SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SOCIETIES. 
LINNEAN SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 
At the July mestiag the following papars were read :— 
_ 1. Notes from the Botanic Gardens, Sydney. By A. A. Hamilton, Botanical Assistant. 
Species of Lepidosperma and Prostanthera, and varieties of Grevillea punicea, Hakea 
saligna, and Prostanthera saxicola are described as new. New locality records are made 
for several other species. 
2. The Atrypide of New South Wales, with references to those recorded from other 
States of Australia. By J. Mitchell and W. S. Dun. 
In addition to the three species of Atrypa already known from New South Wales, 
three species are described as new. Specimens from Molong, Yass, and Bowning, which 
externally resemble Meristina, but whose internal structure shows them to belong to 
the Atrypide, are referred to a proposed new genus. The records of Atrypa from~ 
Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia are revised. ; 
3. Note on certain Variations of the Sporocyst in a species of Saprolegnia. By 
Marjorie I. Collins, B.Sc., Linnean Macleay Fellow of the Society in Botany. 
In the species of Saprolegnia examined, Leptolegnia, Pythiopsis, and Achlya conditions 
of the sporocyst occurred rarely, while the Dictyuchus and Aplanes conditions were © 
frequent; the variations occurred in both club-shaped and cylindrical sporocysts, but 
were not observed arising from resting sporocysts. Composite sporocysts were observed 
combining the features of Dictyuchus and Aplanes. Evidence is given in favour of the 
suggestion that the Aplanes condition has arisen from the Dictyuchus by failure of the 
protoplast to escape from the germ-tube during its early growth. 
4, The Geology and Petrology of the Great Serpentine Belt of New South Wales, 
Part IX. The Geology, Palxontology, and Petrography of the Currabubula District, 
with notes on adjacent regions. By Professor W. N. Benson, B.A., D.Sc., F.G.S.; W. 
§. Dun, and W. R. Browne, B.Sc. Section A. General Geology (W. N. Benson). 
The relationship structurally and stratigraphically between this region and that 
formerly described by the writer in the Burindi and Horton River districts is indicated. 
In the Currabubula district the oldest formation is the Burindi mudstone with tufis, 
followed by the Middle Carboniferous Kuttung Series, largely composed of keratophyre- 
tuff and conglomerates, but containing two or three horizons of contorted, seasonally- 
banded * varve-rock” of fluvioglacial origin, accompanied by tillite containing striated, 
and occasionally faceted erratics. This series is 9,500 feet in thickness, and contains 
Rhacopteris and other fossil plants. It is followed by the Werrie Series of basalt-flows, 
which are invaded by a very varied series of sills and dykes radiating from Warragundi 
Mountain, related to which is an extensive series of keratophyric, andesitic, doleritic, and 
basaltic sills and dykes which invade the Burindi and especially the Kuttung rocks. The 
period of intrusion of these was probably during the folding and faulting, which occurred 
after the formation of the Kuttung rocks, but probably before that of a mass of Glossopteris- 
bearing sandstone, which is referred to the Newcastle Series, though this has been broken 
by posthumous movements. The physiography of the Currabubula and Peel River 
district is also discussed. 
Dr. E. W. Ferguson exhibited specimens of the imago and larve of a muscid fly 
belonging to an undetermined genus. The imago was bred from a pupa taken in the 
nest of a Leatherhead by Messrs. W. G. and R. C. Harvey, of Mackay, Queensland. The 
larv live on the nestling birds, and when mature conceal themselves in the nest and 
pupate. Out of twenty pupx obtained by Messrs. Harvey, only one hatched out, the 
others being parasitized by a chalcid wasp, a pair of which were also exhibited: Mr. P. H. 
Gilbert, of Lakemba, Sydney, has found what appears to be the same species on nestling 
birds (New Holland Honeyeater). : ; 
' Mr. E. Cheel exhibited some very interesting specimens of a rare lichen collected on 
Mount Kosciusko by Miss A. V. Duthie. 
The only specimens previously collected, so far as can be ascertained at present, are 
in a solitary collection by Rey. F. R. M. Wilson, found on earthy rock on Mount 
Hotham, Victoria, in January, 1890. ‘The specimen is labelled Dufourea madreporiformis 
_ (Wulf.) Ach. (Wilson No. 1157, in National Herbarium, Sydney). It seems to have 
close affinities with Dactylina artica (Hook.) Nyl., and further investigation is needed to 
settle the generic position, as no apothecia are present in either the Mount Hotham or 
Mount Kosciusko specimens. Unfortunately there are no specimcns of the above-men- 
tioned genera (recorded from Arctic Regions) available for comparison. 
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