118 ROYAL SOCIETY FROM THE YEAR 1840 TO 1900. 



him is one ou the productiveness of Mummy wheat. From 

 one ear received from Lady Franklin more than 7,000 ears 

 had been taken tlie next season. 



Obsidian buttons have lately been the cause of some 

 speculation at the meetings of the Society ; and it will 

 interest some to know that as early as December, 1851, a. 

 specimen of this curious substance was exhibited by Dr. 

 Officer. The report says : — " Dr. Officer showed an obsidian 

 looking substance, having much the form of a common bung 

 of a cask, or cork of a wide-mouthed bottle, flattened and 

 rounded on the top and bottom (where it betrays the action 

 of weather), and having a number of well-defined impressions 

 round the sides, as if so compressed or pinched in while 

 semi-fluid. This remarkable substance is said to be found 

 ou the natural surface of the pasture lands of Victoria ; 

 inquiries have been set on foot by Dr. Officer to trace, if 

 possible, its origin." 



An announcement is made at the annual meeting in 

 January, 1853, of the removal of the Museum and Librai'v, 

 as well as the meetings of the members, from the rooms 

 forming part of the Legislative Council Chambers to a hall in 

 Harrington- street (now the Athenaeum Club). This was an 

 exj^ensive undertaking, as formerly the rooms had been 

 obtained rent free, while the rent of the new building was 

 ■£60 per annum, with rates and taxes. The inconvenience, 

 however, only had the effect of stimulating the members to 

 renewed exertions in the direction of obtaining a permanent 

 home for the increasing collection. The report of the 

 Council says : — " The Council consider that the first step 

 should be to apply to the Crown for a grant of a suitable 

 piece of ground as a site, upon which, as a basis, then to 

 proceed to raise by public subscription or otherwise a sum of 

 money adequate to the speedy execution of so much of the 

 plan of an extended edifice as the immediate and not very 

 remote exigencies of the case may demand." A site was 

 granted by the Covernment for the erection of a Museum, 

 about d£2,000 were raised by subscription, and the first part 

 of a fine building erected, which contained three rooms, of 

 which only two were then used, one for a library, another for 

 the Museum collection. There was no lack of public spirit in 

 those days : The facilities of communication were increasing 

 in both Hobart and Launceston. Many ships were put on the 

 berth to load produce for California. There were several 

 steamers employed on the Derwent and Tamar, one of them 

 the redoubtable Kangaroo, and a steam service between 

 Hobart and Launceston was being seriously discussed. There 

 were 14 stage coaches running on the main and branch roads 

 of the colony, eight of which started from Hobart, five from 



