[Vict Nat 

 August 



Ruhe," Milroy-street, North Brighton, Mr. Wm. M'Gowan, 

 Enid Nursery, Ivanhoe, and Mr. Chas. Stout, GilHes-street, 

 Fairfield, were duly elected members ; and Miss Marjorie 

 Hooper, Footscray, Miss Grace Turner, Yarraville, and Miss 

 Amy Thomas, Droop-street, Footscray, as junior members of 

 the Club. 



GENERAL BUSINESS. 



Dr. T. S. Hall, M.A.. inquired as to the constitution of the 

 Plant Records Committee. He understood it was a sub- 

 committee of the Field Naturalists' Club, and, if so, the recently 

 published first instalment of the provisional plant names in 

 the Journal oj the Department of Agriculture, Victoria, for 

 June, should have been accompanied by some reference to the 

 work as having been initiated by the Club. Professor Ewart, 

 as chairman of the Records Committee, explained that, in the 

 introduction to the list published, the names of the individual 

 members were given. The secretary said that this was so, 

 and was, so far satisfactory to the individuals ; but there was 

 nothing to show the general public that the work was prac- 

 tically the work of t^e Field Naturalists' Club, assisted by the 

 Department of Agriculture. Further discussion was post- 

 poned. 



PAPERS READ. 



I. By Mr. P. R. H. St. John, entitled " Notes on the ' River 

 White Gum,' Eticalyptits radiata, Sieber." 



The author drew attention to the confusion existing in the 

 references to this tree and E. amygdalina. He claimed that 

 it was distinct in leaves, sucker leaves, umbr^ls, &c., and should 

 have specific rank, and exhibited specimens of E. amygdalina, 

 E. dives, and E. radiata in order to support his contention, the 

 difference between E. amygdalina and E. dives being less 

 marked than that between the former and the species under 

 discussion. 



Professor Ewart, D.Sc, Ph.D., F.L.S., remarked that, while 

 Mr. St. John's energy and earnestness in this inquiry were 

 fully appreciated as evidence of the kind of work that was 

 much needed, still he would urge caution before accepting the 

 conclusions put forward, and reminded members that Bentham, 

 who had relegated this tree to varietal rank as E. amygdalina, 

 var. radiata, was a botanist whose decisions should be chal- 

 lenged only after the greatest care and deliberation. He 

 added that, after Bentham had gone through the whole genus 

 Eucalyptus, he set aside his results and began de novo in order 

 to have a thorough check on his work. The individual inter- 

 pretation of what constituted a species would always be a 

 stumbhng-block. He thought that, though the author had 



