AUGUST. 



The usual monthly meeting was held on Tuesday. There was a 

 iair attendance of Fellows, and a few ladies. The chair was taken 

 Ten™' -?' ?, te P hens - M -A., T.G.S. The Hon. Sir Jas. Wilson Agnew, 

 their abse'' '' M,E-G * and Mr " Jas ' Bamard wrote apologising for 



The Secretary, Mr. A. MoBTOtf, read a circular from Mr. Shirley, 

 secretary to the Australasian Association for the Advancement of 

 science, winch meets at Brisbane on January 11, 189?, and following 

 o^ys, soliciting the assistance of Fellows in making the meeting a 

 success, and promising them a cordial reception. Railway and steam- 

 boat tares would be reduced to visitors. Mr. Morton seated that 

 «otessor McAulay and Mr. Fincham, Engineer-in-Chief, would read 

 Papers at the Brisbane meeting. 



in tu' „ Kobert Henry was unfortunately detained by heavy weather 

 m r? e ,f traits Islands, consequently the reading of his paper ""On a new 

 method of dropping the time ball " was postponed. 



GLACIATION ON TUB WEST COAST, 



•' v r ' , MoKTOJST > on behalf of Mr > T - B. Moore, read a paper on 

 rurther discoveries of glaciation in Tasmania." The paper was 

 lengthy, but most interesting. The writer commented on papers read 

 °y himself and other Fellows on the same subject at previous 

 meetings of the Society. A number of specimens of rocks subjected to 

 glacial action accompanied the paper, and were used to illustrate the 

 writer's observations. 



,.^ he Chairman briefly reviewed the paper, and explained the 

 Uerence betneeD conglomerates and moraine, and their probable 

 origm. 



THE PROTECTION OF MUTTON BIRDS AND SEALS. 



Bishop Montgomery read the following paper : — 



In the course of my annual trips to the Furneaux Islands I have 

 obtained information from those whose knowledge of the habits of the 

 sooty petrel can be relied upon, and I beg now to lay before the 

 Society seme further results based upen personal observation and 

 °n inquiries among the half-castes, in order to supplement what I read 

 on a previous occasion on the same subject. The following is an 

 accurate statement of that wonderful rush of these birds to their 

 reeding places every evening till the whole colony takes its departure. 

 ""Goose Lland, evening after evening, I ensconced myself under a 

 rock for five days, noting every indication of the habits of these 

 Birds. The sooty petrel returns to its hole in silence, except in the 

 oase of a few belated individuals, who indulge in a hoarse cackle as 

 tn ey fly to and fro, apparently unable to find their holes at once 

 Jl neri th.e night is very dark. On one occasion I took up a position, 

 val °h in hand, on a rising ground, from which I could overlook the 

 who,e rookery, as well as the sea on both sides of the island. It was 

 "> the month of February. At 6.35 p.m. not a petrel was to be 

 seen anywhere, though I could tee for miles on all sides. At 6.40 the 

 nrst bird came into view. At 6.43 the sun disappeared ; 6 48, sunset 

 "Om the top of the lighthouse and the light flashed out ; Cape 

 JBarren geese heard in the distance settling for the night. 6.53, 

 the first petrel flew rapidly over the isiand without settling. 6.56, the 

 "umbers so great that I stopped counting, unable to do so. 6.58, 

 he birds now so numerous that their flight was bewildering. 7.6, 

 the numbers at their maximum. 7.30, nearly all the birds had arrived, 



