THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. "79 



absolute alcohol, corrosive sublimate, formalin and osmic acid 

 vapour. Perhaps the most interesting of all the experiments 

 referred to were those showing the effect of fixation under stress, 

 the result in many cases being analogous in appearance to the 

 fibrillar structure shown in the spindle of a cell during one stage 

 of karyokinesis. 



The remarks were illustrated throughout by rough blackboard 

 sketches. 



Messrs. Stickland, Sayce, the President, and others took part 

 in an interesting discussion on some of the points raised. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



Mr. D. Le Souef drew attention to a paragraph in a recent 

 Australasian headed " Where Do the Eagles Come From ? " 

 which question arose from the fact that in Riverina the advent 

 of the lambing season is marked by the regular appearance of 

 Eagles, which are rarely seen at any other time. The pastoralists 

 have to resort to wholesale poisoning in order to keep them in 

 check, and thousands are destroyed annually, yet they appear 

 the next season as numerous as ever. The fastnesses of the 

 remote parts of the Australian Alps are supposed to be their 

 breeding grounds, but no definite information is available. 



Mr. G. A. Keartland read a paragraph from the Sydney Town 

 and Country Journal stating that a drug named " drumine " had 

 been obtained from the so-called poisonous weed, Euphorbia 

 drummoyidii, which may prove of value in the medical treatment 

 of sciatica, etc. 



EXHIBITS. 



By Mr. A. J. Campbell. — Egg of the Rufous-tailed Moor-hen, 

 Amaurornis moluccana ; also nest and eggs of the White-fronted 

 Honey-eater, Glyciphila albifrons. By Mr. C. French, jun. — 

 Orchid, Pterostylis nana, collected at Sandringhara. By Mr. 

 Jas. A. Kershaw. — South Pacific Fern Album. By Mr. G. A. 

 Keartland. — Eggs of 17 species of Waders. By Mr. D. Le 

 Souef. — Egg of C alyptorhynclius baudini, White-tailed Cockatoo, 

 Western Australia, and live Fawn-breasted Kingfisher, Bacelo 

 cervina. By Mr. F. M. Reader, Dimboola. — Dried specimens of 

 plants — Acacia lenuifolia, F. v. M., Potamogeton 2ylantagineus, 

 Ducroz, Lageoiophora (Solenogyne) em^yhysojius, J. Hooker, all 

 unrecorded for the N.W. of Victoria. By Mr. F. Spry. — Dyke 

 Rocks from various sewers around Melbourne ; also Pterygotus 

 ausiralis, McCoy, from upper silurian. Domain-road sewer, new to 

 science, and Cyrtoceras, species from Yarra improvements. By 

 Mr. H. W. Whitney. — Specimens of Hooded Robin, Fuscous 

 Honey-eater, Scarlet-breasted Robin, and nest of the White- 

 shafted Fantail. 



After the usual conversazione the meeting terminated. 



