Vol. XXVIII. 

 igii 



J Field Naturalists' Club — Proceedings. 



of a fossorial wasp, Diamtna bicolor, often called the " blue ant " 

 or " black ant ; " the behaviour of the wasp during the stinging 

 process, and the subsequent condition of the cricket, which, 

 after a month in a tin box, without food, was lively and 

 apparently well. 



Some discussion ensued, in which Dr. Hall and Messrs. Sayce, 

 Best, and Spry took part. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



Natural Wood-Fibre. — Mr. D. J. Mahony, M.Sc, con- 

 tributed a note descriptive of some wood-fibre exhibited by him. 

 This had been found near Stony Creek, between the M'Kenzie 

 and Bemm Rivers, East Gippsland. The finder, Mr. E. Manton, 

 noticed a stringybark tree. Eucalyptus, sp., about four feet in 

 diameter, which appeared to have been struck by lightning, 

 a deep furrow having been gouged in it from top to bottom, 

 the tree remaining standing. The wood from this furrow, 

 instead of being merely splintered, was reduced to fibre, as 

 exhibited, and scattered about near the tree, while the bark 

 was reduced to pulp. Some of the strands were i8 inches long. 

 For a week before the fibre was found, storms, accompanied by 

 unusually violent thunder and lightning, had raged in the 

 locality, culminating on Wednesday, 8th March, when, ac- 

 cording to newspaper reports, many square miles of forest near 

 Mount Taylor were destroyed. Mr. Manton considered that 

 the tree had been struck by lightning during this disturbance. 

 In view of the high price of vegetable fibres for commercial 

 purposes, it is possible that it might pay to produce similar 

 material from certain eucalypts by artificial means. 



Mr. F. Pitcher said that similar fibre had been found some 

 years ago, and inquiry had been made at the time as to the 

 practicability of growing stringybark trees for fibre production. 



Mr. A. D. Hardy, F.L.S., said that Mr. A. W. Crooke, Chief 

 Clerk of the Forest Department, had told him of similar fibre 

 having been found in the Creswick State Forest after a cyclonic 

 storm had swept through a portion of it. Many trees had 

 been twisted between crown and buttj and the fibre ravelled 

 out and blown about in the forest. 



Bodies Resembling Australites (Obsidianites). — Mr. 

 D. J. Mahony, M.Sc, also contributed a note on the occurrence 

 of certain microscopic bodies in locomotive smoke, glass-wool, 

 and " Pele's hair " (a volcanic product from Krakatoa), which 

 much resemble Australites in shape. Australites, or obsidian- 

 ites, appear to be found only in Australia, and are generally 

 conceded to be of volcanic origin. They are remarkable chiefly 

 on account of their symmetrical forms, which are due to some 

 cause other than that which explains the regular shapes of 



