Cbc Ulctorian naturalist. 



Vol. XXXI. —No. 5. SEPTEMBER 10, 1914. No. 369. 



FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB OF VICTORIA. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of the Club was held in the 

 Royal Society's Hall on Monday evening, loth August, 1914. 



The president, Mr. J. A. Kershaw, F.E.S., occupied the 

 chair, and about 45 members and visitors were present. 



REPORT. 



A report of the visit to the National Herbarium on Saturday, 

 8th August, was made by Mr. J. R. Tovey, who intimated that, 

 owing to the unavoidable absence of Professor A. J. Ewart, 

 the duty of conducting the visitors over the Herbarium de- 

 volved upon him. The weather being more appropriate for 

 an outdoor excursion no doubt contributed somewhat to a 

 small attendance, only ten members taking part. A com- 

 plete set of the plants proclaimed under the Thistle Act for 

 Victoria was shown, as well as a set of poisonous or injurious 

 plants. A number of specimens collected in Australia by 

 Robert Brown during the years 1802 to 1805 proved of great 

 interest, as did also a set of specimens from Petiver's collections 

 made over 200 years ago, principally from India ; both these 

 collections are still in a good state of preservation. After 

 having examined the various items of interest in the Herbarium 

 the visitors were shown through the library, and were greatly 

 interested in the many valuable volumes, but regretted that 

 the time at their disposal was not long enough to study them 

 in detail. It may be useful to members to give a short resume 

 of the uses and objects of the Herbarium. The National 

 Herbarium, which is situated in the Domain, in close proximity 

 to the Botanical Gardens, was established by the late Baron 

 von Mueller in 1857. It now contains fully one and a quarter 

 million sheets of herbarium specimens from all parts of the 

 world. The great value of this may be estimated when it is 

 known that the Herbarium possesses 12,000 type-specimens 

 of plants. A type-specimen is the original one from which 

 the plant was first described, and which, like a physical 

 standard, serves for future comparison. It differs from a 

 physical standard in this respect — a type-specimen, when lost 

 or destroyed, cannot be replaced. No other herbarium in the 

 world is as rich in type-specimens of Austrahan vegetation 

 as is our National Herbarium. In addition, the Herbarium 

 possesses a fine reference library of over g,ooo books, journals, 

 &c. Many of these are of great value, among them lieing 



