THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 147 



EXCURSION TO LAUNCHING PLACE. 



This excursion was arranged so as to allow of three days' 

 collecting -viz., 24th, 25th, and 26th January, Launching Place 

 is picturesquely situated on the Yarra, forty-one miles from town by 

 the new Warburton railway. The party consisted of Messrs. R. 

 Felstead, A. D. Hardy, C. S. Sutton, G. Weindorfer, and F. G. A. 

 Barnard (leader). The first day (Saturday) was spent in visiting 

 Warburton, seven miles further up the Yarra. Here a brief visit 

 was made to the Yithan Creek, about two miles from the town- 

 ship, where a good variety of ferns was obtained. Aspleniiim 

 umbrostim, Polypodinm grammitidis, and Pteris incisa were 

 particularly fine, and good specimens of Asplenitun hulhiferum 

 bearing numbers of young plants on the fronds were also 

 secured. Altogether some sixteen species of ferns were noted. 

 Among shrubs the most noticeable were Correct, lawrenciana (in 

 bloom) ; the Native Currant, Coprosma hillardieri, laden with 

 fruit ; and the Native Elder, Sambucus gaudichaudiajia, also in 

 fruit. Some specimens of the terrestrial amphipod, Talitrus 

 syJvaticus, were collected for anatomical observations. On re- 

 turning to Launching Place an hour or two was spent among the 

 shrubs along the Yarra, when some bushes of the Prickly Box, 

 Bursaria spinosa, were found to be fairly alive with beetles. 

 Among the specimens secured may be mentioned Eupoecila 

 (Schizorhhia) australasice, Don ; Polystigma (Schizorhina) 

 punctata, Don ; Ctiris auro-vittata, Boh. ; iStigmodera hurchelli, 

 Gory ; S. bicincta, Bdv. ; Lamprima splendens, Erich. ; Hesthesis 

 cingulatus, Kirbv ; Otnotes erosicoUis, Pasc. ; Obrida fascialis, 

 White ; and Mordella d^imhrella, Lea. Later on in the evening 

 Schizorhina christi/i was taken on the wing. Some fine specimens 

 of the Bullrush, Typha angustifolia, were collected ; also some 

 mud from the bed of a dried-up lagoon for the purpose of 

 cultivating Entomostraca, &c., at home. 



Next day (SunHay) Malleson's Glen, on the Don River, about 

 five miles from Launching Place, was visited. Here the ferns 

 Lomaria lanceolata and L. Jtnviatilis were particularly fine ; 

 Aspidium capense, and several other species, were added to the 

 list. Fine specimens of the Sassafras, Atherosperma moschata, 

 and the Beech, Fagus ctmninghami, exist in this gully. A single 

 specimen of the Black Land-snail, Helix atramentaria, was taken, 

 and further examples of the amphipod, Talitrus sylvaticus. 

 Gorrea lawrenciana, Lomatia longijolia, and the orchid Microtis 

 porrifolia were noted in bloom. A couple of specimens of the 

 beetle Schizorhina besti were taken on the Bursaria. 



The last day (Monday) was devoted to a visit to the Britannia 

 Creek valley, situated in the ranges midway between the Yarra 

 and the Little Yarra, about five and a half miles from Launching 

 Place. The most noticeable flowers collected were Mazus 



