THE 



Victorian $1 a t u r a I i 1 . 



Vol. XII.— No. 2. MAY, 1895. No. 138. 



FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB OF VICTORIA. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of the Club was held in the 

 Royal Society's Hall on Monday evening, 13th May, 1895. 

 The president, Mr. H. T. Tisdall, F.L.S., occupied the chair, 

 and some 80 members and visitors were present. 



REPORT. 



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

 April, was received from the Rev. W. Fielder, who acted as leader. 



MEETING FOR PRACTICAL WORK. 



The hon. secretary reported that a meeting for practical work 

 was held on the 24th April, when a second meeting was devoted 

 to the Tunicata, under the direction of the Rev. W. Fielder. 



GENERAL BUSINESS. 



After the nomination of office-bearers for the ensuing year had 

 been made, Messrs. D. Best and H. R. Hogg were elected to 

 audit the accounts for 1894-5. 



PAPER READ. 



By the Misses May and Lilian Wise and Muriel Bennett, 

 entitled " List of Orchids collected near Sale." 



This paper was communicated by Mr. Alex. Purdie, M.A., and 

 written by three of his pupils, contained valuable notes on the 

 flowering times of many orchids rare in other parts of the colony. 



POND LIFE, 



The rest of the evening was devoted to a microscopic examina- 

 tion of pond life collected from the lake in the Botanical Gardens. 

 A special visit had been made by several members of the Club, 

 and the objects procured were shown by the aid of about twenty 

 microscopes. 



Mr. J. Shephard delivered a few introductory remarks, de- 

 scribing the methods employed in collecting and preparing for 

 examination under the microscope, also touching briefly upon the 

 different classes of objects and their place in the animal kingdom. 



The Rev. W. Fielder then gave an interesting description of 

 the fresh-water sponges and hydroids, and subsequently demon- 

 strated the method of making permanent preparations for the 

 microscope. 



