June,"! Hall, Some Notes on the Gippsland Lakes. 35 



is encroaching on the sea. This imphes a great recent change 

 in the marine currents. 



The only recent change of any importance that we are aware 

 of in the disposition of land in the neighbourhood is the 

 formation of Bass Strait. That the breaking-down of the 

 isthmus is comparatively recent is amply proved by the almost 

 complete agreement of the fauna of Tasmania and Southern 

 Victoria. While the land connection between Tasmania and 

 the mainland persisted the south-westerly oceanic drift was 

 practically shut off from the great gulf on the east, and the 

 New South Wales southerly current would persist further 

 south than it does at present. The formation of the strait 

 altered the conditions, and, as it is some 200 miles wide, the 

 south-westerly drift would be felt far to the eastward through 

 its opening. It is, then, I think, justifiable to ascribe the 

 formation of the Ninety-mile Beach and the impounding of 

 the Gippsland Lakes to the breaking-down of the connection 

 of Tasmania with Austraha. 



The amount of detailed physiographic work that has been 

 done on the lakes themselves is very small, and a large field 

 of research is open to those who have opportunities for working 

 in this interesting district. 



I wish to thank Mr. H. W. Wilson for the loan of most of 

 the lantern slides which were used in illustration of this paper, 

 and also Mr. R. L. Miller for specially preparing some for the 

 occasion. 



Australasian Association for the Advancement of 

 Science. — The volume recording the 1913 (Melbourne) meeting 

 of this association has been issued with greater promptitude 

 than characterized some of its predecessors. It is the fourteenth 

 of the series, and, like the previous volumes, contains a mass of 

 valuable information, extending to more than 700 pages. 

 Professor David's inaugural address deals with a variety of 

 matters of interest, while the addresses of the presidents of 

 sections are. each of them, valuable contributions to science. 

 Unfortunately, want of funds again necessitates numbers of 

 titles only of papers being printed, some of which are sure to 

 cause longings for the full paper when perusing the volume. 



The Soldanella.— Our fellow-member, Mr. G. Weindorfer, 

 Kindred, Tasmania, writes correcting a misstatement regarding 

 the Soldanella which occurred in the last Naturalist (May, 

 1914), the plant being attributed to the Compositse, whereas 

 it is a member of the Primulaceae. He says that the flowering 

 of the S jldanella amidst snow and ice takes place, not in early 

 spring, but in late summer, and remarks that the faculty of 

 removing a thin layer of snow or ice in order to lengthen its 



