November last. An attack of pleurisy, accompanied 

 by an extreme temperature, lasting for many weeks, appears 

 to have so weakened his heart that his naturally fine con- 

 stitution was undermined, and he had not the power of recovery 

 when normal temperature returned. After several weeks of 

 patient suffering he passed peacefully away at his residence, 

 Thanet-street, iMalvern, on Friday, 6th April, at the com- 

 paratively early age oi" 44, his remains being interred in the 

 family grave at Traralgon. By his death the Field Naturalists' 

 Club has lost one of its most enthusiastic workers, and one 

 who never spared himself if he could be of service to it in any 

 capacity. 



EXCURSION TO BURNLEY QUARRIES. 



About fifteen members of this Club or the Microscopical 



Society visited the Burnley Quarries on the afternoon of 



Saturday, 24th February, mainly in search of pond-life. As 



it is i)robable that many of those present have not visited the 



quarries, it may be as well, in the first place, to say a few words 



about them. They are situated on the north bank of the 



Yarra, and extend from Burnley-street, Richmond, in a westerly 



direction for about a quarter of a mile, covering an area of 



several acres. Like all quarries which are practically 



abandoned, the excavations contain numerous pools, some 



jirobably of great depth, while others are very shallow. Until 



recently the river had free access to some portions, and there 



the water is j)rolKil)ly brackish. Judging by that now 



exposed to view, the bluestone olitained here was of a very 



dense type. The lava flow which covered this and adjacent 



districts to varying depths here filled an old river-bed. In 



places this layer of rock has been removed by the excavation, 



exposing the old river mud, and, buried in this, one or possibly 



more old tree-tnuiks have been found. A small i)ortion of 



one, which apparently belonged to the genus Casuarina, is 



shown here to-night. How long it is since it was buried under its 



basaltic covering would be an interesting problem. The rock 



which has been exposed by the quarrying operations presents 



some features worthy of notice. A small isthmus between 



two pools at the western end is a nice example of columnar 



formation. Not far from this the way in which the basalt 



disintegrates may be seen, the outer portions of the separate 



pieces of rock flaking off like the coats of an onion, leaving 



rounded nodules. At the other or eastern end of the quarries 



a rock face is exposed in which the basalt is also columnar, 



