THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 43 



A Rotifer Record. — On the occasion of the recent trip to 

 " Springbank," near Heidelberg (28th March), the material 

 brought from the lagoon there furnished a Rotifer of the genus 

 Brachionus of very striking character in the form of the lorica. 

 As is common in the principal species of this genus, the spines 

 are conspicuous features, and in the species found on this occasion 

 there were two pairs of great length projecting fore and aft respect- 

 ively, the hinder pair curving round like the handles of a pair of 

 watchmaker's pliers. It was rather a coincidence that by the mail 

 arriving the week of the excursion the writer received from Mr. 

 C. F. Rousselet, F.R.M.S., London, some specimens for com- 

 parison which failed to present any discoverable disagreement 

 with the Springbank form. The specific name was B. Jalcahis, 

 and the specimens were from Hungary. This is a curious 

 example of wide distribution, and perhaps suggests incomplete- 

 ness of knowledge of the occurrence of these little animals. 

 However, for the present the record for this species is Victoria 

 and Hungary.— J. Shephard. 



An Enemy of the Vine Moth. — Among the agents which 

 help to keep down the destructive Agarista glycine may be 

 numbered the "harmless, necessary cat." Last summer my son 

 frequently noticed one of our cats, a tabby, lying in ambush in 

 our garden, and pouncing on the Vine Moths as they fluttered by. 

 After giving thern a pat, and playing a little, the cat would eat 

 them. This character for sport was also shown by its mother. 

 Another cat of the same brood, mainly white, with a little tabby 

 marking, early evinced a preference for milk, and does not 

 share to such an extent in the carnivorous habits of her sister. 

 As the moth-hunting cat is a tabby it would be interesting to 

 know whether such show a stronger sporting tendency than those 

 less appropriately marked. — F. Chapman, A.L.S. 



A Giant Mushroom. — Mr. W. A. Luhrs recently found at 

 Netherby, in the Wimmera district, a large Mushroom, which 

 weighed 13^ lbs. The diameter of the pileus was 18 inches, 

 and its thickness 4^ inches, while the stem was 8 inches in 

 diameter. 



Personal. — Mr. Robert Hall writes from Japan, reporting an 

 interesting trip so far. He had spent fourteen days in Ceylon, a 

 similar period at Singapore, and a week each in Japan and Corea, 

 and, when writing, expected to reach Vladivostock, Siberia, in the 

 course of a couple of days. The full account of Mr. Hall's trip 

 will, no doubt, be interesting reading. 



National Forests Protection League. — Through the 

 enthusiasm of Mr. J. Blackburne, late Chief Inspector of Forests 

 for Victoria, a league has been formed at Maryborough, with Mr. 

 Blackburne as its secretary, for the purpose of bringing before the 

 people of Victoria the urgent necessity for taking greater interest 

 in the forest lands of the State, and securing the permanent 



