THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 131 
of the Malvacex, raised from seed collected at Wiseman’s 
Ferry, and producing Teratological flowers, showing 
Neiophylly or suppression of the corolla. Mr. D. G. 
Stead gave a most interesting account of his voyage to 
Europe during war time, and particularly of the wonder- 
ful work performed by the trawlers in mine destruction 
in the North Sea. 
FIELD NATURALISTS. 
By W. W. Froggatt. 
| Address delivered at opening night in Education De- 
partment Hall, November 2nd, 1915.] 
Ladies and gentlemen, fellow-students in the fields 
of Nature with work and pastime that keeps us young 
in heart, for a nature-lover never grows old, for example, 
I would ask you to remember the late Mr. Garland, who 
took as keen an interest in our work up to the time of 
his death as he did as a field botanist in the Wagga dis- 
trict, where I first met him over thirty years ago. 
Thus our lives go on, and I should define the reli- 
sion of a Field Naturalist as the cheeriest and brightest 
conception of a great Creator Who does not leave any- 
thing to chance, but slowly through the ages evolved the 
forms of the humblest plants and animals that we find 
in their perfection to-day; Who formed our great coal 
measures; the great cliffs of Hawkesbury sandstone, 
grain over grain, and sent our rivers onward to the sea. 
Mo-night marks a new departure in the history of this 
Society, as we come into closer touch with the Depart- 
ment of Education, and hope to be of more use to the 
Nature Study students that are working in the Depart- 
ment, as well as to all the school teachers in the State. 
T have, at the suggestion of your Council, put to- 
eether some notes, giving a brief account of the develop- 
ment of Field Naturalists’ Associations in Australia. 
In such a virgin land as New South Wales we had 
Field Naturalists at a very early date, such as John W. 
Lewin, who published his observations, accompanied by 
coloured drawings of our insects and birds, in 1805, 
Robert Brown, the botanist; Messrs. John Gould and 
Gilbert; Dr. George Bennett, and Mrs. Meredith, of Tas- 
mania. The first scientific society formed in Australia 
