78 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
Fellows were formally admitted:—Alfred B. Rendle and Henry Powys 
Greenwood. 
On behalf of M. Buysman, of Middleburg, Mr. B. D. Jackson exhibited 
a series of careful dissections of Nymphea cerulea, collected by Dr. Schwein - 
furth in Egypt. 
Mr. D. Morris exhibited specimens of drift-fruit from Jamaica, where 
he had collected no fewer than thirty-five different kinds brought by the 
gulf-stream from the mouths of the Orinoco and Amazon. Although the 
species exhibited had not been determined with certainty, it was believed 
to be probably Humiria balsamifera, Aud. (the flower of which is figured by 
Hichler, ‘Flora Brasiliensis,’ vol. xii. pt. 2, p. 420, pl. xcii.), but the 
fruit undescribed. It was commonly known in French Guiana as Bois 
rouge, and from it was obtained a gum used medicinally and burnt as 
incense. An interesting discussion followed, in which Mr. J. G. Baker, 
Mr. Rolfe, and Mr. Breese took part. 
Mr. T. Christy exhibited a material felted from Manilla hemp, and 
waterproofed, very strong and light, and particularly useful for surgical 
bandages, for which purpose it was highly recommended by army surgeons. 
Mr. F. Crisp exhibited some specimens of agate, so curiously marked 
as to lead to the erroneous supposition that they enclosed fossil insects 
and crustacea. 
A paper was then read by Mr. J. G. Tepper, on the natural history of 
the Kangaroo Island Grass ‘Tree, Xantharrhea Tateana. This tree grows 
abundantly in Kangaroo Island, South Australia, in poor gravelly and 
sandy soil, intermixed with ferruginous concretions, and attains a height 
of from 6 to 14 feet, with a diameter of 6 to 18 inches, and a floral spike 
of from 10 to 19 feet. It is thus a most conspicuous plant, and lends a 
peculiarly weird aspect to the country it occupies. Its rate of growth is 
described as very slow, old settlers having remarked but little change in 
individual trees after thirty years’ observation. The most remarkable 
feature in the structure of the stem is the formation of a dense ligneous 
central core immediately above and connected with the roots, exhibiting 
numerous annular zones traversed by transverse (medullary) fibres. The 
flowers are borne in a dense spike upon a smooth peduncle. Individually 
they are inconspicuous, of a whitish colour, and develope a strong odour 
and abundant nectar during the warmer part of the day, when they are 
visited and fertilized by hymenopterous insects, the most remarkable being 
a large metallic-green Carpenter Bee (Xylocapa), which tunnels out cells 
in the dead flower-stalks. An interesting discussion followed upon the 
botanical position of the Grass-trees, and the antiquity of the type, in which 
the President, Mr. A. W. Bennett, Mr. J. G. Baker, Mr. Morris, and 
Mr. Rolfe took part. 
The meeting adjourned to February 7th. 
