126 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. IVol. XXV. 



quantities of a garden Linaria were very evident. Our way led 

 over the south-eastern flank of Station Peak, as we wanted to find 

 a large mass of granite which is marked on the Geological Survey 

 map (19 S.E.) as existing a little to the south-west of that 

 peak. We passed through a line lot of Prostanthera, and I 

 might say acres of the Native Tobacco, Nicotiana suaveolens ; 

 also such shrubs as the large, smooth-leaved form of Correa 

 speciosa, with Clematis microphylla trailing over it ; Aster 

 glandulosus, Cassinia aculeata, with Sheoaks, Banksias, Black- 

 woods, Native Cherries, Bursarias, &c. The well-known Hedge 

 or Kangaroo Acacia, A. armata, is here in one of its natural 

 habitats. A few eucalypts occur, principally one we took to be 

 the Red Box, Eucalyptus 'polyantliema. 



Presently the rock mass came in view, and on reaching it we 

 were astonished at its extent. It must be nearly 100 yards in 

 diameter, and at its southern edge rises about 80 feet above the 

 hillside, the northern edge being flush with the mountain side. 

 Some one with a penchant for figures has calculated that it 

 contains about 4,000,000, cubic feet of stone, and would weigh 

 about 300,000 tons. An interesting account of this rock occurs 

 in a paper descriptive of the geology of the You Yangs read by 

 Professor E. W. Skeats, D.Sc, at the Adelaide (1907) meeting of 

 the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, but 

 as yet only advance copies of the paper are available for reference. 

 In the centre of the mass is a large depression filled with soil, the 

 result of ages of weathering of the granite, and in this soil are 

 growing many small trees and large shrubs, such as Acacia mol- 

 iissima, Bursaria spinosa, &c. Some fine Kangaroo Apples, 

 Solayium aviculare, were here in full bloom, and, from the wealth 

 of flowers, at a little distance presented quite a purple tinge. In 

 the surface of the granite several rock pools exist, which at the 

 time of our visit were full of water, so that the tourist, except in 

 the height of summer, should generally be able to secure water 

 here, for as a rule the ranges are rather short of that commodity. 

 A good spring also exists directly under the southern face of 

 Station Peak. 



From the largest of the pools I skimmed what I took to be a 

 floating scum of fresh water algae, and, the situation being rather 

 remarkable, I submitted it to Mr. A. D. Hardy, F.R.M.S., who 

 has given me the following note : — '' The material had unavoid- 

 ably been much shaken up in transit, and appeared when 

 received as a soapy green fluid with darker clots. Microscopi- 

 cally examined, it proved to be a mass of desmids of a single 

 species only, Closterium lanceolatum, Kutzing, and, excepting 

 numerous protozoa, no other organisms were present. This 

 species occurs in various parts of Victoria, and was recorded 

 from the weedy margin of Lake Colac a few years ago {Vict. Nat., 

 xxii., p. 66)." 



