Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 265 



It is expected that this volume will appear about the end of 

 April. 



The heavy increase in the cost of printing the Society's pub- 

 lications has now become a matter of serious concern, and, in 

 all probability, will necessitate a reduction, both in printing mat- 

 ter and illustrations, thus seriously affecting the usefulness of 

 the Society's work. 



Owing to lack of funds no binding has been possible during 

 the year, while repairs to the building and fences, which cannot 

 much longer be delayed, have had to be held over. 



It is with much regret we have to record the loss by death of 

 Mr. George Sweet and Mr. John Booth, both members of long 

 standing. 



The late Mr. George Sweet, F.G.S., was born on September 

 16th, 1844, at Salisbury, England, where he was brought up as 

 a contractor. In 1866 he came to Australia, settling in Bris- 

 bane, Queensland, and in the following year arrived in Vic- 

 toria, where he later established his business of brick, tile and 

 pottery works at Brunswick. 



He was a member of the Society from 1887, was elected a 

 member of the Council in 1901, and President in 1905. He took 

 an active interest in the work of the Society, and his practical 

 experience and advice were ever at the disposal of the Council. 

 He was a keen geologist, and made extensive collections of fossils 

 from the carboniferous and cretaceous strata of Queensland, 

 and also in New South Wales, Tasmania, and. various parts of 

 Victoria. Much of his material, which was of considerable scien- 

 tific value, is now in the National Museum, Melbourne. In 1888, 

 at the request of the late Sir Frederick McCoy, then Director of 

 the National Museum, he spent considerable time in investigating 

 the rocks of the Mansfield district, generously placing his time 

 and experience at the disposal of the Museum, and obtained an 

 extremely interesting and valuable collection of carboniferous 

 fish and plant remains, since described in the " Memoirs of the 

 National Museum." Among the new species obtained were the 

 remarkable selachian, Gyracanthides murrayi,- for which McCoy 

 established a new genus, and Eloniclithys sweeti. He also inves- 

 tigated the Permo-Carboniferous glacial beds near Bacchus 

 Marsh, where he found the interesting fossil fern described as 

 Taeniopteris Sweeti, and was second in command of the second 

 Funafuti Expedition, under Professor (now Sir) Edgeworth 

 David, in 1897. He was for many years a member of the Field 



