THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 59 



been published. The Baron is again engaged in the revision of 

 anew edition (the eighth) of his " Select Extra-tropical Plants 

 Ehgible for Industrial Culture." So great seems to be the demand 

 for this work, that the preparation of a new edition seems to be a 

 standing order with its eminent author. 



It was anticipated last year that Mr. French's " Handbook of 

 the Destructive Insects of Victoria," part i.,* would very shortly be 

 published. That anticipation has not been realized, owing to un- 

 foreseen delays in connection with the printing and the prepara- 

 tion of the plates. Mr. French, however, informs me that the 

 work is now in type and will consist of 160 pages of letterpress, 

 14 coloured plates, besides engravings. Part ii. is also well 

 advanced. Mr. French is also engaged on a treatise on the 

 locust plague in Victoria, which will be illustrated with plates, 

 giving the life-history of the locust. These works, besides their 

 primary practical value to agriculturists, will, we may hope, help 

 to popularize the study of entomology. 



The "Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria," for 1890, 

 contain a valuable essay on the eucalypts of Gippsland, by 

 Mr. A. AV. Howitt, well worth the perusal of the members of 

 this Club who take an interest in botany. Mr. Howitt, after 

 describing the various marked varieties of the several species of 

 this genus found in Gippsland, proceeds to describe their dis- 

 tribution, and to account for this by climatic and geological 

 considerations. Mr. Howitt also shows how settlement has 

 influenced the Eucalyptus forests in two opposite ways. 



The same volume contains another botanical paper — namely, 

 one on the determination of the species of eucalypts by the 

 microscopical characters of the transverse sections of the petioles, 

 by Mr. D. M 'Alpine. This paper suggests a very interesting 

 field of investigation in botanical microscopy, for which there is 

 room for an unlimited number of workers. 



The same volume contains papers which it would be presump- 

 tion in me to more than refer to, by our eminent members, 

 Professor Spencer and Dr. Dendy ; but I may mention that the 

 plates to Dr. Dendy's paper in the "Transactions," and those to 

 Professor Spencer's paper in the " Proceedings of the Royal 

 Society," will enable collectors to readily identify nearly all of 

 the known species of Victorian Land Planarians. 



In the "Proceedings of the Royal Society," for 1890, will be 

 found a paper by our well-known member, Mr. A. J. Campbell, 

 in which he describes the nests and eggs of birds met with by him 

 during a recent visit to Western Australia. In this paper 9 new 

 eggs are, for the first time, described and figured in colours. 

 Mr. Campbell's paper is followed by one read by another of our 



* This work has since been published, and has met with very favourable 

 criticism on all sides. 



