166 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
Bromelias cover the trees like staghorn ferns, and appar- 
ently often kill large forest trees by force of numbers. The 
island is very rich in palms, and is the native home of the 
beautiful Royal Palm (Creodoxa regia). ‘The leaf-cutting 
ants are one of the most serious pests to the farmer, and 
an army of them will in a single night reduce a vegetable 
garden to a dust-heap. 
(To be continued.) 
REPORTS OF EXCURSIONS. 
Trip TO ‘TEMPE. 
Fesruary.—Dull rainy weather kept some members away, 
but about a dozen members and visitors were present. Mr. 
Rainbow having sent word he regretted being quite unable 
to be present, Mr. Gurney led the excursion. Insects and 
botanical specimens such as the district yielded were 
obtained. Some interest was taken in the curious seed-like 
galls made by a coccid insect (Cpylindrococcus spiniferus). 
These galls, which develop to about # in. in length, are 
found only on Casuarina, and are very suggestive of the 
seed cones of this plant. The soft fleshy insect causing the 
gall lies in a cylindrical cavity towards the centre of the 
latter. In the walls of many of the galls several tiny fleshy 
Hymenopterous grubs were found feeding in the woody 
tissue. —W. B. Gurney. 
Visit ‘ro Mr. FIncKH’s AQUARIUM. 
Marcu.—This visit took place under ideal weather condi- 
tions, was very well attended, and was highly successful 
from every point of view. Mr. Finckh’s fine and well-kept 
collection of aquatic animals and plants was viewed under 
the best of circumstances, proving a great attraction to the 
visiting members. Among the aquatic plants were to he 
seen beautiful examples of species of Myriophyllum, 
Ceratophyllum, Elodea, Nitella, Chara, Azolla and many 
others, while prominent among the representatives of fish 
life were the exotic Pallas’ Gourami (Os phromenus 
trichopterus) only recently introduced to this State, Fight- 
ing Fish (Bet‘a pugnax), Japanese Rice Fish or Medaka 
(Oryzias latipes), Loaches from Japan and Europe, Euro- 
pean Gudgeon (Godz0 fluviatilis), the beautiful Golden Ide 
or Orfe (Leuczscus tdus var. orfus) which, as far as I 
know, is the first in New South Wales and the common 
American Catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus). Mr. Finckh’s col- 
