132 The South Australian Naturalist. 



richer fields of Victoria and New South Wales. A little gold 

 was associated with the copper ore, assays showing up to 4i oz. 

 to the ton (vide "Mining Record," 1908). The earliest gold 

 mine in Australia was worked near this spot as early as 1846. 

 The Victoria mine, as it was called, is reported to have pro- 

 duced 24 oz. of gold before closing down. The party were 

 delighted with the beauty of the scene — the steep gorges, the 

 prosperous orchards, and the tree-clad ranges all combined to 

 make a lovely picture. 



Visit to Museum, June 9, 1923. — In the absence of the 

 Director of the Museum, the party, under the leadership of the 

 Chairman of the Section, devoted itself mainly to the observa- 

 tion of the Australian animals and aboriginal weapons. Dis- 

 cussion on various points raised in this connection with these 

 allowed a very short time for examining the exhibits from 

 Antarctica, so well exhibited in a special case, the arrangement 

 and execution of which were greatly admired by the party. 



Excursion to Grange, June 12, 1923. — About twenty mem- 

 bers, under the leadership of Mr. E. R. Waite, explored the 

 beach from the Grange Jetty north towards the Semaphore. 

 The leader waded into the water in search for marine life. The 

 first object of note was a "crab's sponge," which the creature 

 holds attached to its back by its hi i I legs. A piece of the skele- 

 ton of a cuttlefish or sepia bore distinct evidence of the 

 teeth of some predaceous fish, pr )bably a baracouta. Several 

 specimens of sea-grass, zostera, or seawrack, so common on the 

 beaelies, and a few specimens of Cymodocea antarciica, first 

 identified by Mr. J. G. 0. Tepper, were secured. The seeds ger- 

 minate before separating from the parent. An egg-case of the 

 Port Jackson shark led to a dissertation on the antiquity of this 

 "living fossil." The structure of the case — a double spiral — 

 renders its removal from the crevice of the rock in which it is 

 frequently jammed a matter of difficulty, as it can only be 

 screwed out. A mat of ascidians afforded a striking example of 

 the degeneracy consequent upon **good living." Another inter- 

 esting creature, the Echinoderm ',sea urchin or sea egg), 

 abounding on the beaches, but usually found with the spines 

 removed, has an interesting history. It is found in millions 

 among the most ancient fossils, and the seas of most oceans still 

 teem with these representatives of a race tracing its ancestry 

 away beyond the mists even of geological history. They abound 

 in the Murray clift's, great sections of which are built up of their 

 remains. A velvet fish {Aplocatis Milessi) evoked admiration 

 for its beautiful colour markings. A porcupine fish 

 was seen, formidaljly equipped to meet the attacks either 

 of the denizens of the waters or of the sea birds, as, armed 



