xl PEOCEEDINGS, JULY. 



sufficiently large quantity were treated gold would be found, as it 

 almost always had been in pyrites. 



Mr. Stephens said that the three papers just read would each furnish 

 materials for an interesting discussion, but it was not possible now to do 

 more than touch upon one or two of the subjects mentioned. 



The Mt. Cygnet coal beds, like nearly all similar formations in Tasmania, 

 had been extensively affected by intrusive igneous rocks, and a noticeable 

 feature was the common occurrence of a form of sUckensides, as a polished 

 and sometimes striated lining of joints, resulting from the slow and long 

 continued friction of two surfaces in contact with each other. The move- 

 ments of which this evidence remained were probably caused by the slow 

 contraction of the huge dykes of trap in the vicinity during the process of 

 cooling, rather than by the original intrusive action. 



The felspar porphyry of Port Cygnet and the neighbourhood he (Mr. 

 Stephens) had frequently brought under the notice of the Royal Society. 

 He agreed with Mr. Johnston in connecting it with the occurrence of gold 

 in many of the neighbouring gulHes, and saw no reason to modify the 

 opinions which he had expressed in a paper on the subject read before the 

 Society as far back as 1869, except as to the age of certain rocks which he 

 then suggested might be silurian. In 1869 or 1870 he had sent to Sydney 

 for examination a quantity of pyrites from Port Cygnet, but on being very 

 carefully tested at the Mint it was not found to contain any gold. The 

 most probable source is to be looked for in the quartzose veinstones which 

 occasionally traverse the porphyry both at Port Cygnet, and in the ranges 

 lying west of Oyster Cove, where traces of gold are also met ■with under 

 precisely similar conditions. 



Dr. Sandford suggested that the Marine Board should carry out 

 some dredging improvements off King's Island, when, he had no doubt, 

 interesting collections could be made. 



Mr. Morton was glad the Bishop had referred to this matter. In 

 Sydney, when supplies were sent to the lighthouses, notice was generally 

 given to the Museum staff, so that they might send an officer if 

 they wished. Though they had no Government steamer here, he hoped 

 the Marine Board would assise the Museum in obtaining specimens, 

 as Mr. Brown had told him many specimens were to be obtained at the 

 different islands, and he intended to ask the trustees of the Museum to 

 send supplies of spirits of wine to those in charge of the lighthouses for 

 the purpose of preserving any specimens they may capture. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Mr. Swan submitted a photograph of the nest of the mountain thrush 

 of Australia, taken by Mr. A. J. Campbell. 



Mr. Perrin submitted several specimens of Eucalypts and other 

 plants, including the deciduous Tasmanian Beech, the flower of which 

 had not been seen, but he managed to obtain a specimen at La Perouse 

 last December, and also a specimen in fruit at Mount Arrowsmith. 



Mr. A. J. Taylor submitted a form of codlin moth trap from the garden 

 of Mr. Maning, Sandy Bay, giving evidence of its successful work- 

 ing. Also the skins of a Tasmanian devil, rabbit, and house rat tanned 

 and preserved by the following method : — Two quarts of bran in six 

 quarts of boiling water, cooled and strained, and then mixed with an 

 equal quantity of saturated salt solution. To each gallon of this 

 mixture add loz. of sulphuric acid. Scrape all flesh and fat from the 

 skin after thoroughly damping, and place it in the last mentioned 

 mixture. Let it remain for 20 minutes if a small skin ; 30 minutes for 

 medium (such as wallaby), and 60 minutes for large skin (as kangaroo). 



