229 



deriving their nourishment mainly from the humid state of the atmos- 

 phere which characterizes that climate. It is worth £18 per ton to 

 the Americans, who manufacture a superior quality of varnish from it." 



3. ^'^ Mimosa Bark"" of Commerce. — "This is the bark of Acacia 

 dealbata, and pays to ship it to England, notwithstanding the dis- 

 tance, from the fact of its containing a greater per centage of tannin 

 than any other bark. It is a handsome tree, from fifteen to thirty 

 feet high, forming luxuriant groves on the banks of streams, most 

 abundant in Port Philip and Twofold Bay, between the parallels of 

 34° and 38° south latitude. These groves, when in full blossom, 

 send forth a fragrance which may be detected several miles distant, 

 and on approaching them, they present one of the most picturesque 

 features in Australian forest scenery." 



4. Seeds from the Cone of Araiicaria Bidwillii. — "The magnifi- 

 cent pine which bears these seeds, is only found between the paral- 

 lels of 26° and 28° south latitude, and longitude 152°, 153° 30' east, 

 near Moreton Bay, on the east coast of Australia. The cone is fre- 

 quently found twelve inches in diameter, containing about 150 seeds, 

 with an edible kernel as large as a walnut. The aborigines roast 

 these seeds, crack the husk between two stones, and eat them hot. 

 They taste something like a yam or hard dry potato. The trees bear 

 cones only once in four years, during a period of six months. This 

 season is held as a great festival by the aborigines of this locality, 

 called by them Bunga Bunga, where they congregate in greater num- 

 bers than is known in any other part of Australia, frequently coming 

 from a distance of 300 miles. They grow sleek and fat upon this 

 diet. An act has been passed by the legislature of the colony prohi- 

 biting, under heavy pains and penalties, the demolition of these trees, 

 being the natural food of the natives." 



5. Fossil Ferns in shale, from the coal measures of Australia. — 

 " Evidence has been found of the carboniferous strata running along 

 the east coast of Australia, extending north and south a distance of 

 1000 miles. The veins are worked on the Hunter river, at Newcastle, 

 and afford a valuable export at the present time to California and the 

 neighbouring colonies." 



Mr. Mossman also exhibited twenty new species of Australian 

 plants, and remarked, — " Since Brown's ' Prodromus' was published, 

 in 1810, very little has been done in illustrating the botany of Au- 

 stralia. Few genera have been added to the list given by this emi- 

 nent botanist. Although Cunningham, Labillardiere, and others have 

 added materially to our list of species, there is still a vast field open 



