164 Proceedings. 
that the contents ofa case received from Anatam, in which was the 
recently discovered Dammara, &c., of new Caledonia, have been 
found dead. 
A paper was read by Thomas Dobson, Esq., B.A., Head Master 
of the High School, on the rotatory law of storms, as applicable 
more especially to the Indian and South Pacific Oceans, in which 
he regrets that masters of merchant vessels sailing in these seas—to 
whom and to owners the subject is of the very highest importance 
—are not found to note with greater nicety the fluctuations of the 
wind and the barometrical changes during the heavy gales to which 
they are exposed, in order that, from the comparison of a great 
number of collateral facts, general laws of the utmost moment to 
the safety of shipping may be established. Mr. Dobson proposes 
vigorously to prosecute the subject, so as if possible to work out 
of it some practical benefit to our rapidiy extending maritime 
interest. 
D. A. C. G. Mitchell read a paper on the timber of the Blue 
Gum and other eucalypti : its strength, hardness, and durability, 
and its admirable adaptation to ship-building. Mr. Mitchell placed 
upon the table an extensive assortment of specimens of the timber 
of the blue gum, teak, oak, &c., used by him in testing the relative 
specific gravities, direct cohesive force, transverse strain, deflection 
and elasticity, and neutral axis; together with samples illustrative 
of the ravages of the Teredo and the Limnoria, &c., against which 
Mr. Mitcheil considers charring the surface to be the only pre- 
ventative. 
pee 
17tuH Decemper, 1851.—John Lillie, D.D., a Vice-President of 
the Society, in the chair. 
After a ballot, the following gentlemen were declared duly elected 
into the Society:—Captain Goldsmith, of Hobart Town, and 
Andrew Mowbray, M.D., of Circular Head. 
Slate from Black River, Circular Head, transmitted through 
Mr. Henslowe for the Museum, by J. Whitefoord, Esq., P.M., 
was submitted, and considered by the meeting too soft and absorbent 
to be well adapted for roofing purposes. 
A preparation in brine of the Marsupium of a Wombat, containing 
a feius, was received for the Museum from Mr. Knox. 
