323 



notice of the meeting an obsidianite exhibited by A. Ferg-uson, 

 from Western Australia, some distance north of Coolgardie. 

 Mr. Howchin observed' that these stones, at one time thought to 

 be of volcanic origin, are now more generally considered to 

 be meteoric. They are found in many parts of Australia 

 where no volcanic action has yet been discovered. Mr. How- 

 chin also showed Sipecimens of calcium phosphate recently 

 discovered on Yarroo Station, Yorke Peninsulai. It is found 

 between reefs of Cambrian limestone in what appear to be 

 waterworn hollows, and occurs in lenticular masses among tritu- 

 rated shale. Fossil trilobites of Cambria.n age are found beneath 

 the phosphates. Mr. Howchin mentioned that he had traced 

 the Cambrian rocks which underlie the phosphatic beds almost 

 uninterruptedly from Ardrossan to Kulpara. Edwin Ashby 

 exhibited specimens of bird skins from Western Australia 

 {Cliniacteris siiperciliosus) {Gracticus nigrigularis), the black- 

 throated butcher bird being the first specimen from Western 

 Australia-; Pterodocys ■pliasianeUa, ground forked-tail graucu- 

 lus; Petroeca rosexi, rose-breasted Robin found in the ranges of 

 Victoria; Acanthiza reguloidts, two specimens showing the 

 light typical form of New South Wales and the dark form 

 of this State, and several others of same genus. Stirling 

 Smeaton, B.A., showed specimens of brown coal from Lake 

 Phillipson bore of much the same character as that from Leigh's 

 Creek. Mr. Smeaton drew attention to the peculiar interest of 

 this discovery as probably indicating the south and west limits 

 of the artesian basin, and as showing the probable existence of 

 old lake beds in this neighborhood. Mr. Smeaton, as one of 

 the delegates to the Australasian Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science meeting at Hobart in January, 1902, reported 

 that the next meeting of the Association would be at Dune- 

 din, New Zealand, in 1904. He also mentioned that the 

 time of year for the meeting in Adelaide in 1906 had not 

 been determined. J. G-. O. Tapper, F.L.S., exhibited speci- 

 mens of two grain beetles, Calandra granaricE and Silvanus 

 syrinauiensis, and a bottle of grain which these insects had 

 completely destroyed. Mr. Tepper also mentioned that a 

 parasitic wasp of the family Proctotrj/pidoe, about -j^g- inch long, 

 was found associated with the beetles in the bottle of grain. 



Papers. — '"The Cretaceous Fossils of South Australia and 

 the Northern Territory," by Robt. Etheridge, Curator of the 

 Australian Museum, Sydney. W. Howchin, F.G.S.. in intro- 

 ducing the paper, mentioned that it would be printed in 

 quarto similar to the Callabonna/ Memoirs. A vote of thanks to 

 the author, Mr. Etheridge, was passed. ''Further Descriptions 



