NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 401 



explanation when we see a guinea-pig die within two minutes 

 after having been bitten by a tiger-snake ; nor is there, for 

 obvious reasons, the slightest occasion to suppose that the poisonous 

 matter in snakes is the product of some bacterial life. The physical 

 part of the investigation has to deal with the effect of vai-ious 

 agents, such as temperature, light, chemicals, on the venom of 

 different species ; physiologically, it should be ascertained how 

 and where the venom acts; whether there are antidotes ; whether 

 animals can be rendered immune from snake-bite by previous 

 inoculation with minute quantities of venom from the same or 

 another species ; whether or how the degree of strength of the 

 poison differs according to the different species. The fact pub- 

 lished by Sir J. Fayrer, that the blood of an animal dead of 

 snake-poison is fatal to other animals, does not seem to hold 

 true with reference to the poison of the Tiger-snake, in so far as 

 two experiments in this direction yielded negative results. Such 

 experiments naturally require repetition under varied aspects. 

 The first condition, of course, for a successful carrying-out of 

 the investigations referred to, is to have a sufficient supply of 

 material. I should therefore be glad to receive from Members 

 any contributions in the shape of living snakes or of the dry 

 venom." 



Mr. A. Sidney Olliff exhibited Schizorrhina emilia, White, a 

 species of Cetoniidse which had not hitherto been recorded from 

 Australia, although well-known and widely distributed in the 

 islands of the S. and S.E. Pacific. The specimen had been taken 

 at Cairns, Queensland, by Captain Wensley Peel, 



Mr. Olliff also showed the new butterfly described in his paper. 



Mr. Palmer exhibited (1) a young fish (Family Mufjilicke) from 

 a pond at Burwood; (2) a viviparous lizard [ap})arently Lygosoma 

 (Omolepida) casuarince\ which brought forth six living young 

 ones, three on each of two consecutive days; and (3) a remarkable 

 Mogo or stone-axe from Campbelltown. 

 26 



