18 



and found them to consist of various portions of the skeletons of Brush 

 Kangaroos and Vulpine Opossums. At the first glance Mr. Allport had 

 concluded that some of the hones, from their size, belonged to Forester 

 Kangaroos, hut from subsequent comparisons with the skull and bones of 

 recent specimens he was now convinced that they all belonged to the 

 Brush Kangaroo (Halmatitrus BennettiiJ, Without seeing the spot it wag 

 of course impossible to judge of the geological age of these bones, but, 

 from Mr. Wintle's description, Mr. Allport thought there could be little 

 doubt that the cavern had, at some not very remote period, formed the 

 residence of a native tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalm) . Many of the bones 

 still contained some trace of animal matter, and all exhibited the appear- 

 ance of having had the the flesh torn from them by beasts of prey — the 

 skull and smaller bones being almost invariably broken," as though to clear 

 out the brains, &c. That tigers were at one time to be found near Hobart 

 Town there is little doubt, as he (Mr. Allport) once saw one within three 

 miles of the city — close to the present site of the reservoir, on the Sandy 

 Bay Rivulet. Whatever the age of these bones might be great credit was 

 due to Mr. Wintle for perseveringly unearthing them, and it was an 

 example which he (Mr. Allport) would like to see more generally followed, 

 as by such means interesting fossils would sooner or later be certainly 

 brought to light. 



6. From Mr. Bolter— Governor Davey's proclamation (pictorial) to the 



Aborigines of Tasmania. 



7. From J. Barnard, Esq. — A small box turned from the wood of the 



Blue Gum (Encahjphis globulnsj, showing in a striking manner 

 the beauty of the grain of one of our most common woods. 



8. From Mrs. McLean — A wax model (by INrrs. Jhonson) of an 



enormous pear, of the Uvedale St. Germain variety, grown at 

 New Town. 



The pear from which this model was taken was also exhibited. It was 

 the largest of four, grown on a single shoot from the stump of a large 

 tree, which had been cut down to within about 2^ feet of the ground. 

 There were originally six pears on the same shoot, but two of them were 

 removed to make room, for the others. The weight of the present 

 specimen when first cut was 51b. 9oz. ; of the four together IGilbs. 



Mr. M. Allport read the following extract from a letter from Professor 

 Owen, relative to the collection of fossil bones from near Risdon, sent to 

 him for examination some time since, and which formed the subject of a 

 paper read by Mr. Allport at a meeting of the society in August last : — 

 " After careful inspection of these specimens 1 note impressions of leaves 

 resembling those of a Fagus : Abies (?) ; casts of land snails, including a 

 species of Helix. Fragments of bones, some teeth, and ungual phalanges of a 

 small kind of HyiysiprymnitS, with probably also Perameles and Fhalangista. 

 No. 3 on a slip of paper, under portions of travertine, in a paper tray 

 contains no tooth ; nor can I determine in any part of the present collection 

 the tooth of any animal other than those above noted. There are fragments 

 of bone much decomposed, the nature of which is indeterminable." 



Mr. Allport also exhibited a cast of the seed vessel of an extinct plant, 

 which had lately been found in the quarry from which the fossils above 

 referred to were procured. 



Colonel Chesney exhibited several products, both in the crude and 

 refined state, obtained by the distillation of our shales and bituminous 

 deposits. The illuminating power of the refined, as shown in a lamp, was 

 apparently equal to that of kerosene. Colonel Chesney observed that for 

 some time past he had been engaged in experiments for the purpose of 

 discovering the best mode of obtaining useful products from these shales, 



