270 



stopped by a shock, it may possibly be found that those only 

 stop whose pendulums vibrate in a particular plane. This 

 should be noted. 



In conclusion, it is only right to acknowledge the large 

 amount of trouble which has been taken by many observers 

 in all parts of the island in recording and forwarding reports 

 of the shocks they have felt. Especial mention may be made 

 of:— 



Mr. J. E.. Hurst, District Surveyor, Moorina, 



Mr. A. Campbell, of St. Mary's, 



Mr. O. C. Heiden, Gould's Country, 

 owing to the very large number of shocks which they have 

 had to record. 



NOTES ON THE INFUSORIAL PARASITES OF THE 

 TASMANIAN WHITE ANT. 



By W. Sayille-Kext, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Superintendent and 

 Inspector of Fisheries, Tasmania. 



\_Eead, November 17, 1884]. 



So long since as the year 1856, Mr. C. Lespes, in a memoir 

 devoted to the organisation of the European White Ant 

 {Termes lucifucjus), recorded the fact that the contents of the 

 intestine of this insect is represented by a brown pulp con- 

 sisting chiefly of a living agglomeration of Infusoria. No 

 specific description of these Infusoria has been published up 

 to the present date, and it is only so recently as the year 

 1881, that a detailed account, with illustrations, of the anala- 

 gous parasites of the American White Ant {Termes flavipes), 

 has been contributed by Dr. Joseph Leidy to the " Proceed- 

 ings of the Academy of Natural Sciences," Philadelphia. 

 Through the kind courtsey of Dr. Leidy, I was enabled to 

 include re-prints of his drawings of these parasitic animal- 

 cules in my monograph of the Infusoria then in course of 

 publication, and subsequently received from him while re- 

 siding in Loadon, a supply of the White Ant with its ac- 

 companying parasites for personal examination. 



It was with much interest that I discovered soon after my 

 arrival in Tasmania, that a species of White Ant (specific 

 name at present undetermined) abounds in this colony, 

 feeding after the manner of the North -American type upon 

 decaying timber, and having its intestine similarly laden with 

 parasitic Infusoria. On making a close examination of these 

 Infusoria I ascertained furthermore that they agreed with 



