XVII. 



Dr. Noetling moved, and Mr. Ritz seconded, an amend- 

 ment, that the original Act of 1853 be retained. This was 

 negatived, and Mr. Piesse's motion carried. 



The following papers were read: — 



(1.) 'Notes on Treubia Insignis," by L. Rodway. The 

 author reported that it had rot been foixnd liitberto in Aus- 

 tralia. Its habitat is upon the slopes of Mount Wellington. 



(2.) "Notes on the Hunting Sticks, Spears, and Baskets of 

 the Tasmanian Ai>originals," by Fritz Noetling, M.A., Ph.D. 

 The author exhibited specimens, and dwelt on the throwing 

 sticks of the aboriginals, which, he said, were not curved like 

 the boomerang. The sticks were chiefly used in hunting 

 expeditions. their spears were of great length, and it was 

 extraordinary that accounts stated that the natives could throw 

 tlieee spears as much as 60 yards. The speaker exhibited two 

 baskets, made of some plant fibres by aboriginals, and men- 

 tioned the interesting fact that they were identical with the 

 rude sedge baskets made by the lake dwellers of Europe in the 

 middle glacial period. 



Dr. Clarke mentioned that he once knew an old man who 

 was wounded by one of those speare. He was 102 years of 

 age when he (Dr. Clarke) knew him, and he stated that in 1827 

 he was out in the Tower Hill district with a survey party, when 

 a party of hlackfellows sneaked up, and one of them flung 

 a spear at him, which wounded him in the fleshy part of the 

 arm. The old man died at the age of 102 years. 



Messrs. A. J. Taylor and L Rodway took part in the 

 discussion. 



The reading of a pajier by Mr. H. Stuart Dove "On the 

 Connection of Swifts with the Weather'' was postponetl, and 

 the meeting terminated. 



JULY 31, 1911. 



A special general meeting of the society was held at thfo 

 Museum at 8 p.m. 



His Excellency Sir Harry Barron, K.C.M.G., presided. 



The meeting was convened with the purpose of hearing a 

 lecture by Comte de Fleurieu, a member of the French Geo- 

 graphical Society, on the early geography of Tasmania. 



The visiting lecturer said that in the days of the old French 

 navigators, D'Entrecasteaux, Baudin, and Peron, his great 

 nncle, Chevalier de Fleurieu, had been high in the Marine 

 Department of France, and his name had been given to several 

 of the discoveries made in Australian waters. When he (the 

 lecturer) first came out to Australia he was disappointed to 

 find that none of the names so given had been retained. 



