THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 147 



soil with his pick. Just below lay a bed of ironstone pebbles and 

 small boulders, amongst which the casts of Unios were soon 

 noticed. Frequently these were imbedded in the stones, but 

 sometimes were found loose. A number of them were collected, 

 and we proceeded down the hillside, still finding shells below the 

 surface, though less abundantly. 



About three miles to the south, and from 400 to 500 feet lower 

 than the hill, the Wannon River could be seen, and I observed 

 that a long and very winding valley led right down to it. We did 

 not descend far into the valley, as, after a short distance, we 

 could find no more shells ; but, when standing on the hill-top and 

 looking down the valley, I could easily believe that it had been 

 first marked out by a creek which has since dried up. That a 

 stream formerly ran in the line of the ironstone gravel containing 

 Unios, is evident, and this long winding valley may possibly have 

 been the channel by which it reached the Wannon. The river 

 must then have flowed at a higher level than at present, the 

 descent from the high ground having become gradually greater as 

 it cut its way down deeper and deeper into the mesozoic strata. 



I have not found the same species of Unio living in the Wannon, 

 but Professor Tate, to whom I submitted specimens of the iron- 

 stone casts, considers that they agree very well with Unio depressus 

 (Lamarck), an existing species, the type of which is from the Nepean 

 River, New South Wales. 



The creek, therefore, in which these Unios lived was probably 

 first formed in either pliocene or pleistocene times, and may have 

 been still flowing in the early part of the recent period. 



No other organic remains were noticed amongst the ironstone 

 gravel, though, if time had admitted, I should have liked to search 

 for some. This was, however, necessarily deferred till a future 

 occasion ; and, having again harnessed up the horses, we drove 

 back to the hotel, where we arrived just in time for breakfast, for 

 which the morning's work had given us an uncommonly good 

 appetite. 



NOTES ON THE HABITS AND SENSES OF SPIDERS 



—PART I. 



By C. Frost. 

 ( Read before Field Naturalists' Chib of Victoria, ()th December, 1889.^ 

 It is with much diffidence that I appear with a paper on this 

 subject ; indeed, the little I know about spiders only serves to 

 show me how slight that knowledge is. But a sense of the dis- 

 regard in which these small animals are held by members of this 

 society has led me to come forward on their behalf, in the hope 

 that others may be induced to take up this subject, and help to 

 secure for spiders the attention they deserve. To me they appear 



