46 The South Australian Naturalist. 



a small aquarium at the house. This I planted Avith water 

 weed, and introduced my fish, but they had evidently had too 

 rough a passage through the large centrifugal pump, and thence 

 along four miles of channel, only to be deposited in the mud 

 on a day of 105 degrees in the shade. My stock were both dead 

 next morning. 



It was nearing full moon, and my evenings were mostly 

 spent on the bank at the water's edge, on a sandspit, Avith Mr. 

 G. E. :Archer Russell and his wife, both of whom are keen 

 naturalists, and are camped on the Murray, studying natural 

 history. Here we sat and watched the moonbeams play on the 

 rip})les of the water, and admired the tall gum trees silhouetted 

 against the clear sky, while overhead birds of all descriptions 

 would wing their way homewards. A couple of pelicans, a 

 black swan or two, the wild duck, terns, and many others, in- 

 cluding the turtle dove and crested pigeon, all passed; then, 

 later on, the dark flash of the noiseless flying owl. 



I learnt much from these ardent naturalists. In the light 

 of the moon we could see the insects running on the white sand, 

 and quite a number of bombardier beetles went into my tube. 

 As I picked them up, a pungent, acrid substance, which vola- 

 tilises on coming into contact with the air, was emitted from 

 their hinder extremities, accompanied b}^ a slight report. Over- 

 head we could hear the katydids chirping as they flew, and the 

 crickets filling the night with music. Towards midnight w^e 

 moved off to bed, the mosquitoes humming a lullaby. 



SOME AUSTRALIAN EPIPHYTICAL ORCHIDS. 

 By J. F. Bailey. 



Orchids are represented by about 300 species in the Aus- 

 tralian flora, about a third of which are epiphytical. Most 

 of the latter are found in the northern parts, about a third 

 extending to New South Wales and several to Victoria and 

 Tasmania, while one only (Cymbidium canaliculatum) is re- 

 corded for this State. 



Although an extensive order, very fcAv, comparatively 

 speaking, of its members have any economic value. Vanilla 

 is a notable exception. In Australia, so far as observations go, 

 the only species used by the natives are : Dendrobium bigibbum, 

 the cortex of which is intertwined into belts and used for orna- 

 menting weapons. The pseudobulbs (or stems, as we shall call 

 them in these remarks) of some Cj^mbidiums are chewed in 

 cases of dysentery, and also furnish a substance resembling 

 arrowroot and for which it is a substitute. Stems of several 

 Dendrobiums are also used for food in some districts. 



