XXll 



The Chairman announced the discovery, on the West Coast, of a 

 fern, new to the flora of Tasmania, in reference to wliich he read the fol- 

 lowing extract from a letter, received by him from Baron von 

 Mueller : — " The fern of which you sent a small fragment is Aspklium 

 hispiduvi of Swartz. As you rightly .surmised it is new for Tasmania, 

 though it does not show itself now unexpectedly, inasmuch as this fern 

 has been found in two places of the colony of Victoria. For nearly half a 

 century this Aspidium had not been noticed outside of New Zealand, but 

 it has in later years also been gathered in ]\Iauritius." This fern was 

 recently procured by Mr. George Lefroy, some miles to the north of Mac- 

 quarie Harbour. 



The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the author of the 

 paper read, and to the donors of presentations to the Museum and Library. 



NOVEMBEE, 1881. 



The monthly evening meeting of the Society was held on Tuesday, the 

 15th November, His Excellency Sir John Henry Lefroy, K.C.M.G., the 

 President, in the chair. 



Messrs. H. M. Hull, E. B. Gawne, and W. H. Macfarlane, M.B., who 

 had previously been nominated by the Council, were balloted for, and de- 

 clared duly elected as Fellows of the Society. 



The hon. Secretary, Jlr. Barnard, Itrought forward the usual monthly 

 returns, viz.: — 



1. No. of Visitors to T\Iuseum, October, on Sundays, 559 ; on week days, 



414 ; total, 973. 



2. Ditto to Gardens ; total, 4,607. 



3. Plants, etc., received at Gardens during September and Oc- 



tober : — From Mr. C. F. Creswell, Sydney, 1 bag of Norfolk Island 

 Pine Seeds, and 9 new Dahlia roots. From Messrs. H. Low, London, 

 50 plants. From Baron von Mueller, 6 papers of seeds. 



4. Seeds sent from Gardens : — To the Botuiic Gardens, Melbourne, 



1 package ; to Messrs. Villmoriu, Andrieux, and Co., Paris, 4 

 ditto ; to Mr. E. B. Heyue, Adelaide, G packets. 



5. Books and'periodicals received. 

 G. Presentations to Museum. ^ 



Meteorologj'. — Mount Nelson, from the Marine Board, table for October. 



Time of leafing, flowering, and fruiting of a few standard plants in the 

 Botanic Gardens during October : — 



8th. Carpinus betulus commencing to break. 



18th. Ailanthus glandulosus, ditto. 



20th. Black Mulberry, ditto. 



21st. Common Lime, ditto. 



22nd. Elm, commencing to shed seed. 



25th. Melia azederach, commencing to break. 



30th. Horsechestnut, in full flower. 

 The presentations to the Museum were as follows : — 



1. From Mr. J. W. Johnston. Specimen of Native Bread ( Mylitta Ans- 



f rails), from Broad Marsh. 



2. From Mr. A. Jackson. A Musk Duck ( Biziiira lohaia), from Ham- 



ilton. 



3. From Mr. S. H. Wititle, F.L.S. A Pouched Lamprey (Geotria 



Allporti), from George's Bay. A large Crab ( Pseudocarc'mus 

 ijhjas, Lamarck^, caught in 70 fathoms water, oft' St. Patrick's Head, 

 East Coast, Tasmania. 



4. From Mr. E. B. Gawne. A Diamond Snake ( Iloplocephalm 



superbus). 



