MAT, 1868. 



The monthly meeting of the Fellows was held on Tuesday, 12th May. 



The Secretary informed the meeting that His Excellency the President 

 intended tohe present this evening, but was accidentally prevented by the 

 arrival of H.M.S. Virago, which necessitated his presence at Government 

 House. 



The following returns were laid on the table : — 



1. Visitors to Museum during April, 466. 



2. Ditto to Gardens ditto, 1,578. 



3. Plants received at Gardens : — From Mr. R. Henderson, Sydney, 21 

 plants. From Mr. C. F. Creswell, 64 papers seeds received per overland mail. 



4. Plants sent from Gardens: — To A. Verschaffelt, Ghent, 12 tree ferns 

 (Dicksonia autarcticaj . To Messrs. Taylor and Sangster, Melbourne, 

 1 case containing 40 plants. 



5. Leafing, flowering, and fruiting of a few standard plants at Botanic 

 Gardens. 



6. Books and periodicals received. 



7. Presentations to Museum. 

 Meteorological Returns. 



1. Hobart Town, from F. Abbott, Esq., table and summary for April. 



2. Port Arthur, from J. Boyd, Esq., table for March. 



3. Swansea, from Dr. Story, table for March. 



4. Westbury, from F. Belstead, Esq., table for April. 

 The presentations to the Museum were as follows : — . 



1. From J. "VV. Graves, Esq. An English fox (Canis mdpcs), prepared 



and mounted ; two specimens of the Banded Grass Finch (Fo'tphila 

 cincta.J 



2. From M. AUport, Esq. Egofs and young of Dog-fish. 



[These were the eggs of the common spined Dog-fish of the Derwent, 

 taken from a specimen 4 feet long caught by Mr. M. AUport off the Iron 

 Pot Lighthouse. When fresh taken these would have been admirable 

 objects for microscopic investigation, as the umbilical cord, by which the 

 young fish is attached to the yolk of the e^^, is of such a length that it 

 could easily have been placed across the field of the instrument while the 

 fisk and qq^ remained in the water ; the circulation through the large 

 vessels would thus have been easily observed. As an instance of the 

 vitality of immature forms of many creatures, these eggs were remark- 

 able, the small fish attached to one of them exhibiting lively motion after 

 being removed from the parent fish, and remaining on the deck of the 

 vessel for nine hours. The smaller blood vessels, spread over the surface 

 of the yolk like rivers on a map, were very clearly shown on these speci- 

 mens when fresh.] 



3. From Salmon Commissioners. A young Salmon Trout fSalmo 



truttaj, found dead in the breeding pond at the River Plenty. 



4. From His Excellency Colonel T. Gore Browne. A specimen of the 



artificial stone of which the new Wesleyan Church at Launceston 

 is built. 



5. From Mr. Allison, Oatlands, two Black Magpies. (Strepera fuliginosa.) 



6. From Mr. G. Joseph, Single Hill, a Coot. (Fulica Amtralls.) 



7. From Mr. T. Wise, skull of Seal. 



8. From J. Beamont, Esq., specimens of printed and written ofiicial 



documents of the colony, dated 1817, &c. 



9. From G. Gellibrand, Esq., sample of Coal from Grey River, New 



Zealand. 

 The Secretary read a paper by Mr. E. D. Harrop, of Launceston, 

 *' on Desmidiaceae, with a list of species found in Tasmania." Accom- 

 panying it were numerous and very well executed drawings (by the 



