3° 



rivers, and snakes, scorpions and centipedes in the country, besides 

 mosquitoes everywhere — add much to the difficulty, and the 

 universal prevalence of fever always had to be reckoned with. The 

 lecturer then described the civil institutions of modern civilization — 

 courts, schools, prisons, etc., to the latter of which he gave great 

 praise, as reformatories in which the prisoner is taught and elevated. 

 He then gave an account of Port Moresby, the chief town, and the 

 surrounding country and villages, the native architecture and 

 arrangement of the houses, with a description of dress and orna- 

 ments, habits and customs of the natives. Weapons were described, 

 as well as native manufactures, chiefly of pottery, also the method 

 of fishing. The lecture throughout was illustrated with lantern 

 slides, showing the beauty of the scenery and the picturesqueness of 

 the native life. 



A lecture on this subject was given on the 15th 

 How to ^ j an> by j p Rayner, Esq., of Southampton, Miss 

 know the Wild a. Rooper being in the chair. Mr. Rayner began 

 Flowers. showing the necessity of close acquaintance 



with the features of plant life, and described the system of botanical 

 nomenclature, which is based on the more important external 

 features of the plants, each plant having two names, the name of 

 the genus to which it belongs and the distinguishing name of the 

 particular species of which it is a specimen. Flowering plants are 

 largely classified according to variations in the blossoms themselves, 

 and it is therefore important to know the characteristic parts of a 

 flower, on the variations of which almost everything in the recogni- 

 tion ot flowering plants depends. The lecturer then proceeded to 

 describe the classification of plants ; taking the great group of 

 Phanerogamia, this is first divided into sub-groups Angiospermia 

 and Gymnospermia. The Angiospermia are divided into the great 

 classes of Dicotyledones and Monocotyledones, which in turn 

 branch into series and orders and these again into species ; the same 

 method being applied to the other great groups. The lecturer then 

 showed how the name of a plant can be got at by examination of 

 the plant, relegating it to group, class, series, order and genus 

 according to its characteristics, finally arriving at the particular 

 species. Seldom, however, is it necessary to go through the whole 

 of this process, a little experience quickly teaching the student to 

 allot the plant to its proper order with only a cursory examination. 

 Mr. Rayner then advocated collecting, describing the aid to study 

 given by careful and methodical collection and preservation of 

 specimens, emphasizing the necessity of neatness and method in 

 the work. The lecture was illustrated by diagrams of flower 

 structure and by dried specimens from the lecturer's herbarium. 



The Growth This was a lecture given by Samuel Wood, Esq., 

 of the English f.c.a., on the 29th January, Col. Markwick being 

 Language. in the chair. See full report on page 55. 



