36 Field Naluralists' Club — Proceedings. [vor'xxxi 



REMARKS ON EXHIBITS. 



Mr. J. Gabriel drew attention to his exhibit of specimens 

 of the polyzoa, Pedicellinopsis friUicosa, which he had obtained 

 recently when dredging in the western passage at Western Port 

 Bay. He remarked that this species had been described and 

 named by Hincks in 1884 from specimens obtained at Port 

 Phillip Heads by the late Mr. J. Bracebridge Wilson, and, 

 though he had been dredging about Western Port for some 

 twenty-live years, the specimen under notice was the first that 

 he had obtained. The species is remarkable for its arborescent 

 form and its speciahzed muscular structure. The polypides 

 are cup-shaped, supported on chitinous tubes with a much- 

 enlarged base, consisting of a muscular core enveloped in a 

 chitinous covering. 



Dr. T. S. Hall, M.A., demonstrated a simple method of 

 making small cardboard trays for specimens. 



Mr. E. S. Anthony drew attention to his exhibit of aboriginal 

 implements from Tasmania. 



Mr. J. Searle drew attention to some egg masses of a species 

 of gnat, obtained during the Alphington excursion, from 

 which had already emerged a number of minute larv«;. 



P.\PERS READ. 



1. By Mr. F. Chapman, A.L.S., entitled " On an Imprebsion 

 of the Fruit of a Casuarina, or Sheoak, in the Newer Basalt 

 of Victoria." 



The author said that recently a piece of basalt had been 

 forwarded to the National Museum on which there was an 

 impression such as might have been made by the fruit of some 

 plant. The piece of stone had been picked up on Yandoit 

 Hill, between Daylesford and Newstead, many years ago. As 

 the result of a number of experiments made with the fruits 

 of casuarinas on plasticine, the markings seemed to agree 

 closely with that made by Casuarina styicfa. the Drooping 

 Sheoak. 



In the discussion which followed. Professor Ewart. D.Sc, 

 congratulated tlic author on his conclusions, but thought it 

 was rather hazardous to definitely fix the species of sheoak 

 represented by the impression. 



2. By Mr. P. R. H. St. John, entitled " On the Similarity 

 of Banksia collina and B. spinitlosa." 



The author said that many years ago he had noticed the 

 similarity of these two species of Banksia, and had devoted 

 some attention to the question. Specimens of Banksia collina, 

 from Emerald, \'ictoria. and B. spinulosa, from Illawarra, 

 New South Wales, were practically identical, and seedlings 

 grown from both forms are indistinguishable. Should his 



