66 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
been met with far out at sea, and out of sight of land. Dar- 
win and other travellers have recorded this fact, and the 
lecturer stated that he had seen baby spiders clinging to 
the ‘‘shrouds’’ of one of our interstate ships when travel- 
ling along the New South Wales coast on a voyage from 
Melbourne to Sydney. The steamer was off the south 
coast, and a fairly strong westerly breeze was blowing at 
the time. The final lantern slide was a map illustrating 
the track of the ‘‘Huntsman Spider,’’ a species which has 
‘‘cireum-aviated’’ the world. This species, Heteropoda 
venatoria, originated in the Indo-Malaysian area, from 
whence it was carried west by the north and south trade 
winds. This journey must have occupied many genera- 
tions of these tiny aeronauts, and it is significant that this 
species is only found in those countries and on those is- 
lands that fall directly within the trade-wind belt. In 
fact, it affords an interesting topic for discussion when 
the geographical distribution of animals is under 
consideration. 
EXCURSIONS. 
The excursion to Heathcote on Saturday afternoon, 
December 5th, was attended by between 30 and 40 members. 
Professor H. M. Wheeler also accompanied the ex- 
cursion, and members were much interested in his easy 
way of studying ants in the field, and learned a good deal 
about them. Mr. Froggatt was with the members, and 
much helpful information was gathered from him con- 
cerning the numerous insects. 
Mr. Cheel pointed out the way to the Woronora 
River, where the weir separated the salt water from the 
fresh, and pointed out that some interesting species of 
plants would be found there if members cared to make 
a special trip. 
The most interesting species known to be found there 
are Leucopogon exolasius, Monotoca ledifolia, Bertya 
pomaderioides, Grevillea asplenifolia, Dampiera Brownii, 
Pseudanthus pimelioides, and Boronia polygalifolia var 
robusta. Meanwhile, members were very busy in gather- 
ing Christmas bells (Blandfordia nobilis) and Christmas 
bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum), which were fairly 
plentiful in the gullies not far from the station; and algo 
