150 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



trams. When I attempted to catch them I found them too 

 quick, and they all got away, with one exception. Whilst 

 springing away they emitted a quantity of slimy fluid, and as I 

 had never observed such a habit amongst frogs before, I thought 

 I would mention it this evening. 



The warm weather just suited the lizards, and I found a great 

 number. The largest species were on the tops of the hills, 

 which rise here to nearly 2,000 feet. These large ones were 

 invariably discovered under rotten logs. The greater number of 

 lizards were found on the hillside or on the tramways, basking 

 in the rays of the sun. A few smaller ones were found near the 

 bed of the creek, generally lying on stones, but occasionally 

 under decayed logs. There was one species which Prof. Spencer 

 said he was quite unacquainted with, and which he trusted might 

 prove a new species. 



My first few trips after Planarians were complete failures, but 

 I found afterwards that these failures were occasioned by my 

 ignorance of their habits. For many miles I travelled along 

 creeks and fern gullies, over high hills and along the trams, but 

 not a single Planarian could I find. At last, Mr. H. Dendy, of 

 Walhalla, who had been out several times with Dr. Dendy, was 

 at liberty to accompany me, and within a couple of hours he dis- 

 covered two very fine specimens of Geoplana Spenceri, under a 

 large stone on the tram, exactly opposite where the sun had been 

 shining all day. Now, I had been looking in the dampest 

 places I could find, but this discovery revolutionized my move- 

 ments. The first day we got half a dozen specimens, but the 

 next day, accompanied by a stalwart young friend, Mr. Charles 

 Hartrick, we started on regular Planarian trips. We turned over 

 all the logs we could find along the tops of the spurs, and were 

 very successful. We also visited some deserted trams and care- 

 fully examined under all logs and stones which we could see lay 

 where the sun could shine on them occasionally. I kept the 

 specimens in two of those glass jam jars with a patent fastening. 

 Filling the jars very loosely with some of the soft filmy ferns 

 (Hymenophyllum nitens), well damped, I simply slipped in the 

 Planarians as I got them. A curious thing happened about a 

 week after I commenced collecting : whilst opening one of the 

 jars my foot slipped and the edge of the jar struck the light 

 crowbar which I was carrying and knocked a tiny chip off. I 

 looked carefully to see whether anything could get out, and 

 came to the conclusion that the glass stopper completely covered 

 the flaw. Now, I had in this jar over forty fine specimens of 

 Geoplana Spenceri, and about the same number of the yellow G. 

 mediolineata, together with four of the brown G. Walhalla. I 

 left the jars out in a damp place, and the next day I thought I 

 would give them some fresh damp ferns. In order to do so I 



