20 (^^^1 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB CONVERSAZIONE. 

 The thirteenth conversazione of the Field Naturalists' Club of 

 Victoria was held at the Athenaeum Hall, Collins-street, Mel- 

 bourne, on Thursday and Friday, i8th and 19th May, 1899. 



The details of the conversazione were much the same as those 

 of previous years. The proceedings were inaugurated on Thurs- 

 day evening by the president, Mr. C. French, F.L.S., who, in a 

 brief speech, stated that the Club was now entering the twentieth 

 year of its existence, and the fact of its having reached such an 

 age should be some justification for its existence. He considered 

 the members were to be congratulated on the excellent display of 

 natural history objects brought together for the occasion, and 

 trusted visitors would appreciate the efforts of the exhibitors. On 

 behalf of the members of the Club he expressed deep regret at 

 their recent loss by death of their patron and friend, Pro- 

 fessor Sir F. McCoy, K.C.M.G., D.Sc, one of the pioneers of 

 natural science in Victoria. In conclusion, he hoped future 

 presidents would return to the former practice of delivering an 

 adddress on their retirement from office. 



On Friday afternoon a lecturette entitled " How an Insect 

 Lives " was delivered by Mr. O. A. Sayce, in the Upper Hall, to 

 an appreciative audience. The lecturer directed his remarks to 

 briefly explaining the three factors in sustaining life — {a) the 

 taking in of food and its digestion, and how the tissues became 

 supplied with nourishment ; {b) the aeration of the tissues; and 

 {c) the getting rid of the nitrogenous and gaseous waste products. 

 In the matter of feeding he explained the mouth parts of a biting 

 insect (a cricket), and compared these several parts, by the aid of 

 coloured diagrams, with corresponding parts similarly coloured 

 in a suckirig insect (a mosquito), and showed how they per- 

 formed their functions when feeding. The structure of the food- 

 canal was also shown by diagrams, and the passage of the 

 food through it was explained, also how certain glands secreted 

 chemical substances which digested the food, how this digested 

 food was taken up by certain cells and passed on to the blood, 

 and how the blood was circulated by a contractile tube, the 

 heart. The method of respiration by means of tracheae was also 

 explained. In illustration of his remarks actual examples were 

 shown, under miscroscopes, during the conversazione. 



In the evening Professor W. Baldwin Spencer, M.A., gave a 

 lecturette descriptive of the Natural History Museum at South 

 Kensington, London. The lecturer, by means of limelight views, 

 gave some idea of the external and internal appearance of the 

 museum, and drew attention to the great improvement in the 

 manner of displaying natural history objects as evidenced at 

 South Kensington, where typical specimens of each class are 

 exhibited in as nearly as possible their natural surroundings, 



