ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS. XV. 
2. “The Totemic Divisions of Australian Tribes,” by R. H. 
MATHEWS, L.s. 
The paper dealt chiefly with the Kamilaroi and Wiradjuri com- 
munities. These natives are divided into four sections, called 
Murri, Kubbi, Ippai, and Kumbo. Every man and woman in 
the tribe is born under one or other of these four sections. Each 
section is composed of a number of families bearing the names of 
different animals, such as kangaroo, iguana, emu, codfish, grass- 
hopper, éc., which are called totems. The descent of the children 
is reckoned on the side of the mother only—the names of the 
father having no influence in the matter. The paper concluded 
with numerous examples of the rules of marriage, descent and — 
relationship, established in connection with the tribal divisions 
above stated. 
NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 
Professor W. H. WARREN, Wh. Sc. M. Inst.C.E., read a note on 
“The apparatus used for ascertaining the minute strains which 
occur in materials when stressed within the elastic limit.” He 
Stated that the coefficient of elasticity was usually defined as the 
ratio of the stress to the strain which it produces. It is necessary 
to know the coefficient of elasticity whenever it is desired to 
calculate the deformation or strain produced by a given load or 
Stress, or to calculate the stress from an observed deformation. 
Such calculations are of frequent occurrence in connection with 
the design of structures and machinery. The deformations pro- 
duced by the stresses under normal working conditions are 
exceedingly minute and require very delicate instruments to 
7 nere them accurately. This remark is more especially true 
i connection with the determination of the elastic coefficients of 
brittle materials such as stone, concrete, and cements, and involves 
measurements as small as 1-]0000ths in. He then explained 
the theory of the measuring instruments in use in the engineering 
laboratory, and exhibited two very delicate appliances made by 
Mr. Béhme, instrument maker to the Royal Testing Laboratory 
in Berlin, for the Engineering Laboratory at the University of 
