261 



NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 



Mr. Tillyard exhibited the type specimens of the new Austra- 

 lian species of Agrionidse described in his paper. 



Mr. Froggatt showed a series of specimens of the gregarious 

 phasmids Podacanthus wilkinsoni Macleay, showing remarkable 

 colouration varying from deep green to bright red. There were 

 hundreds of thousands of these stick insects crawling over the 

 scrub about 20 miles east of Glen Innes, where these were taken 

 in the middle of March. 



Mr. R. T. Baker exhibited a sample of a vegetable fibre which 

 appeared like teased out cocoa-nut fibre. This material is found 

 at Tickera, 15 miles north of Wallaroo, South Australia, and 

 runs in a straight line from the beach inland in a general easterly 

 direction for some distance. At the beach it is 15 feet wide, 

 and at the eastern end tapers out to a mere trace. The origin 

 of this remarkable deposit is so far unknown, and a microscopical 

 investigation determined it to be vegetable, consisting of cellulose 

 and lignin. Locally it is regarded as Kelp, but that is incorrect, 

 as seaweeds do not contain vascular bundles. However, the find 

 is interesting from a technological point of view, for an English 

 firm having severely tested the fibre, has declared that it is the 

 best of its kind yet discovered, and intends to utilise it for 

 making a valuable paper, as well as ropes, cords, matting and 

 similar goods. The specimen exhibited was received from Mr. 

 W. J. Garland, Wagga District School. 



Mr. David G. Stead exhibited examples of the common "Fresh- 

 water Perch " of the eastern rivers of New South Wales, which 

 though so common and so widely known as a valuable game-fish, 

 he considered to be new to science. On account of its purely 

 fluviatile habitat, Mr. Stead proposed for it the name of Percolates 

 fluviatilis. The structural featui'es at present chiefly relied upon 

 for the differentiation of this form from its ally P. cohnorum 



