266 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



Naturalists' Club of Victoria, and of the Australasian Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science since its inauguration. He 

 died on 14th March, 1920. Mr. Sweet's only surviving daughter, 

 Dr. Georgina Sweet, is Associate Professor of Zoology in the 

 Melbourne University. 



The late Mr. John Booth, B.Sc, M.C.E., was one of the two 

 oldest surviving members of the Society. He was born in 1857,. 

 at " Tragowell," Kerang. Victoria, where, in the early days, he 

 met the Burke and Wills Expedition during their halt of three 

 days at this station. He removed later with his parents to Coburg. 

 Up to the age of eighteen years he attended Wesley College,, 

 passing on to the Melbourne University, where he took his B.C.E. 

 degree in 1878, and gained that of M.C.E. in 1884, the first, it 

 is understood, to take this degree in Australia. Afterwards he 

 practised his profession, being engaged in railway construction 

 and in the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works. Later in 

 life he returned to the University, and in 1907 obtained the de- 

 gree of B.Sc, specialising in biology. While interested in vari- 

 ous branches of science, he devoted himself for some time to the 

 study of Australian Batrachians. He was a member of the 

 Microscopical Society of Victoria, in the work of which he took 

 a keen interest, and held the office of President, and was for 

 many years a member of the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria. 

 His kind and sympathetic nature and unfailing courtesy made 

 him many friends, who mourn his loss. He died suddenly on 

 25th July. 



During the year it was decided to arrange for a series of short 

 popular lectures on subjects of general interest, to follow the 

 reading and discussion of papers. The first of these was delivered 

 at the October meeting by Dr. J. M. Baldwin, followed at the 

 November and December meetings by Mr. A. E. V. Richardson, 

 M.A., B.Sc, and Professor \V. A. Osborne respectively. The lec- 

 tures were well attended, and much appreciated, and it has been 

 decided to continue these as far as possible throughout the year. 



The Hobart meeting of the Australasian Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science was held in Melbourne on 10th January 

 last. All arrangements had been completed for the meeting to be 

 held in Hobart, but. owing to the means of transport being inter- 

 fered with by a seamen's strike, these had to be cancelled at the 

 last moment, and arrangements made, at very short notice, for 

 the meeting to be held in Melbourne. The Congress, however,. 



