\™6~\ Field Naturalists* Club — Proceedings. 123 



Mr. F. Pitcher said that the only Acacia at present flowering 

 in the Botanic Gardens was the species shown — Acacia Mitchelli, 

 or Mitchell's Acacia. It is also called the Fringe Acacia, and 

 is worthy of cultivation in our gardens. The fasciated speci- 

 men of the Rooted Cat's-ear was collected at Upper Pakenham, 

 and had between sixty and seventy flower-heads dispersed 

 over the stem, which was two feet high and two inches wide. 



Mr. C. L. Plumridge and Mr. F. Pitcher called attention to 

 their exhibits of flowering branches of the Victorian Blue-berry, 

 Elceocarpus cyanens, which makes an excellent garden shrub. 



Mr. J. Searle, in referring to his report of the microfauna 

 met with in the various water-holes during the Nyora excursion 

 on Cup Day (2nd November), said that among the mosquito 

 larvae collected on that occasion were some that were supposed 

 to belong to the little-known genus Mochlonyx. If such proves 

 to be the case its discovery at Nyora will constitute the first 

 record of its existence outside of Europe. He requested pond- 

 hunters to keep a look-out for the larvae, which have a pair of 

 air sacs at either end of the body, by which they are enabled 

 to remain under water in a horizontal position for a consider- 

 able length of time. 



Mr. F. Spry said the genus Mochlonyx was little known in 

 Europe, and no record exists of its discovery elsewhere. 



PAPERS READ. 



1. By Mr. J. H. Gatliff, " Descriptions of two New Varieties 

 of Australian Cowries." 



The author called attention to two cowries, from Western 

 Australia and the Northern Territory respectively, which 

 seemed to be of sufficient difference from normal type specimens 

 to be worthy of varietal names. The Western Australian 

 specimen was a variety of Cyprcsa venusta, Sowerby, and he 

 had named it var. Baker i, in honour of Mr. F. C. Baker, of 

 Richmond, a well-known collector, while the Northern 

 Territory specimen was a variety of C. miliaris, Gmelin, and had 

 been named var. Gabrieli, in honour of Mr. C. J. Gabriel, a 

 well-known member of the Club and an ardent conchologist. 

 Owing to their highly-polished surfaces considerable difficulty 

 had been experienced in securing photographs of them suitable 

 for reproduction. 



In reply to a query by the president as to the prevalence or 

 otherwise of albinism among shells, the author stated that it 

 did not seem to be so common as in other divisions of the 

 animal kingdom ; and in reply to Mr. Pitcher said that 

 shells change considerably in character and markings with age, 

 and develop colour rather than lose it. 



2. By Mr. 0. W. Rosenhain, entitled " A Naturalist in Java." 

 The author gave a highly interesting paper descriptive of a 



