52 



11. From Mr. H. M. Hull. — Butterflies from Benalla, Victoria, 



12. From Mr. G. Davies. — A chick with four legs. 



13. From tlie Government of Victoria.— Results of Magnetic Survey of 



Victoria, by Dr. Neumayer, 1 vol., 4to. 



14. From Government of United States, per the Smithsonian Institu- 



tion, Washington, United States Coast Survey for 1863-4 and 

 5, three vols. 4to, bound. 

 [The Secretary called attention to the very great value of the presen- 

 tations so frequently received through the Smithsonian Institution. The 

 books before the meeting were profusely illustrated by valualjle maps, 

 and could only have been prepared and published at a very large outlay 

 by the American Government. ] 



15. From J. Barnard, Esq. — Catalogue of Sydney Intercolonial 

 Exhibition, 1870. 



16. From J. Abbott, Esq. — A specimen of Coal with its overlaying 

 shale, from Rook wood, Three Hut Point. 



[Accompanying this presentations were several printed and other 

 documents, extending over a period of nine or ten years, in reference to 

 the value of the coal, &c.] 



In reply to a query, the Secretary intimated that he had no informa- 

 tion as to the thickness of the seam, but he had heard a very favorable 

 opinion given as to the quality of the coal. 



Mr. Maxwell suggested that the most practical and satisfactory 

 method of establishing its value would be by having a ton of it sent to 

 the Gas and Steam Companies for the purpose of being tested. 



17. From J. J. Butler, Esq., Bagdad. — An English Perch (Per ecu 

 fluviatilis), aged seven months. 



Mr. Allport at the same time exhibited several young perch from a few 

 days to three weeks old, in order to show the enormous rapidity of 

 gi'owth, and consequent value of these fish as an article of food. 



The Secretary read a continuation of " Notes on an excursion to 

 Cummings's Head, and the Falls of the Meander," by W. Archer, Esq., 

 F.L.S. Also a paper by the same author, entitled "Notes on the 

 Calif ornian Thistle." 



Mr. M. AUport read the following notes on the salmon trout (Salmo 

 trutta) 3d, the River Plenty: — "Another, and an important addition 

 has, since our last meeting, been made to the history of* the salmon ex- 

 periment. It will be remembered, that in the winter of 1869, those of 

 the salmon trout (Salmo trutta), which were detained in fresh water, 

 first spa\\Tied, and when the eggs hatched, it became a question of great 

 interest, whether the fry would, in due season, exhibit the migratory 

 instincts of their species in the same manner as if the parent fish had 

 spawned after a visit to sea ; and this question became of still greater 

 interest from the doubts entertained by scientific men in England, as to 

 whether the fish detained at the Plenty were really salmon trout at all, 

 some going so far as to assert that they could not be genuine because 

 they had spawned, and that no migi-atory salmon ever would breed 

 without the pre%dous journey to sea. The Salmon Commissioners, some 

 time since, sent to England specimens of the young fish, hatched from 

 the first eggs laid by the salmon trout, such young fish being then seven 

 months old, at which time they exhibited, in a marked degree, aU the 

 characteristics of the par of migratory salmon, and especially the orange- 

 coloured fins, which are looked upon as peculiar to the par of the salmon 

 trout. Had the experiment stopped at the time when those young fish 

 were sent away, many people might have jumped to the conclusion that 

 some mistake had occurred, and that these young fish were really, as 

 Dr. Glinther suggested, hybrids and not salmon trout ; but, fortunately, 



