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fragments, where he obtained traces, which led him to hunt till he 

 obtained more perfect specimens, that he had been able to collect what 

 he had submitted. The fragments collected by Dr. Milligan and others 

 had assisted him greatly by causing bim to be watchful to discover more 

 perfect representatives of certain plants of which imperfect fragments 

 already existed in the Museum. 



The Secretary read a paper on " The Tin Ore Deposits of Mount 

 Bischoff, Tasmania," by Baron A. V. Groddeck, which had been 

 translated by Dr. Wolfhagen, and was a continuation of a similar 

 paper read in 1884. 



Mr. Sprent said it appeared that the Baron had received an im- 

 pression that the Society had doubted the correctness of his determi- 

 nation of the rock referred to. This was not so, for the discussion 

 which had taken place on the previous paper was as to which of the 

 many porphyries the one described by the Baron as topaz belonged. 

 There were a great many porphyries at Bischoff, so it would be advis- 

 able to write to the author of the paper and ask if he would 

 kindly send some small fragments of the rock, to be compared with 

 those in the Museum. Neither Mr. Kayser nor Mr. Smith knew exactly 

 which rock it was, and Mr. Kayser thought it had been covered up by 

 some tailings. The rock varied so much that it would take an experi- 

 enced mineralogist to tell which was the one. If they had only re- 

 tained type specimens to refer to, the question might be settled, and 

 there was no better school in the world to refer to than Clausthal, and 

 if the Baron was communicated with the point might be settled. 



The Secretary said he had written to Mr. Thureau, asking him if he 

 would kindly forward to the Museum the microscopical specimens of the 

 rock. With regard to specimens from Mount Bischoff, Mr. Kayser had 

 promised to make a complete collection of the rocks of the Mount Bis- 

 choff district, and forward them to the Museum. 



Mr. Sprent said it was a great pity the Museum was not furnished 

 with a better collection of mineralogical specimens of Tasmania. He 

 suggested that Mr. Morton should go through the country next summer 

 and make a collection for the Museum. The surface specimens at Bis- 

 choff were getting more difficult to obtain every year, and if they were 

 not secured soon they would not be obtainable at all. 



Mr. Johnston agreed with Mr. Sprent that in sending specimens 

 away it was desirable to retain types, and have the specimens num- 

 bered, so that it could be seen which were i eferred to. 



Mr. P. Abbott read a paper entitled " Notes on a recent case of 

 poisoning by Rhus radicans exhalation at the Botanical Gardens." Mr. 

 Abbott pointed out the habits of the plant, which is indigenous to North 

 America, and described how five men were poisoned, two of which cases 

 were serious ones, while engaged in cutting down the plant and taking 

 it away to be burnt up. He had never known the plant to injure anyone 

 before, and though he was present on the occasion referred to and han- 

 dled the plant he was not affected by it. The latter fact he could not 

 account for, but he thought the plant was more noxious at certain 

 seasons than at others. Moreover it was well authenticated that it 

 afleeted some people more than others, and was most injurious to people 

 of a nervous or irritable temperament. 



Dr. C. E. Barnard thought Mr. Abbott had brought a very inter- 

 esting matter forward with a good deal of botanical information. He 

 Was not aware it was the poison in question that had affected these 

 Wen, or that the tree was here. He had heard of it before at San Fran- 

 cisco ; but when he first saw these men similarly affected on the arms 

 and face, he at first inclined to the opinion that it was a case of poison- 



