182 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
July 1st.—The President (Mr. HE. Cheel), in the chair, and 
a fair attendance. At her specidl request, Miss Brewster was 
re-elected to membership, she having previously resigned owing 
to extreme pressure of work. 
Mr. Froggatt read most interesting notes on Miss Louisa 
Anne Meredith, a pioneer naturalist of the early days, and ex- 
hibited a number ot her books on Australian and ‘other Natural 
History. 
Miss Butler had an interesting exhibit of Australian Pteri- 
dophyta, including Nardoo (AMarsilia Drummondi), Psilotum, 
Azolla, Lycopodium and other club mosses. 
Mr. Forster exhibited a branch of Acacia sauveolens from 
Berowra in which the plant had “thrown back” to the :primitive 
leaf. The President, in reference to some remarks made_be- 
fore the Society about eighteen months ago, read a list of 
plants on which he could say definitely that manna was to be 
found. This comprised some 66 species (39 genera, 22 families). 
He also gave some interesting remarks on the formation of 
manna. The. President then welcomed Mr. Cox, a member of 
the Victorian Naturalists’ Society. Mr. Cox replied, express- 
ing the pleasure it gave him to be present. 
ONE OF OUR FIRST BUSH NATURALISTS. 
3y Waurer W. Froacarr, 1.8. 
Louisa Anne Meredith, born 1812, England, arrived in New 
South Wales, 1839. Died in Tasmania, 1895. Bush naturalist, 
artist, writer, and poetess, Before she left England she had 
published “Our Wild Flowers” and “Romance of Nature.” 
During her long life she travelled a great deal in New 
South Wales, Tasmania, and Victoria, and took a kéen interest 
in everything she saw in her travels. She wrote four books, 
which ‘tell the history of her life up to 1861. The first, per- 
haps the most interesting to bush naturalists, is entitled “Notes 
and Sketches of New South Wales, during a residence in that 
colony from 1839 to 1844.” (London, John Murray, 1844). 
She dedicated it to “Those dear Enelish friends for whose 
amusement and at whose request the following pagies have been 
written.” 
The preface was Written at Spring Vale, Swanport, Van 
Dieman’s Land, 1843. She and her husband, Mr. Charles Mere- 
dith, left England early in June, 1839, and arrived in Sydney 
Cove September 27th, 1839. A quick passage ‘considering ‘the 
type of sailing vessels coming to Australia in those far away 
