THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 67 



conversazione was held in these rooms on Wednesday evening, 

 26th April, 1882, and was again a brilliant affair. Prof. M'Coy, 

 owing to indisposition, was unable to be present, but his address 

 was read by the the Rev. J. J. Halley. The address (i/^.S.E., ii., 

 106), as before, was characteristic of the man, and contained 

 sound advice for future work. Lecturettes were given by Rev. 

 J. J. Halley, on ' The Beauties and Curiosities of Protophytes ; ' 

 by Mr. H. Watts, on ' Microscopic Life around Melbourne,' 

 and the exhibits again comprised a great variety of interesting 

 objects. 



*' 1882-3. — Under the same president and secretary the 

 Club entered into its third year in May, 1882. During the year a 

 rule to provide for ' life members,' on payment of ;£$, was 

 passed, and Mr. B. R. Patey availed himself of the privilege, but 

 has seldom visited the Club since. Had several more of us fol- 

 lowed his example we should have saved pounds by the venture, 

 and the Club would have been the poorer. At the annual 

 meeting {S.S.E., iii., 157), at the end of the year, provision was 

 made for juniors, at the reduced subscription of 5s. each, and 

 three were enrolled for 1883-4. The committee's report recorded 

 170 members, though the amount received from subscriptions 

 does not warrant the statement ; thirty-five papers were read, 

 many of which appeared in the second and third volumes of the 

 S. S. Record ; while the credit balance showed a slight reduction. 

 The third conversazione was held on Wednesday evening, 25th 

 April, 1883, when Prof. M'Coy, F.G.S., gave the last of his 

 presidential addresses {S.S.R., iii., 139), again calling attention to 

 lines of investigation which have, up to the present time, been 

 barely touched upon, Lecturettes were given by Mr. T. A. 

 Forbes-Leith, on ' Parrots,' of which he had a wonderful know- 

 ledge and a magnificent collection ; by Mr. J. F. Bailey, on ' The 

 Nautilus and Argonaut ; ' and by Mr, H. Watts, on ' Foramin- 

 ifera.' The collection of exhibits was considered the best yet 

 got together, and among them may be mentioned some coloured 

 drawings of native flowers, by a schoolmaster at Walhalla, who in 

 after years as our late friend, Mr. H. T. Tisdall, did much to 

 advance our society. 



" 1883-4.— The Hon. Dr. Dobson, M.L.C., occupied the 

 presidential chair this year, while Mr. D. Best completed his 

 period of service as hon. secretary. A valuable addition to 

 the ranks of the Club was a new arrival from England in 

 the person of Mr. A. H. S. Lucas, M.A., B.Sc, who, in January, 

 1884, became first editor of the Victorian Naturalist, a post 

 which he continued to fill with great satisfaction until De- 

 cember, 1892, when his removal to Sydney left a vacancy 

 in the ranks of Victorian scientists which took long to fill- 



