Cbc Ulctorian naturalisi 



Vol. XXL— No. 9. JANUARY 12, 1905. ' No. 253. 



FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB OF VICTORIA. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of the Ckib was held at the Royal 

 Society's Hall on Monday evening, i2th December, 1904. 



Mr. F. Wisewould, one of the vice-presidents, occupied the chair, 

 and about 70 members and visitors were present. 



REPORTS. 



A report of the excursion to Warburton, from 12th to 14th 

 November, was read by Mr. G. Coghill, one of the leaders, who 

 said that the party had spent a very enjoyable outing. Attention 

 was chiefly devoted to botany. A large number of plants in flower 

 were collected, the most notable being Oxylohiuin ellipticum 

 and Eriostemon hillebrandi, F. v. M., the last-named not having 

 been previously recorded from the " S." district of the State. 

 Insects were comparatively scarce, only the commoner kinds of 

 butterflies and beetles being noted. 



A report of the excursion to Cheltenham on Saturday, 19th 

 November, was read by the leader, Mr. W. Stickland, who stated 

 that so far as the pond-life section of the excursion was concerned 

 the most notable find was a species of Protozoa quite new to local 

 workers. This was a Phalanasteriura, closely resembling P. 

 digitatum of Stein, and is a wonderfully small animalcule, 

 measuring from -^sq^ to 3-0V0 inch. It occurred as social 

 clusters consisting of many dichotomously branching tubes, at 

 the ends of which the zooids are situated, each protruding a 

 single long flagelUim. Though belonging to the collared monads, 

 its collar does not spread outwards, forming a funnel, as in other 

 members of the group, but is constricted to the shape of a narrow 

 truncated cone, from the centre of which the flagellum arises. 

 Several fine desmids were taken, of which Dociditom nodosum and 

 Penuim 7idqelii were the most prominent. The botanists of the 

 party did very well, recording over thirty species worthy of note, 

 among these being Limnanthemum exaltatuni, Viminaria 

 denudata, Gompholobium huegelii, Pimelea curviflora, Diuris 

 maculata, and Microtis porrijolia. 



A report of the excursion to Emerald on Saturday, 26th 

 November, was given by Mr. G. Coghill, who stated that Mr J. P. 

 M'Lennan had acted as co-leader of the party, being well 

 acquainted with the flora of the district. A very large number of 

 plants were found, either in bloom or just over, among which 

 might be mentioned Eriostemon correifoli^is, Gompholobium 

 huegelii, Sphcerolobium vimineum, Picltencea villosa, Bossicea 



