THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 63 



commoner than I supposed. A Pterostylis, apparently praecox, 

 is now flowering in the ranges south of Amherst." 



Mr. G. Coghill stated that P. archeri had been found at 

 Ringwood by Miss S. W. L. Cochrane. Mr. C. French, jun., 

 stated that he had collected it at Oakleigh. 



Mr. G. A. Keartland mentioned, as a result of protection, that 

 kangaroos were greatly increasing in numbers in the country 

 around Whittlesea. 



Mr. J. A. Kershaw, F.E.S., made some remarks on his exhibit 

 of Australian Lycgenid butterflies, chiefly Victorian, which were 

 labelled in accordance with Mr. G. A. VVaterhouse's recent 

 revision of the family, in order to call attention to the many 

 changes proposed in the nomenclature. In referring to many of 

 Mr. "VVaterhouse's determinations chiefly concerning the Victorian 

 species, he drew attention to that author's remarks expressing his 

 doubt as to the correctness of Messrs. Anderson and Spry's 

 record of March for the time of appearance of U^ia agricola. 

 Mr. Waterhouse says that he has "caught many hundreds near 

 Sydney, but none later than November." Mr. Kershaw stated 

 that he has a specimen taken as late as 30th January. 



Mr. F. Spry, in speaking on the subject, slated that the record 

 of March for this species published by Mr. Anderson and himself 

 was quite correct. 



Mr. T. S. Hall, M.A, referred to the spread of the Cape irid, 

 Romulea bulbooocliwa, at Inverleigh, and stated that members 

 would be interested to learn that the White Cockatoo, Cacatua 

 galbvita, had discovered that the bulbs afforded excellent food. 



Mr. F. Chapman, A.L.S., remarked on an exhibit of a valve of 

 a Diatom (Arachnoidiscus) which he obtained from the oldest 

 tertiary strata (Thanet beds) of Pegwell Bay, England. The 

 peculiarity of this fossil lies in the fact of its replacement, by iron 

 pyrites, of the original silica ; the surface markings of the valve 

 are also faithfully reproduced. These pyritized Diatoms were 

 first discovered by W. H. Shrubsole in the London clay of 

 Sheppey, and one of the reasons for exhibiting the specimen was 

 to draw the attention of microscopists to the possibility of their 

 occurrence in the Victorian tertiary clay beds where iron pyrites 

 is found replacing fossils. 



EXHIBITS. 



By Mr. R. A. Bastow. — Two Ophiuroids and Asterias calamaria 

 from the Ninety-mile Beach, Victoria, and a King Crab from 

 Singapore. 



By Mr. F. Chapman, A.LS. — A valve of a tertiary fossil 

 Diatom, Arachnoidiscus, replaced by iron pyrites, from Pegwell 

 Bay, England. 



By Miss S. W. L. Cochrane. — Wild flowers from Sandringham. 



By Mr. P. C. Cole.- -Two specimens of the fruit of the Baobab 



