40 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



The plates for part 2 of the " Handbook " are being pushed on 

 as far as time will permit. 



First issue of part 1 of " Handbook " will consist of 8,000 

 copies, bound in limp cloth, after the style of Baron von Mueller's 

 " Papuan Plants," &c. C. F. 



New Zealand Entomology. — The prospectus has just been 

 issued of a new book, entitled " A Manual of New Zealand Ento- 

 mology," by Mr. Geo. Vernon Hudson, Fellow of Entomological 

 Society of London, of Wellington, New Zealand. The work will 

 consist of about 150 pages, and will contain 20 coloured plates, 

 illustrating over 100 species of typical New Zealand insects in 

 their various stages of development. There will also be a popular 

 account of the structure of insects, mode of capturing and pre- 

 serving entomological specimens, with special reference to New 

 Zealand species. The price to New Zealand subscribers is 

 announced as 10s. 6d. per copy. 



Victorian Entomology. — Part 1 of vol. v. of the " Pro- 

 ceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales" is just to 

 hand, and contains several papers of interest to Victorian ento- 

 mologists. Mr. W. H. Miskin, F.E.S., gives a revision of the 

 butterflies of the genus Ogyris, some of which are found in 

 Victoria; and also describes several new species of the "blues" 

 and " coppers," family Lyccenidte. Mr. F. A. A. Skuse continues 

 his descriptions of Australian Diptera, the Tipulidcc longipalpi 

 being treated in this portion ; and Mr. T. G. Sloane contributes 

 some observations on Ptomecoderus and allied genera of the 

 Carabidse beetles. 



Excursion to Shelford. — On Queen's Birthday the mem- 

 bers of the Gordon College Field Naturalists' and Science Club, 

 Geelong, made an excursion to Shelford. Leaving Geelong about 

 7 a.m. in a large drag, breakfast was partaken at Leigh Road, 

 and Shelford, about 30 miles, was reached at n a.m. Here 

 some little time was spent in inspecting the admirable school 

 museum collected by Mr. J. H. Betheras and his pupils, and the 

 school gardens of the pupils. The oligocene tertiary clay 

 deposit was carefully examined, and a number of well-preserved 

 specimens of shells were obtained. After lunch, a visit was paid 

 to the Valley of the Leigh, where some of the wildest and most 

 romantic scenery in Victoria is to be found. The rocks are of 

 silurian formation, and one cliff is fully 200 feet in height, and 

 well worthy of a visit by students of cryptogamic botany, being 

 covered with mosses and lichens. The view from Golf Hill was 

 much admired, Mounts Elephant, Hesse, and Gellibrand standing 

 out in bold relief. The zoologists of the party did not meet with 

 much success, owing to the season of the year, and Geelong was 

 reached again shortly before midnight. 



