MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES. 337 
that according to most text-books, Platinum had been very rarely 
found in situ in rocks. Some little interest was therefore attached 
to its discovery in quartz lodes in the 54oft. and 6ooft. levels ot the 
Queen of Beauty mine, Thames. The assays made varied consi- 
derably, the lowest being at the rate of 1oz. 5dwts. to the ton, and 
the highest 10 oz. 6dwts. Other members of the platinum group of 
metals, such as Iridium, were also present, but in very minute 
quantities. After the reading of the paper some microscopic 
slides were exhibited, shewing minute crystals of platinum 1im- 
beded in the quartz matrix. 
(2) “ Note on the origin of the Boomerang,” by W. D. Camp- 
bell, F.G.S. In this paper the suggestion was thrown out that the 
first idea of the boomerang might have arisen from watching the 
fall of the Eucalyptus leaves from the tree. According to Mr. 
Campbell, the leaves first fall in the direction of the wind blowing 
at the time, but soon curve backwards, and generally reach the 
ground almost directly under the branch from which they dropped. 
Sketches were exhibited shewing the great similarity in the outline 
of the boomerang and that of the leaves of several species of the 
Eucalyptus. 
(3) “‘ New species of Coleoptera,” by Capt. T. Broun. A large 
number of new species, belonging to several families, were fully 
described. 
(4) “The Visionary Faculty of Mind,” by E. A. Mackechnie, 
Esq. This was an enquiry into the mental conditions of such re- 
markable visionaries as Swedenborg, Blake, Shelley, and others ; 
and it was shewn that the facts of each case might be fully ac- 
counted for without going outside our present knowledge of physi- 
ology and mental phenomena. 
November 2oth, 1882. E. A, Mackechnie, Esq., President, in 
the chair. | 
Papers—(r1) ‘‘ The Naturalised Plants of the Provincial District 
of Auckland,” by T. F. Cheeseman. This paper was mainly an 
enumeration of the naturalised plants observed by the writer in 
the province of Auckland, together with an enquiry into the causes 
that have led to their rapid increase. Over 400 specimens were 
included in the list, about 100 being recorded for the first time. 
(2); Our Earliest Settlers,” by R: C. Barstow. - A lengthy 
account was given of the struggles of the earliest white residents 
in New Zealand—those who accompanied the Rev. Mr. Marsden 
in his missionary expedition in the year 1814. | 
(3) ‘Imaginary Quantities,” by H. G. Seth Smith. The ob- 
ject of this paper was to show that the inconceivability of a thing 
was no proof of its impossibility, and that all knowledge was in the 
first instance based upon pure assumptions. 
WELLINGTON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
October 21st, 1882.—W. T. L. Travers, Esq., F.L.S., President, 
in the chair. 
New member—Mr. Thos. Turnbull. 
Professor Liversidge, of Sydney University, was nominated for 
