56 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXV. 



The Pre-Historic Elephant. — Natural science is obtaining 

 greater prominence in the newspapers of the day, and in the 

 Illustrated London News of yth March will be found an excellently 

 illustrated article on the researches now being made in the Fayum 

 Desert, Egypt, about 50 miles south-west of Cairo. Here the 

 remains of more than 30 species of land animals, many of gigantic 

 size, have been discovered, and Prof. Osborn, of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, considers Northern Africa to have 

 been the ancestral home, perhaps two millions of years ago, of 

 our modern elephants. 



Hawthorn and Camberwell Microscopical Society. — 

 The annual conversazione of this society was held at Camberwell 

 on Tuesday evening, 23rd June, when, notwithstanding the 

 inclement weather, there was a good attendance of members and 

 friends. Visitors had a fine choice of subjects for examination, 

 as some sixty microscopes were in use, each having its own 

 particular subject, which was indicated by a prominent placard, 

 while on the adjacent walls were enlarged diagrams of the objects 

 displayed. The president, Mr. O. A. Sayce, in a brief address, 

 referred to the objects of the society, and regretted that the 

 example of the society was not followed in Other suburbs of 

 Melbourne, an example which he felt sure would add greatly to 

 the interest in the everyday objects around us. During the 

 evening a lecturette, illustrated by lantern views, was given by 

 Dr. T. S. Hall, M.A., on "The Geology of Camberwell," which, 

 as it appealed to an audience familiar with the places mentioned 

 or depicted on the screen, was greatly appreciated, and brought 

 home to many how geologically interesting are the hills and 

 valleys of the Eastern Suburbs. 



Cormorants. — At the May meeting of the Victorian Fish 

 Protection Society and Anglers' Club, Mr. A. H. E. Mattingley, 

 C.M.Z.S., who, by the way, is an enthusiastic fisherman as well 

 as bird observer, read an interesting paper in which he main- 

 tained, in opposition to the usual idea, that Cormorants are the 

 angler's best friends. He based his remarks on the fact that 

 enemies to fish ova or the young fry are far more serious than 

 those of the adult fish, and that the loss of any full-grown fish 

 which Cormorants may devour is more than counterbalanced by 

 the vast amount of good which they do as enemies of yabbies, 

 turtles, frogs, &c., which are very destructive to fish ova 

 and young fry. The results of his observations among the 

 Cormorant rookeries of the Murray swamps convinced him that 

 these birds did more good than harm. The full text of the paper 

 will be found in the North Melbourne Courier of 29lh May and 

 5th June, 1908. 



