629 



NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 



Mr. Tillyard exhibited a beautiful series of dragonflies with 

 coloured wings, belonging to the genera Rhyothemis and Neuro- 

 themis, family Libelhdidce. These interesting insects are tropical 

 in their distribution. Of the six Australian species the smallest, 

 R. resplendens, is also the most brilliant, the wings showing 

 wonderful metallic blue reflections R. pi'inceps h&s wings quite 

 black, and R. Alcestis, a very rare species, has them half black 

 and half hyaline. R. Chloe has beautiful black and orange 

 markings, while R. graphiptera, which extends into New South 

 Wales, appears to have wings written over with mystic characters 

 in dark brown. Both sexes of JVeurothemis stigmatizans were 

 also shown, the male being dark brown, with so intricate a 

 venation that the cells of a single w r ing number 2600, while the 

 female is paler, spotted with brown, and has an open venation 

 containing only a tenth of the number of cells found in the male. 



Dr. Greig-Smith exhibited a specimen of condensed milk which 

 had become "jellified." This change is caused by a micrococcus, 

 in proof of which a number of test flasks were shown. These 

 contained portions of condensed milk; some had, after infection 

 with pure cultures of the micrococcus, become "jellified," while 

 uninoculated flasks, under identical conditions, had remained 

 normal. 



Mr. Lucas exhibited branches of a number of Wattles 

 flowering in his garden at Gordon. 



DISCUSSION. 



The President invited discussion upon the general question of 

 the welfare of the indigenous fauna and flora, and the best means 

 of safeguarding it. 



The Secretary gave a brief summary of the various attempts 

 to preserve faunas and floras from extermination in other coun- 

 tries and States by means (a) of protected National Parks and 

 Reserves, with or without the co-operation of contiguous private 

 49 



