THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 83 



in a paper-bark covering ornamented with yellow ochre and black. 

 The bone is then taken from the women and broken with a stone 

 axe and buried in the ground. 



The late Mr. H. P. C. Ashv/orth. — Mr Ashworth, whose 

 death, at the age of thirty-two, was briefly recorded in the last 

 Naturalist, was a close and enthusiastic observer in several 

 departments of natural science, and was ever ready to lend his 

 aid in the furtherance of nature work. He filled the position of 

 hon. secretary of the Field Naturalists' Club from January, 1894, 

 to May, 1896, when, owing to failing health, he had to refuse 

 re-election. In November, 1894, he accompanied Mr. D. 

 Le Souef on a visit to the Hunter Group and Albatross Island, 

 off the north-west coast of Tasmania, where they made several 

 interesting observations on the bird life of the islands, which were 

 embodied in a paper published in the Naturalist, vol. xi., p. 134. 

 This was ihustrated by a plate from a photograph by Mr. 

 Ashworth. He again showed his powers of close observation in 

 an interesting paper, " On the Dispersal of the Mistletoe," Vict. 

 Nat., xii., p. 51, in which he described the habits of the little 

 Swallow Dicaeum, or Mistletoe-bird, Dlcceum hirundinaceutn. 

 In October, 1895, he repeated his visit to Albatross Island, this 

 time in company with Mr. J. Gabriel, an account of his trip 

 appearing in the Naturalist, xiii., p. 3, illustrated by a plate from 

 a photograph of the Shy Albatross and nest from Mr. Ashworth's 

 camera. This visit led to an exhaustive paper on a difficult 

 subject — "The Flight of the Albatross" — Vict. Nat, xiii., p. 11, 

 in which he referred to the various theories as to the flight of 

 birds, and offered the opinion that too little consideration had 

 been given to the power of the birds to take advantage of the 

 various inequalities in the wind to gain in velocity relatively to 

 the surrounding air. Besides being a good naturalist, he took a 

 leading position in his professional work in the Victorian 

 Railways Department, and, jointly with a fellow-officer, secured 

 the first prize for the design of the Central Railway Station, now 

 being erected at Flinders-street. After he was unable to follow 

 active work, in conjunction with his brother, Mr. T. R. Ashworth, 

 M.L.A., he brought out a work on "Proportional Representation," 

 which has been favourably criticised in political circles. Mr. 

 Ashworth was of a very genial disposition, and many members of 

 the Club regretted that, owing to the short notice of his death, 

 they were unable to follow his remains to their last resting-place 

 in the Boroondara Cemetery, at Kevv, on Thursday, 20th August. 



A Granite Monolith. — A huge block of granite, measuring 

 120 feet in length, 45 feet in width, and 18 feet in depth, 

 estimated to weigh about 6,000 tons, was recently shifted from 

 its bed at the Harcourt quarries, near Castlemaine, by a single 

 charge of 25 lbs. of powder. 



