86 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
President said that he was sure the paper, when published, 
would be welcomed by the Club. 
Tue Common Hive Brx.—In the January ( 1907) part 
of ‘Annales de la Société Entomologique de France,” 
EH. L. Bouvier has a paper dealing with the nidification of 
swarms of the common Apis mellzfica, Linn., that have become 
wild. The paper is illustrated not only by text figures, but 
also by half-tone blocks reproduced from photographs. The 
former are diagramatic, but the latter, from nature, show the 
formation of the honey-comb upon branches of trees in Jardin 
‘des Plantes, Paris. Such occurrences are not common, although 
previous records are known. Another instance, in France, jis 
recorded from the Jardin des Luxembourg; while, in England, 
Curtis has remarked an occurrence that came under his notice 
in October, 1838, where a swarm had nested among the 
branches of a tree in Lord Mamesbury’s plantations, near the 
river Avon, a short distance from Sopley. What makes these 
occurrences so interesting is that the honey-combs and nests 
are fully exposed to the weather. Caves in rocks, and disused 
chimneys, have been known in many lands to form an asylum 
for vagrant swarms. In this country, nests in hollow trees 
are familiar enough, and Mr. Froggatt has informed me of one 
he saw under the ledge of a rock shelter, which, although 
exposed to a subdued light, such as one finds in such places, 
was, at the same time, protected against the weather. 
A Garprn Snait.—C. W. Johnson, having collected all the 
references to the appearance and distribution of the Hnglish 
garden snail, Helix hortensis, in America, is inclined to think 
(“ Nautilus,” 1906, p. 73) that it. has not been introduced in 
that country by man within comparatively recent years, nor 
by the “ Vikings,” but is a much older inhabitant of that 
continent. 
Austrian Exptoratton 1y New Guinea.—Dr. Rudolf Péch, 
-well-known for his malaria researches in W. Africa, made, 
during 1904-6, with the aid of the Imperial Academy of 
Sciences in Vienna, anthropological journeys in New Guinea, 
N.S. Wales, Solomon Islands, and Bismarck Archipelago. In 
these two years he travelled along three-quarters of the coast 
of New Guinea. At five spots he tarried for some length of 
time, after which he wandered into regions of the interior, 
still in part wholly unknown. The material taken home by 
him included 300 measurements of living persons, 15 skeletons, 
_80 skulls, many anatomical preparations, 1,500 photographs, 
and upwards of 3,000ft. of cinematograph films (taken by 
bioscopic camera), representing dances and scenes of aboriginal 
village life. Included in the collection are also 90 plates for 
the phonographic archives of the Academy, with a view to the 
study of the language, sougs, and music of the natives. In 
