JUNE 14, 1909. 



The Monthly General Meeting of the Society was held at the 

 Museum on Monday evening, June 14, 1909. 



Mr. Bernard Shaw, I.S.O., in the chair. 



EIvECTION OF FEIXOWS. 



Messrs. K. Norman, LL.B., J. Black, N. K. Ewing, LL.B,. 

 A. Pedder, and A. Wertheimer, were elected Fellows of the 

 ■Society. 



THE FOLLOWING PAPERS WERE READ : 



(i) The Minerals of Tasmania. By W. F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S. 



Dr. Noetling remarked that the paper was not one that could 

 be dealt with in detail, but it would furnish ample material for 

 interesting discussion after being printed, and the Society Avas 

 deeply indebted to Mr. Petterd for contributing so valuable a 

 ■paper to its records. 



(2) Tasmanian Onagraceae. By L. Rodway, Government 

 Botanist. 



The author notes the circumstance that only two genera of 

 the family, Oenothera and Epilobium, are represented in Tas- 

 mania, and of the former only one species, which was found by 

 Ronald Gunn near Marlborough in 1841. Pie describes the 

 characteristic features of this plant, and of the six species of 

 Epilobium, and compares them with their representatives else- 

 where. 



(3) The Speech of the Tasmanian x\borigines. By Hermann 

 -B. Ritz, M.A. 



The author says that from a careful examination of the 

 words and practically all the connected phrases recorded, the 

 Tasmanian language represents the most primitive form of 

 articulate speech, and he concludes that essentially there were 

 only two ideas expressed by the Tasmanian language, viz., rest 

 and motion. On this basis the whole vocabulary was probably- 

 constructed — except perhaps the purely onomato-poetic sounds 

 — either directly or with the aid of simple metaphors. Some 600 

 words are quoted in support of this view, want of space and 

 time alone hindering the adduction of at least twice as many 

 additional examples. 



After the reading of this paper, through the courtesy of Mr. 

 Horace Watson there were given on the phonograph specimens 

 of the songs of the Aborigines sung into the instrument by the 

 late Mrs. Fanny Smith, a half-caste born and bred up at the 

 Settlement on Flinders Island among the Tasmanian Aborigines. 



JULY 12, 1909. 



The Monthly General Meeting of the Society was held at the 

 Museum on Monday evening, July 12, 1909. 



Sir John S. Dodds, K.C.M.G., Lieutenant-Governor, in the 

 •chair. 



