84 The Australasian Scientific Magazine. [Oct. 1, 1885. 
him. And he developed a taste for art, and having a free pencil, and a 
bent towards sculpture and architecture, he served a time with a monu- 
mental mason. But as “ necessitas non habet leges,” he was compelled to 
take paying work at the Alfred Graving Dock, at Williamstown, then in 
course of construction. This, however, he had to relinquish, as the 
constant inhalation of the fine dust from the hewing and cutting and 
smoothing of stone brought on lung disease. During this period Mr. 
Stirling seems to have been a constant student. Certain it is that he was 
a regular attendant at the Artisans’ School of Design at the then infant 
Trades’ Hall of Melbourne. 
When sufficiently restored to health, he entered for a time the service of 
a leading firm of architects as a draftsman, and in 1873, when barely 
arrived at statutory manhood, he entered upon responsible duties in the 
Crown Lands Department of Victoria, in Melbourne; and before long, 
when a branch of the Survey Office was established at Omeo, he was 
appointed in connexion with the triangulation survey of the district. This 
developed his latent passion for physiographical studies, which he has ever 
since pursued. 
The outcome of Mr. Stirling’s talent and perseverance is shown in 
numerous papers he has contributed from time to time to scientific institu- 
tions and journals, and the honours which he has gained through them. 
Since 1876 Mr. Stirling’s steps in the thorny paths of science have been 
eased by the unremitting aid of his accomplished wife. 
R. T. 
DESCRIPTIVE NOTES ON PAPUAN PLANTS. 
BY 
BARON FERD. VON MUELLER, K.C.M.G., M. & PH.D, F.R.S., 
Etc. Etc. 
PART II. 
APOCYNE/E 
Tabern^montana aurantiaca. 
Gaudichaud in Freyc. voy. 50 et 55, t. 61. 
Fly River ; D’Albertis. 
Identified by Dr. Beccari. 
acanthaceh:. 
Eranthemum variabile. 
R. Brown, prodr. 447. 
Lome Range ; Capt. Bridge. 
