IV 



JUNE, 1898. 



There was a large attentlance at the 

 monthly meeting of the Royal Society of 

 Tasmania on Monday evening, .June 13, 

 the Hon. C. H. (Jrant, M.E.C., C.E., 

 presiding. 



MR. W. C. PIUUKNirs SUCCESS. 



The SfX'RETARY (Mr. A. Morton) re- 

 ferred to Mr. Piguenit's great success with 

 the }>ictures he had been exhibiting at the 

 (h-afton Art Gallery in JiOndon. On Satur- 

 day news came of all his pictures having 

 been sold for higher prices than he (Mr. 

 Piguenit) had expected ; that his works 

 were most highly appreciated ; and he had 

 been able to estal^lish a good agency in 

 London for the sale of his works, which 

 Avould include many Tasmanian views. 



Mr. R. M. Johnston spoke with much 

 gratification of the success of Tasmania's 

 brilliant son in the world of art; 



The Chairman was sure they all 

 heartily congratulated Mr. Piguenit on his 

 success in the old country, which abounded 

 with artists of the highest order. 

 A VISITOR 



Mr. Sadler, of the Great Boulder mine, 

 Kalgoorlie, was introduced to the meeting 

 as a visitor. 



NEW MEMBERS. 



Rev. C. R. Pollock, F.R.G.S., Mr. W. 

 H. Wallace (Secretary of Mines), Mr. W. 

 J. Watchorn, and Mr. R. C. Patterson, 

 were balloted for, and elected members of 

 the Society. 



PAPERS. 



"A LIST OF THE TASMANIAN MOLLUSCA." 



By Miss M. Lodder. 



The Secretary tabled a re -classification of 

 Tasmanian marine mollusca, which, he 

 said, was a very valuable list, by Miss 

 M. Lodder. Miss Lodder had also re- 

 arranged the collection in the Museum, 

 and had also filled many gaps. 



Mr. R. M. Johnston assured the meet- 

 ing that Miss Lodder's work was a very 

 important one. She had, more than any 

 other person, during late years made a 

 very intimate study of Tasmanian 

 mollusca, as well as many other Tas- 

 manian natural history subjects. She had, 

 with that energy, care, and ability that 

 distinguished her, done a good work for 

 the Museum Ijy amending the list of 

 names and identifying some varieties with 

 the original names and types by the aid of 

 specimens in Sydney and elsewhere, and so 

 had been able to correct a large number of 

 mistakes. 



"On the occurrence of a sea snake 

 in tasmanian waters." 



By Alex. Morton. 

 The Secretary read the following 

 notes on the occurrence of a sea snake in 

 Tasmanian waters : — For the few notes I 

 have to make to-night on the finding of a 

 sea snake in Tasmanian waters I am in- 

 del)ted to Mr. A. Mault. During a recent 

 visit to St. Mary's, Mr. Mault's attention 

 was drawn to a s])ecimen of a snake that 

 had been i)reserved by Mr. J. Coombe, a 

 resident of St. Mary's. On examination 

 Mr. Mault found the specimen to be a true 

 sea snake, and on his return to Hol)art very 

 kindly supplied me with the information 

 he had been able to obtain ; also 

 suggesting that I should write to 

 Mr. Coombe, which 1 did, and on the 

 lOtli inst. that gentleman furnished me 

 with the following interesting account : 

 — " St. Mary's, June 8, 1898. Dear Sir,— I 

 must apologise for not having answered 

 yours dated May 25, in which you ask for 

 any particulars re the capture of the snake 

 which Avas effected in our district a few 

 weeks ago. I wished to ascertain from the 

 man who secured the reptile first how he 

 managed it, and he informs me he had set 

 some night lines at the mouth of a small 

 stream which flows into the sea at 

 Picaninni Point, and on dragging the lines 

 ashore in the morning he found this snake 

 hooked. He thought it was some new kind 

 of eel at first, never having seen anything 

 of the kind before. The man procured 

 a large billy, thinking he might be 

 able to keep the creature alive, but it 

 did not live more than a couple of hours, 

 and never appeared very lively. I showed 

 the specimen to Colonel Legge, who at 

 once pronounced it to be a sea snake, but 

 very uncommon in Tasmanian waters, 

 being a habitant of tropical seas. Colonel 

 Legge informed me that he has seen the 

 species on the rocks on the coast of Ceylon. 

 I do not care to part with the specimen at 

 present, but expect it will eventually find 

 its way to a place amongst your collection. 

 Yours, etc., J. Coombe." This is the 

 first occasion that I have heard of a sea 

 snake being found in Tasmanian waters. 

 The late Dr. Gerard Krefft, at one 

 time curator of the Australian Museum, 

 Sydney, New South Wales, in his work, 

 entitled " The snakes of Australia," 

 gives a list of 13 sea snakes ; no mention 

 IS made of any being found in the Tas- 

 manian seas. As a rule the sea snakes are 

 inhabitants of the tropical parts of the 



