THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Anderson, " Clovelly," Kintore-street, Camberwell ; W. F. Coles, 

 33 Little Smith-street, Richmond ; J. F. Corben, State school, 

 Moonee Ponds ; B. Nicholls, 80 Story-street, Brunswick ; and 

 J. B. Swan, " Alma," Selborne-street, Coburg, were duly elected 

 members of the Club. 



PAPERS READ. 



1. By Mr. D. M'Alpine, entitled "On the So-called Petrified 

 Mushroom." 



The author described an object which was recently found at 

 Bridgewater, Western Victoria, and regarded locally as a 

 petrified mushroom. In general appearance it somewhat 

 resembled a mushroom, even to the stalk. However, after a 

 microscopical examination, he had decided it to be a woody 

 excrescence, popularly known as a burr, gnaur, &c., found on 

 various kinds of trees. 



The president, Mr. T. S. Hall, was of opinion that the specimen 

 was a root of Kelp, which, when dry and exposed, becomes 

 extremely hard, and the tissue of which closely resembles that of 

 wood. 



Mr. H. T. Tisdall agreed with the opinion expressed by Mr. 

 Hall, and stated that he had seen pieces of the root of Kelp 

 almost identical with the specimen dealt with. 



Mr. R. A. Bastow stated that he had recently seen large 

 numbers of pieces of Kelp roots at Flinders, which were very 

 similar to the one dealt with by Mr. M'Alpine. 



2. By Mr. T. S. Hall, M.A., entitled " An Extinct Cuttlefish." 

 The author described a very rare fossil Cephalopod, 



" Spirulirostra," which he found at Torquay, near Geelong, and, 

 with a view to making his remarks more easily understood, gave 

 a general outline of the Cephalopoda, both recent and extinct, 

 aided by several large diagrams and specimens of typical and 

 well-known genera of this group. 



He was thus able to clearly demonstrate its affinities with the 

 better-known species of both living and extinct Cuttlefishes. The 

 only other representative of the genus, the author stated, was 

 found in the Miocene at Turin, Italy, and is extremely rare. 



The author's remarks were listened to with much interest, and 

 discussed by Messrs. O. A. Sayce, F. VVisewould, J. H. Gatliff, 

 D. Le Souef, and G. Coghill. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



Mr. F. C. Christy contributed a lengthy note dealing with the 

 protection of the Black Duck, in which he advocated an extension 

 of the period (ist February) during which the ducks are protected. 



Mr. G. A. Keartland, whilst endorsing some of Mr. Cliristy's 

 statements, pointed out that ist February was practically a com- 



