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t>y the natives of Woodlark Island, New Guinea. Mr. Stokes 

 brought greetings from the Sydney Field Naturalists' Club, 

 with which he had spent a pleasant excursion during his 

 holiday. 



May 21.— Captain S. A. White gave an interesting 

 address on a visit to Kangaroo Island, especially dealing with 

 lantern illustrations of the proposed reserve for native fauna 

 and flora. The lecturer read some extracts of the early his- 

 tory of the island, and remarked that it was the only land 

 left on the Australian coast which could be made a national 

 sanctuary for the native birds and animals of South Aus- 

 tralia. The land was unfit for pastoral or agricultural pur- 

 poses, and the fauna was being rapidly exterminated by 

 trappers, who even encroached on the land already reserved. 

 He entered a strong plea for their preservation. 



June 18. —Mr. A. G. Edquist (Vice-Chairman) delivered 

 a lecture with experiments and exhibits illustrative of the life 

 of plants. By interesting demonstrations he showed how life 

 was maintained and plants grew on land and in water, the 

 breathing process and food absorption receiving particular 

 attention. 



July 16. — Mr. J. W. Mellor gave an account of a journey 

 lie had taken through the north - west country from Port 

 Augusta as far as the Tarcoola and Wilgena districts. The 

 study of the native in this country was full of interest. 

 A number of ornithological, botanical, and mineral specimens 

 were tabled and explained, and photographs of the country, 

 taken by Mr. J. W. Mellor, exhibited. 



August 20. — The Chairman (Dr. Robert Pulleine) gave 

 an address on Spiders. The lecturer dealt briefly with the 

 classification of spiders, their anatomy and development. He 

 spoke of their economic value to producers, and showed how 

 they kept in check the ravages of destructive enemies to 

 various kinds of crops. The common trapdoor spider was 

 particularly serviceable in this respect, as it was the pro- 

 ducers' best friend in keeping down the growth of land 

 vermin. The means of offence and defence in poison fangs 

 were illustrated. The methods of obtaining food and migra- 

 tion by webs were also shown. Hunting spiders were inter- 

 esting in their habits and in their methods of securing their 

 natural food. The lecture was illustrated by a large col- 

 lection of photographs thrown upon the lantern screen. 



Exhibits. 

 A feature of the monthly meetings was the number of 

 exhibits tabled by members for general observation and 

 •explanation. 



