46 THE VICTORIAN NATUUALIST. 



PAPERS READ. 



1. By Mr. G. A. Waterhouse, B.Sc, B.E., F.E.S. (commun- 

 icated by Mr. G. Lyell), entitled " Descriptions and Notes of 

 Australian Hesperidse, Chiefly Victorian." 



The author described a new species of " Skipper " butterfly 

 from Cairns, North Queensland, and the female of Telesto mon- 

 ticolce, Olliff, from Walhalla, Victoria, hitherto unrecorded. He 

 also gave some notes on the synonymy of Trapezites maheta, 

 Hew., with descriptions of two well-marked varieties of that 

 butterfly. 



Mr. J. A. Kershaw, F.E.S., congratulated the author on the 

 excellent work he is doing in Australian butterflies, and alluded 

 to some of the recent work done in the Skippers, particularly by 

 Messrs. E. Meyrick and O. Lower, whose monograph on the 

 Hesperidae will form a valuable foundation upon which future 

 workers could base their studies. He thought, however, that 

 Euschemon rafflesue, notwithstanding its possession of a frenulum, 

 should still be included at tlie end of the family. 



2. By Mr. VV. Hopkins (communicated by Mr. T. S. Hall, 

 M.A.), entitled "Notes on Eels." 



The author related a number of circumstances in connection 

 with eels which had come under his notice during a residence of 

 several years in the Winchelsea district, and made several 

 suggestions as to where eels breed. 



Mr. T. S. Hall, M.A., said the notes by Mr. Hopkins were of 

 interest as raising again the whole question of eel-breeding, which, 

 despite what has been done, cannot be regarded as definitely 

 settled. It has long been known that no sexually mature eels 

 have been found in fresh water, and since the days of Aristotle, 

 and probably before, the question as to how they bred has been 

 a mystery. It was known that eels at certain seasons went out 

 to sea, and that young eels a couple of inches long passed up the 

 rivers from the sea, and the natural assumption was that breeding 

 took place in the sea. But what is the young eel like when it is 

 less than a couple of inches long ? This question appears to 

 have been settled by Professor Grassi in papers published some 

 time ago (Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond., Nov., 1896, and Quart. Jour. 

 Micros. Sci., vol. xxxix., p. 371). Briefly, sexually mature eels — 

 that is, the common river eels of Europe — have been caught off 

 Messina at a depth of about 300 fathoms. Their ova produce 

 ribbon-shaped transparent fish, which grow to a couple of 

 inches in length. These had long been known as Leptocephali, 

 and are deep sea forms, only reaching the surface by accident. 

 These change into elvers, or young eels, actually decreasing in 

 bulk during the process. In this form we know them well, 

 and now see why elvers under a couple of inches are un- 

 known : there are none. Professor Grassi's work appears to be 



