132 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



interesting to know if Idotea lacustris were once widely distributed in 

 New Zealand as a fresh water species or not ; at any rate its discovery 

 in a small mountain stream taken in conjunction with the discovery 

 by Mr. Thomson of Pherusa ccervdea in a small stream at the top of 

 the Old Man Range at 3000 feet elevation (see " N.Z. Journal of 

 Science, II., p. 576), shows that we have still much to learn about the 

 smaller inhabitants of these streams, and that further search in such 

 localities may lead to interesting results. — Chas. Chilton. 



MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



LINNEAN SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



ANNUAL MEETING. 



Sydney, 28th January, 1891. — Dr. J. C. Cox, Vice-President, in 

 the chair. 



The chairman delivered the annual address, from which we extract 

 the following : — 



"Among the events of the year at home there are several worthy 

 of notice on this occasion. 



" First, I may mention the publication of the researches of Mr. A. 

 S. Woodward, F.Z.S., F.G.S., of the British Museum, on 'The Fossil 

 Fishes of the Hawkesbury Series at Gosford,'* a contribution to our 

 knowledge of the Hawkesbury formation of the greatest interest and 

 importance. References to the collections will be found in two papers 

 by Professor Stephens in Vols. I (2nd Ser.). p. 1175, and II, p. 156 of 

 our Proceedings. In an introductory note to Mr. Woodward's mono- 

 graph, Mr. T. W. Edge worth David, B.A., deals with the stratigraphical 

 position of the Gosford fish-bed, in reference to which he says that it is 

 at present 'doubtful whether the bed belongs to the lower portion of 

 the Hawkesbury Sandstone or to the upper portion of the Narrabeen 

 Shales.' The series of nearly 400 specimens was richer in individuals 

 than in representatives of many species, Mr. Woodward distributing them 

 among the various orders represented as follows : — One Selachian of the 

 family Cestraciontidce, one species of a new genus (Gosfordia) of Dipnoi, 

 the remainder being referable to nine genera (two proposed as new) and 

 seventeen species (all but two being new) of Ganoidei. In concluding 

 his paper Mr. Woodward says, 'perhaps the most important fact, how- 

 ever, is the absence in the Hawkesbury beds of fishes with well- 

 developed vertebral centra. ... So far as can be determined from 

 the fishes, therefore, the Hawkesbury beds may be regarded as homo- 

 taxial with the Keuper of Europe, or, at latest, with the Rhaetic' 



"The monograph is well illustrated; and we must congratulate not 

 only Mr. Woodward on the successful issue of this excellent piece of 

 work, but the Department of Mines on its publication of the volume 

 within the colony. . . . Certainly the year 1890 has been prolific 

 of swarms of animal life, not always beneficial, as well as of the 



* Issued as " Memoirs of the Geological Survey of N.S.W., Palaeontology, No. 4." 

 Sydney, Government Printer, 1890. 



