PROCEEDINGS, AUGUST. Xlll 



AUSTRALASIAN SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION. 



His Excellency asked if there was any progress report re the 

 meeting of the Australasian Scientific Association for the Advancement of 

 Science in January next. 



Mr. Morton said that so far everything was progressing very favour- 

 ably. Some 200 members had already signified their intention of being 

 present, and a number of papers had been promised. He had also 

 pleasure in intimating that ladies would be admitted to the meetings 

 and ha»re the privilege of taking part in the discussions and reading 

 papers on payment of a small fee. 



PAPERS. 



TASMANIAN INSECTS. 



The Secretary read an interesting extract from a letter written by 

 Mr. J. J. Walker, R.N., Chief Engineer of H.M.S. Penguin, in which 

 he stated that the collection of insects made by him during his visit to 

 Hobart had turned out well. He had sent to the British Museum 1,122 

 mounted specimens. They consisted of 586 species of coleoptera from 

 Hobart, and 1,871 specimens of 798 species from all Tasmania, being 

 perhaps one-fourth of the varieties of insects in the island. 



HYPNOTISM AND ALLIED PHENOMENA. 



Dr. Walter Spencer, Launceston, read a paper on the above subject. 

 The paper was a lengthy and elaborate one, and in it Dr. Spencer dealt 

 with the established facts in regard to Hypnotism, and described the 

 sensation which it caused among members of the medical profession when 

 introduced as a means of painless operations. Although its use in 

 the alleviation of pain among the medicaj profession in England gave 

 place to chloroform and ether it was taken up in France where two 

 different schools prosecuted its study. He gave illustrations of the 

 rival methods employed by practitioners of this new power, and 

 pointed out the^dangers of its practice, which caused the British Medical 

 Association to pass a special resolution on the subject. He described 

 how he had practically studied the subject in London 15 years ago, and 

 at the end of a series of 12 lessons was able to relieve small pains by its 

 use. He showed the identity of hypnotism with mesmerism, and gave a 

 most interesting account of the history of such phenomena illustrated 

 by numerous examples. A discussion followed, in course of which 

 Messrs. A- J. Taylor, R. M. Johnston, Justice Adams, and Sir Lambert 

 Dobson took part, after which a vote of thanks was awarded to Dr. 

 Spencer. 



His Excellency retired to fulfil another engagement, and His Honor 

 Sir Lambert Dobson took the chair. 



TASMANIAN PLANTS. 



The Secretary read some brief remarks by Baron von Mueller, bringing 

 under notice some rare Tasmanian plants lately found by Mr. T. B. 

 Moore on the highlands east of Mount Tyndall. Baron Mueller^ con- 

 sidered the plants to be a new species of Coprosma, its characteristics 

 being a very depressed, matted growth, very small leaves, and 

 terminal small-sized fruit. The leaves were pointed, and the fruit 

 beautifully blue outside. He recommended that if the plant proved a. 

 peculiar species it be distinguished under the finder's name. 



