THE WOMBAT. 3 I 



GORDON COLLEGE SCIENCE CLUB. 



During the quarter just ended some very instructive 

 meetings have been held. Mr. G. B. Pritchard opened with 

 an evening on "Fossils : their preservation and interpretation," 

 and his remarks being illustrated by lantern slides, and 

 specimens were thoroughly appreciated by all present. The 

 next paper was upon "Waste Products," by Mr. W.J. Fletcher, 

 who introduced a number of bi-products which had been 

 recovered by chemical treatment, and proved conclusively that 

 a vast amount of valuable material was allowed to go to waste 

 in connection with industries of various kinds. The President, 

 Mr. James Wighton, delivered his highly interesting illustrated 

 lecture, Nansen's " Farthest North," in the Bracebridge 

 Wilson Hall at the Geelong Grammar School, to a large 

 assemblage of the boys and their friends. Mr. T. S. Hall's 

 paper (which appeared in last number of The Wombat) has 

 been considered, and his suggestions acted upon. It has been 

 decided to take steps to hand a subscription to the Committee 

 promoting the Baron von Mueller National Memorial ; the 

 Club's funds not being sufficient to vote an amount worthy of 

 the project, special arrangements were decided upon to raise 

 the amount. 



THE ISLANDS OF BASS STRAITS. 



By D. Le Souef. 



I have often wondered why more holiday trips are not 

 made to the Islands in Bass Straits, certainly they are more 

 difficult to reach than places on the mainland, but then they 

 are as a rule far more interesting, principally from the fact of 

 their being so seldom visited by anyone. Arrangements can 

 generally be made with fishing steamers or boats to land a 

 party on any of the Flinders Group, Kent Group, Hogan 

 Island, or King Island, and the Hunter Group can easily be 

 reached from Circular Head in one of the local boats. In 

 case any should desire to visit any of these islands, I propose 

 giving a little information regarding each, which may 

 help to guide any who may wish to go. There is a peculiar 

 fascination in visiting an island, probably from the fact 

 that you generally have it all to yourself, and also that 

 you are 'never quite sure what interesting sea-bird life 

 you may come across on them, and you are well out of 

 reach of all communication with civilization for the time being. 

 If it comes on to blow hard, you are never quite sure when 



