118 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



EXCURSION TO CHELTENHAM. 



A fair number of members of the Club met at the Cheltenham 

 station on Saturday afternoon, 18th August. The excursion 

 having been arranged in the interests of botanists and collectors 

 of pond life, the former, under the leadership of Mr. C. French, 

 jun., struck across the heath ground to the Ti-tree at Black Rock, 

 and from thence along the coast to Sandringham. The curious 

 little plant Phylloglossum Drummondi was found in swampy 

 places rather abundantly, and among other plants collected may 

 be noted Epacris impressa (red and white varieties), Galadenia 

 deformis, Pterostylis nutans, P. concinna, P. pedunculated, P. nana, 

 Cyrtostylis reniformis (very fine specimens, some having as many 

 as eight to twelve flowers on one stem), Acianthus exsertus, 

 Eriochilus Jimbriatus (just finished flowering). Also a specimen of 

 Loranthus celastroides was found growing on the Leptospermum 

 Icevigatum , this plant is rather rare in this locality. 



On reaching the spring whence the Cheltenham water supply 

 is partially obtained the botanists went ahead, leaving the " pond 

 life " workers, under the leadership of Mr. J. Shephard, to pursue 

 their investigations more leisurely. After collecting sundry water 

 plants and bottling water, the party proceeded over the open 

 country for about a mile, to the spot visited last year, pausing on 

 the way to examine several swampy places. On reaching the 

 spring a more careful examination was made, and all available 

 vessels filled for subsequent investigation. Volvox was noted, 

 but was not plentiful. Among the forms seen on searching over 

 the material was the Rotifer found last year and mentioned as 

 being intermediate between Anurea cochlearis and A. stipltata ; 

 also several Floscules. Some very interesting collared Protozoa 

 were found. One form agreed exactly with Kent's description of 

 Salpingaica marina, though, of course, it was a freshwater species. 

 Another might with confidence, from its shape and size, have 

 been identical with S. amphoridium, but no lorica was detected, 

 though probably with more prolonged examination this might 

 have been demonstrated. The blue Stentor, & cceruleus, was 

 found in numbers. Mr. W. Stickland reports a representative 

 of the Vorticellidos with vivid green corpuscles embedded in its 

 substance. A cursory examination of Kent did not produce any 

 reference to the occurrence of chlorophyll in this family, though 

 so common among the Protozoa. — C. French, jun.; J. Shephard. 



EXCURSION TO FRANKSTON. 



This excursion took place on Saturday, the 29th of September, 

 when the attendance was very small, although the day was a 

 delightful one, and the country, for wild flowers at least, was 



