2 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Auslraliensis." The last volume appeared in 1879, and ever since 

 then Baron von Mueller has, with his usual zeal and perseverance, 

 followed up his work on the Australian native vegetation, with the 

 final object of completing up to date the work referred to above. 

 Mr. G. A. Keartland then referred to reports of good "bags" 

 of quail which had fallen to the lot of sportsmen in the country 

 districts, instancing these successes as good proof of the v/isdom 

 of the Club in approaching the Commissioner of Customs to ask 

 him to adhere to the present rule as regards the close season for 

 these birds. 



PAPER READ. 



Mr. Thomas Steel's paper on " Cannibals and Cannibalism " 

 proved a slight departure in the nature of its subject matter from 

 those usually read at the Club's meetings, but the close attention 

 with which it was followed showed that the subject was not 

 altogether unpalatable to those present, possibly on account of 

 the careful way in which the facts were compiled. Having 

 referred to the origin of the term, the author stated that no 

 authoritative records existed as to the Fijian and New Zealand 

 anthropophagy, which he was specially about to describe. 

 Various theories were then set forth to account for the extensive 

 prevalence of this custom, and Mr. Steel favoured that which gave 

 the origin of the practice in some ceremony of a religious nature 

 and its gradual development into a feast of revenge, and from 

 that to a regular established taste. The ceremonies attaching to 

 an important event did not seem complete without this feast. Thus 

 the different stages of the building of a temple or a chief's house 

 or a large canoe were celebrated by a grand feast, at which human 

 bodies formed an important item. Details were then given of the 

 ovens and various articles, such as elaborately carved forks, in 

 common use at the feasts, together with the different methods of 

 procedure amongst the Fijians and the Maoris. Men only were 

 allowed to eat hokola ; to women it was tahu, except when the 

 woman chanced to be the sole survivor of a chief's line, and as 

 such entitled to partake of the flesh of those slain in battle as utu 

 for her race. An extremely interesting paper concluded with a 

 reference to the disappearance of the custom on the advent of 

 Christianity to these regions. 



EXHIBITION OF SPECIMENS. 



The meeting terminated with the usual exhibition of specimens, 

 of which the following is a list : — By Mr. A. Coles. — Sooty Owl 

 (Strix tenebricosa), from Bayswater. By Mr. J. E. Dixon. — Cetoto- 

 lites (ear bones), fossil Crabs, &c., from Older Pliocene Tertiary, 

 Cheltenham ; also rare Longicorn Beetle {Rhytiphora rugicoUis), 

 Victoria. By Mr. C. French, sen. — Life-history of the Victorian 

 Emperor Moth {Antheraa australis), with parasites on cocoons 



