the Ufctorlan natura[ia 



Vol. XXXIV.— No. 8. DECEMBER 6, 1917. No. 408. 



FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB OF VICTORIA. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of the Club was held at the 

 Royal Society's Hall on Monday evening, I2th November, 1917. 

 The f)resident, Mr. F. Pitcher, occupied the chair, and about 

 fiftj^-fivc members and visitors were present. 



REPORTS. 



A report of the excursion from Croydon to Wonga Park on 

 Saturday, 13th October, was given by the leader, Mr. E. E. 

 Pescott, F.L.S., who said that, owing to the illness of Mr. C. 

 French, jun., Mr. P. R. H. St. John had kindly acted as 

 co-leader. A large number of members had attended, and, in 

 addition, a num.ber of pupils from the Church of England 

 Grammar School had been present, in charge of Mrs. A'Beckett. 

 An enjoyable ramble had resulted. The outing had been 

 arranged principally for the study and collection of orchids, 

 of which sixteen species were noted either in foliage, flower, 

 or seed. The plants were not as numerous as had been antici- 

 pated, and contained no species of particular rarity. 



A report of the excursion to Heidelberg on Saturday, 20th 

 October, was given by the leader, Mr. J. Searle, who said that 

 the party included several members of the Microscopical 

 Society. The object of the outing was aquatic zoology, and 

 the excursionists had not been disappointed, for the ponds were 

 found to be in splendid condition and teeming with life of all 

 descriptions. One of the most noticeable captures was a 

 colonial form of a protozoan, globular in shape, and about the 

 size of a large pea, the zooids dwelling in tubes formed in the 

 gelatinous mass. On these was feeding a rotifer, probably 

 a species of the genus Proales. 



A report of the excursion to Belgrave and Sherbrooke Falls 

 on Saturday, 27th October, was given by the leader, Mr. F. 

 Pitcher, who reported a very good attendance, and that the 

 excursion was made specially memorable by the fact that His 

 Excellency the Governor-General, Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson, 

 G.C.M.G., had availed himself of the opportunity of seeing 

 some of the nearest forest country to Melbourne. Six species 

 of eucalypts were noted, and Mr. A. D. Hardy, F.L.S., had 

 given a demonstration of the methods of measuring the height 

 of trees. One of those selected for the demonstration gave a 

 height of 184 feet, with a stem diameter of g feet at five feet 

 from the ground. The day was unfavourable for birds and 



