liv President'' s Address. C^^g- 28, 



To Mr. Peringaey we have been constantly indebted for exhibits 

 of beetles and for explanatory remarks on them. One recently shewn 

 by him, a small tiger-beetle (Ciandela Nilotica) has a very wide 

 habitat : it has been found from Cairo to the Blue Nile, also in 

 Senegambia and the specimen shewn was found by Mr. Carrington- 

 Wilmer for the first time in South Africa. 



Mr. Bolus exhibited a specimen of vaccinium exul which he had 

 found about thirty miles from Barberton, which was very interesting 

 as being the only plant of the order known in extra-tropical Africa ; 

 no vacci?iium having hitherto been recorded south of the Tropic of 

 Capricorn in any part of the world. 



To Mr. MacOwan we are indebted for a specimen of Ixianthis 

 retzioides, a rare and little known plant. He was fortunate enough 

 to procure a number of specimens and a good supply of ripe seed, 

 so that we may hope that this fine plant will l>e introduced to culti- 

 vation. Mr. Woods shewed us some photographs of lightning- 

 flashes which be had taken during a thunderstorm. The appearances 

 presented were curious and perplexing and it is highly desirable that 

 further investigations should be made. Unfortunately for us (i.e., so 

 far as the study of these flashes is concerned) our opportunities are 

 few at the Cape for such work, but perhaps some of our friends in 

 the Eastern Province will take up the question. The interest attaching 

 to such photographs at the present time is very great as it has been 

 recently asserted that in some kind of storms the duration of the 

 flash is not by any means infinitesimal. 



Among the papers presented to the Society and printed in our 

 Transactions the most important are Mr. Peringuey's second contri- 

 bution to the South African Coleopterous Fauna and Mr. Bolus' 

 orchids of the Cape Peninsula. Mr. Peringuey's paper is in con- 

 tinuation of the one published in Vol. IV. of our Transactions : the 

 present contribution gives an exhaustive description of 187 Coleoptera, 

 several of which are new to science and the paper is illustrated by 

 four plates, figuring forty-five specimens. The previous contribution 

 described 100 specimens and I believe that Mr. Peringuey has a 

 third one well advanced. Mr. Bolus describes botanically 102 orchids 

 growing on the Cape Peninsula, arranging them in groups and stating 

 where they are to be found and their period of flowering. It will be 

 seen that several of the species described were new to science 

 when discovered by Mr. Bolus or his botanical friends, among whom 

 i am glad to say are two of our members. Prof. A. Bodkin and Dr. 



