36 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



A Rare Moss. — At the March meeting of the Field Naturalists' 

 Club Mr. R. A. Bastow exhibited, through the kindness of Baron 

 von Mueller, a specimen of the rare moss Pleurophascum grandi- 

 glohum (Lindberg), collected by Rev. J. Bufton at Picton 

 River, Tasmania. The plant is remarkable in being truly 

 pleurocarpous, and yet a robust phascacious (acrocarpous) plant. 

 The magnificent golden lidless capsules are interesting to mus- 

 cologists, as they crown a long fruit-stalk proceeding from the side 

 of a comparatively large plant — for the Phascums are known as 

 being among the very smallest of moss-plants. Although the 

 capsule is large, pale yellow, smooth, and glossy, the sporangium 

 is comparatively small and the space between the walls is 

 traversed by anastomosing cell-threads. The spores are elliptic 

 and distinctly curved. 



Australian Fungi. — Mr. D. M'Alpine, F.C.S., Pathologist to 

 the Victorian Department of Agriculture, is preparing for publica- 

 tion by the Department a " Systematic Census of Australian Fungi," 

 together with a host-index and list of works on the subject. He 

 is desirous of making the list as complete as possible, and will be 

 pleased to receive from workers any published papers, etc.. 

 especially on the microscopic forms. It is proposed to continue 

 the list in annual supplements. 



Australian Lepidoptera. — Mr. Jas. Lidgett, Myrniong, is 

 preparing for publication a " Bibliographical Catalogue of the 

 Described Transformations of Australian Lepidoptera," and will 

 be pleased if any entomologists having unpublished notes of life- 

 histories of lepidoptera will put them into print as early as 

 possible, so that they may be recorded in the catalogue. 



The Boys' Field Club, Adelaide, — The annual Easter 

 encampment of this society was held this year at Balhannah, a 

 township on the intercolonial railway, about thirty miles east of 

 Adelaide. The boys, numbering 63, together with 16 adult 

 friends, and 2 cooks, were under the charge of Mr. W. C. Grasby 

 and others, owing to wet weather did not go into camp till Good 

 Friday morning, breaking up again on the following Friday. The 

 fourteen tents were pitched in an oval shape, enclosing a space 

 for a huge camp fire, round which portions of the evenings were 

 spent. During the days numerous excursions were made to 

 various points of interest in the district, halts being called and. 

 short addresses given to the boys by the seniors present. The 

 evenings were passed with singing and recitations, interspersed 

 with short chats on insects, plants, &c. Altogether, from reports 

 received, the outing seems to have been a decided success, and 

 the boys are to be congratulated in having such a president and 

 leader as Mr. W. C. Grasby, who has made the Adelaide Boys'" 

 Field Club his special care and delight. 



