NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 107 



were washed up. One of the Jewfish weighed 601bs., and another 

 241bs., while many of the Mullet measured from 10 to 16 inches; 

 and this will indicate the severity of the storm. The Freshwater 

 JVJ ullet were brought out of the Hunter River by a heavy freshet 

 then running. At Tuggerah Lakes, many Black Bream were 

 enabled to enter the Lakes over the sandspit separating the latter 

 from the sea, the waves washing right over. At Lake Illawarra 

 (the entrance to which is also closed), through the same cause, 

 many EelsM nguilla reinhardtii) and Black Bream were enabled 

 to reach the ocean from the Lake. At Manly Beach, a large 

 A\ba,tross(D iomedea) was washed ashore. The invertebrate fauna 

 and the flora of the reefs and bumboras had also suffered con- 

 siderably. At Cronulla, on the 29th March, after several days 

 of strong south-west winds, a Little ~Pengum( Eiidyptula minor) 

 was found standing on the rocks, near Glaisher Point, in an 

 almost exhausted condition. 



Mr. T. Steel exhibited shells of the common snail, Helix aspersa, 

 eaten by the common brown rat at Petersham. In each case the 

 apex of the shell was nibbled away so as to permit of the ready 

 extraction of the mollusc. He also mentioned that Mr. Arthur 

 Yates, seedsman, had reported to him that a stray rat which got 

 into one of his firm's orchid-houses at Exeter, had practically 

 exterminated the snails, which were previously somewhat of a 

 pest. 



Mr. Fred Turner exhibited and offered observations on : (1) 

 Echinopogon ovatus Beauv., the " Rough Bearded Grass." This 

 species was forwarded by Mr. C. J. Campbell, Rangers' Valley, 

 Dundee, New England, to Messrs. Anderson and Company, Seeds- 

 men and Plant Merchants, Sydney, who sent it to Mr. Turner 

 for identification and report. Mr, Campbell writes : "This grass 

 has appeared in the district of late years, and has the effect of 

 giving young cattle and sheep the 'staggers,' which in many cases 

 cause death. If you can give me any information regarding the 

 above, I shall be obliged." E. ovatus, in one form or another, is 

 fairly common in the coast-districts of all the States of the Com- 

 monwealth, and is recorded in Turner's botanical survey of New 



