486 



« 

 at this time of the year, were, to the disappointinent of mem- 

 bers, absent. Mr. Edquist gave an interesting address upon 

 "Autumn Tints and their Causes," which he demonstrated with 

 interesting experiments, including the separation of the green, 

 yellow, and red colouring matter found in the changing leaves 

 of the surrounding trees and shrubs. 



On May 24, 1913, an excursion was conducted through the 

 Botanical Gardens, under the guidance of Dr. Holtze, I.S.O., 

 where the various departments were visited by the members. 



On June 9, 1913, a whole-day excursion was made to 

 Hallett Cove. Many interesting plants were found in its 

 neighbourhood, including the Ghara, which, when decayed, has 

 the peculiar property of forming limestone from its casing, 

 Mr. A. G. Edquist pointed out the various botanical and geo- 

 logical features of the country, and much interest was shown 

 in the erratics, huge glacial rocks, some foreign to South Aus- 

 tralia, which had been distributed by the ancient glacier. The 

 contorted state of the rocks and their numerous faults were 

 also pointed out. Mr. W. J. Kimber was in charge of the 

 marine life section, and named the shells discovered on the 

 sands by the members. Reference was also made to the limpet 

 and periwinkle, which were vegetarians, browsing around and 

 obtaining their food on algae, while the Murex, the common 

 whelk, the melo, and the starfish were carnivorous, and lived 

 on other animals. Considerable interest was taken in the 

 Littorina, a shell which is evidently passing through a process 

 . of evolution. It is able to live fourteen days above high-water 

 mark, and will in all probability become a land shell. 



On June 28 a visit was made to the National Museum, 

 where members placed themselves under the direction of Pro- 

 fessor E. C. Stirling, M.D., F.R.S., and a most profitable 

 afternoon was spent. 



On July 26 the members availed themselves of the kind 

 invitation of Mrs. Kimber and visited Klemzig, where the 

 party was most hospitably received. Part of the afternoon 

 had been spent in exploring the foothills at Highbury, and it 

 was regretted that the whole of the available time had not 

 been devoted to the inspection of Mr. Kimber's famous collec- 

 tion of shells, numbering in all about 7,000. The collection is 

 not only rich in Australian shells and fossils, but contains beau- 

 tiful specimens from all parts of the world, and afforded the 

 members a most instructive afternoon. It is proposed to accept 

 Mr. Kimber's kind invitation to visit them next year. 



On August 15 an evening visit was paid to the Observatory 

 where, under the guidance of Mr. Dodwell, B.A., the Society 

 was afforded an opportunity of becoming acquainted with some 

 of the wonders of the Universe. By means of lantern slides 



