May,"! Field Naturalists' Club — Proceedings. 3 



the results of an examination of its microscopic plankton, 

 which was the main object of the visit. 



In discussing the paper, Mr. F. Wisewould said the author 

 was fortunate in being able to journey to the Great Lake by 

 motor-car. On the occasion of his visit to the lake in January, 

 1886, he had to make the journey on foot, and had to carry the 

 requisite food and equipment. The vegetation was then so 

 dense that progress was only possible by following up the beds 

 of the streams. At one point along the route he had noticed 

 a large area of dead timber, that had not been ringed or 

 destroyed by fire, and, on inquiring the cause occasioning >the 

 death of the trees, had been informed that .it was due to an 

 intensely cold winter. Why the timber in this particular spot 

 should be adversely affected by a low temperature and not 

 elsewhere his informants could not explain. He complimented 

 the author on his interesting geological description of Tasmania 

 and on the excellence of the slides shown. 



The president expressed his pleasure in listening to the 

 author's remarks, and said that, although he had visited Tas- 

 mania on several occasions, he had found the country to the 

 north of the Great Lake, around Cradle Mountain, so inter- 

 esting that he could not bring himself to proceed further afield. 



Mr. A. D. Hardy asked if any investigation of the algae of 

 the lake had been made, and Mr. Barnard how the Great Lake 

 compared in respect to size with Lake Corangamite, Victoria. 



In reply, Mr. Shephard said he had noticed the phenomenon 

 referred to by Mr. F. Wisewould, but could give no explana- 

 tion of it. The area of the Great Lake was estimated at 28,000 

 acres, and its shore-line at 90 miles, or about half the size of 

 Corangamite. He had paid little or no attention to the algae 

 of the lake, although there was a considerable quantity in its 

 waters ; he had specimens, however, which he would be pleased 

 to hand over to Mr. Hardy for examination. 



EXHIBITS. 



By Mr. F. Chapman, A.L.S. — Specimens collected on the 

 occasion of the Club's excursion to Wilson's Quarry, Berwick, 

 8/4/16 ; fossil leaves belonging to the genera Lomatia, Fagus, 

 Eucalyptus, Tristanites, and MoUinedia, also sample of Older 

 Basalt from same quarry ; geological specimens from Egypt, 

 collected by Private W. D. Chapman. 



By Mr. J. Gabriel. — " Guada Bean," four feet in length, 

 grown at Richmond. 



By Mr. J. Shephard. — Plankton (formal material) ; speci- 

 mens of freshwater crustacean, Paranaspides lacustris, from 

 Great Lake, Tasmania. 



After the usual conversazione the meeting terminated. 



