ABSTRACT OF PROCEliDINClS. 



PAPERS READ. 



1. The Geology and Petrograpliy of tbe Clareiicetown-P'aterson District. 

 Part i. By G. D. Osborne, B.Sc. 



2. Descriptions and biology of some North Australian Termites. By G. 

 F. Hill, F.E.S. 



3. A Second Bird Census. By Professor J. B. Cleland, M.D. 



NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 



Mr. W. r. Blakely exhibited from the National Herbarium, Erucastrum in- 

 canum (L.) Koch., (Sinapis incana L., Brassica adpressa L.), an introduced 

 cruciferous plant from the Mediterranean region, of which there appears to be 

 no previous record for the Commonwealth. Several plants were found in the 

 railway enclosure opposite Marrangaxoo Siding (Dr. E. C. Chisholm and W. 

 F. Blakely, 8-5-1922). It is a straggling hispid plant with long wiry branches, 

 and a few narrow stem-leaves; the very thin appressed fruiting branches vary 

 from 6 inches to 2 feet long; pods 6-12 mm. long, 2-4-seeded. It is closely 

 allied to Brassica from which it differs mainly in the one-seeded beak; ovate or 

 oblong seeds ; and in the truncate cotyledons. It is figured in 111. Brit. Fl. fig. 83. 

 From an agricultural viewpoint the plant appears to be an undesirable one. 



Mr. E. Cheel drew attention to a work entitled "Nomenclatorial Notes: 

 chiefly African and Australian," by G. Claridge Druee (Second Supplement to 

 Botanical Society and Exchange Club Report for 1916, pp. 601-653) which 

 had a very important bearing on the naming of Australian plants. The names 

 of some of the commonest of local plants are affected, including Angophora 

 lamceolata, Baeckea crenulata, Westringia rosmarinifolia, and Scaevola hispida. 



Dr. E. W. Ferguson exhibited a specimen of the head of a fowl infested 

 with fleas. The flea Echidnophaga gallinaeea, popularly known as the Sticktight 

 Plea, is well known as a pest of poultry in other parts of the world, but does 

 not appear to have been recorded as a pest in N.S. Wales. In Western Australia 

 the flea has been causing extensive trouble among poultry and domestic animals 

 during the past eighteen months. The fleas attack principally the combs and 

 wattles of the birds and often settle in large masses on the host. Unlike most 

 fleas, the Sticktight flea settles down in a suitable spot and, deeply inserting its 

 rostrum, remains in the one place for days or weeks. Chickens are most often 

 attacked, but other animals, including dogs, cats, ducks, tame pets and rats, may 

 act as hosts. Man may be attacked, but apparently not freely. The eggs are 

 dropped from the adult female and the larvae hatch out and develop in the dust 

 of chicken coops, fowl-houses, etc. The flea is not known to carry any disease, 

 but may cause considerable loss among young poultry. 



Mr. A. F. Basset Hull exhibited a copy of Handbook No. 1 (The Fishes 

 of New South Wales) published by the Royal Zoological Society of N.S.W. 



Mr. A. R. McCulloch gave an interesting account of Lord Howe Island, 

 illustrating his remarks with a number of lantern slides. 



ORDINARY MONTHLY MEETING. 

 28th June,, 1922. 

 Mr. G. A. Waterhouse, B.Sc, B.E., F.E.S., President, in the Chair. 

 The President announced that the Council had elected Mr. E. C. Andrews 

 to be a Member of the Council in place of Mr. J. H. Maiden, resigned. 



