I

I'
f

THE]::: THE
Tosmonion Field Noturolists' Club.
Vol. 1. DECEMBER, I907. No. 3.
Some Jmplements of toe 1.9asmanian
:Jlborigines.
BY FRITZ XOE].1LTIXG, );1.A., Ph.D.
vVhenever f.n old camp is carefully ex-
amined, a number OIf more or less round-
ed stones, most of which arf', however,
in nbroken. all(} frr.gmentary cond'ltion,
Ican be picked up. Complete specimens
are very rare, llnd. wben in a preserved
condition they exhi-bit quite pewliar fea-
tures. Alway'." one, but mostly the two,
0PFo,;ite fiat sides show in the centre a
rough sl1ght
1
y cone:\ ,'e pro-
duced by repeatpd blows. On closer ex
amination, it will be seen that frequently
the edge alw shows strong trulee" of
Little attention il"S so farbe('n paid to
these remari<a)ble specimens. bLlt llumer
Oil:; theuries llDYe been as to
their use, Tbe most COillmon v:ew is
that they served a'il k.mll1er stones, and
that the rough central depre,;sionii
selTed as res t'lng places for timmb and
first finger when the stone was used. A
8iwple experiment will pr-oV'i) that SUCil a
view is untenable, becnu-se it is Impossible
not only to get a sufficiently strong grip
on tlip stone. 'but, also, most of them are
too large an& heavy to !hi) properLy llluni
pulatell if beld 'In slllch a position. ApJlrt
'from other reasons, it is evident that
theory must be doJsmissed as infeasible,
hut. then, the question arises for what
purpose can tlley ha"e been 'l.nere
is no doubt that () good deal of 'York has
betn in shaping these stones, and
-there ios als-o no doubt that most 01 these
wue de-
stroyed again, one should almost feel in-
dined to say in a Vicious way. Though
th-e breaking wa.s prolbabl.y frequently
done by blows, numerous instances sug-
,
geost quite another way, namely, by heat-
ing in the .fire find afterwards pouring
water over ,th-em, which naturally result-
ed in the destruction of the speoi-
men so treated. Before advanc-
ing the new theory sugges-ted by
-thesi) Qlb.servations, it will be
advi,,[llble to desK:ribe a few characteristic
spedmen-s. Frg. 1 and Fig. LA. is
specimen Wilich was collected b.y Mrs.
OldmeacJJlVs, late of Woodlands, .anet
kindly given to me. It is th-i) largest speci-
men that has so fiar come to my notice,
Illeasllring in length, 6in. tn width,
;lin. ';n thickness, and weighing 7lb. 50z.
a nIp. Its shape is irregularly ova.] or
cl1iptieal, inasmuiClr a's onc side bulges out
a little. thereby -spoiling the regular -oval
for Ill. Thc whole sha'pe is unquestionably
that ofa houlder or pe'bble such as is
produce(} by runn1ng water, anel picked!
up in numbers in any creek or in the
alluvLJiI boulder !beds. It is impos"lible to
as,certain the nature of the rock without
serioll'sly damaging this 'beautiful sped-
men. As far as I can judge, it appears
to be a quartzite or quartz-ltic sand'3tone
of consid'2rable hnrdness; a little caiVcrn-
OHS, but of fine -texture. The super:fidaI
colour i,.'i a light brown, :but it is proiba-ble
that this colour i" due to weathering,.and!
tha t the ;original colour was light yellow
-a-t one side show.s lighter spots
of this colour. The w.hole surface, '!IS far
as it has not been affected by su;>equent,
working, 1s remarkably -smooth l)lld ,pol-
ished. TIle albo"e measurement.s
that thcoriginal pehble was laterally
compressed. and the two flat sidias shOW'
that they haYe been lSubjecte'JJ to a con-
siderable amount of 'Work. One side.
( I )
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
which, for want of a ,better tei'm, we
may designate ,the upper side. shows fl
dia,tly concave rath'ilr rough depression of
4cl;.in. by 4in. dlameter. If a ruler is
placed on tile top, deepesL part is
a'bout lin. below the ruler's but as
it is fair to assume that the 'original ,sur-
face was not a,bsoluDely flat, it is pro
ba'ble that a lenticular part o'f the pe,bb!e,
mea'Buring 4!in. ,by 4in., and ,having a
greatest thickness of !in., has been 're
moved. The surface is rough; but it is
also unquestionable that the original
roughnes's has been smoothed down
by rubbing or grinding. The op-
posite lower side is, slightly con-
vex, and in it s centre there is an
irregularly shaped, very rough mark
of about 2:l:in. diamilter. This mark cleflr
ly shows that it. has been produced by
numerous blows applied to this part of
the surface. Th';) peripheral ed'ge io:!
rounded and smooth. Specimen I J<'2, 2A,
2B, which I found near Kempton, 15 an
oth'er type of this kind, though some
what differing from the former. 1t halt
been broken into six pieces, and 1 ,SUI:)'
ceedecJ in 1gettiug all o'f them but one,
thougb they had .be'iln scattered over an
area of about 100 square yards. When
pasted toge'ther they proved to be the
,finest specimen that has so far eome un
doe.r my notice. It is almost completely
circular, measuring 6!in. in diameter, but
only 2iin. in tilicknes9; it is, t:lerefore,
strongly compresosed. The weigllt is 51b.
!lo?. amp. Tile rock 'ls a coarsely
grained q:uartzitic sandstone ofsligh tly
pink1.sh colour, though in some parts this
ha" .bilen replaced by It whitish colour.
The upper side is almost to its whole ex
t'ent hollowec. out, and therefore con
cave. As in its part it ilas been
hollowed out to a depth o.f and as
it is only fair to suppose that the or1gi
nul gUl'faee was the ,same as the convex
lowr side, we assume that u lenticular
mass of stone of thickness, measur
iJlJg 8;bout 51in. in difl met'er, has been
tediously removed by grindlug. The
peripheral edge is 'WeU rounde
l
(), but it
Elee ms that it ha.s :been considerahly he
laJboul"ed: by heavy blow<8, whose
are very conspicuous. The mosL common
type is represented by Fig. 3. This spe
cimen comes from ISouth Arm, and
measure.s .'iin. in length, 3iin. in width,
and liin. in thi()kness, weighing 211h. loz.
a,vdp. It is regularly oval in shape,
though the two longitudinal sides are
slightly flattened; it is rather compr,essed,
but the upper find lower sides are slightly
convex. The material is dal'k, rather fine
ly crystalline Dialbas. The upper side
shows in the centre a deep r'ough d>epres
,sion of a'bout !in. diaometer, ani) around
the 'Surface is nic'illy polished and
smooth. Exactly <lpposite on the lower
surface is rough mark, though
( 2 )
not quite flS wel! defined-. The peripheral
edge is rounded, but the two longitudinal
.'Ji(J"s snow distinctly that it has 'lJ.een
tiattened ofi', and marks of blo'\Vs are
also viosilble at ejther end, on the shorter
sia2s. _\ similar specimen is figured in
J<'ig. 4. This has been found at Shene
(Portville), anll it measures iht.. by 4:}4n.,
. the thickness being harely Ij\in. The
we-ight is 21b. 130z. aVdp. The shape
i"'! irregularly oval, and it is unquestion
ably that of a ,flat pel>ble that had been
picked up in t:le nearest creek. 1'he ma
terial is Diahas t:le black crystals of
augite, contrasti'ng sharply the
g!'l'yiS:l green ground nms". The upper
side has apparently l>e,en smoothed, and
in the I:)en tre i" a deep, rough depression,
measuring about lino 'in tliameter. Xo
such depression exists on the opposite or
lower Elide, which represents tlrt! unaltered
original sur'lace o,f the Tile differ
ence in the smoothness of tile upper and
lower 'Side is very marketl; the iower s'lde
sh,ows that smoothness so peeu :iar to
waterworn pe,bbles, but on tire upper
side it has disappeared, and been f{'placetJ
by a sllr.iace showing numerous fine
streak'S or scratches, all running in t.he
same direction. such as are produced by
a rubbing or g-rind1ng action. The most
pEculiar and perila'Ps th,e most interest
ing type is reproduceci in Fig. 5. Tilis
has been found on the famous camp
at the Old Beach Ibv Mr. Anth'onl. lot is
Ill! oval pehble of Diabas, measuring 5in.
in length. 3iin. in witlth, but only Ll;in.
in tilicknes's, and weighing Hb. 80z. avtlp.
Both the upper and lower side,s are
flat, but 'While the lower side is rflther
rough,pwba'bly owing ,to weat.ilering, the
upper ,sid>c has 'been most elaborately
polished and ground. Th-e has
even been extelloled to the per;pheral
'part. and a fine edge has heen produceCJ.
When held in foavoura,ble light, three
rough marks can be seen cross
'lng obliquely; it is probwble tilut
these are parts of th'il original surface,
whidl have been preserved dl1riFlg the
gr-lnding. The specimen is well preserved,
exc'ept for a large fragment broken 'off
from the margin. The a'bove are only a
few of the specimens I have eJCamine'tJ,
but th,ey serve as good illustrations of
th'e type"'! met with, and We flfC now able
to draw a few general eon<:'usions.
E,'ery'one of the specimens tliat has come
examination proves by it.s general
shape that it was originally an ordinary
water'\Vorn pebble, such as may be pick
ed up in flny stream or alluv;,-.J boulder
'bed. It was certainly es'Sential that such
a pe'lYble should be f1at-'that is 10 say,
that width ancl breadth eFeedd the
thickness, inasmnch as pebbl'es of this
type are always naturally of fln ellipBcal
or round sbape. It that the
general olttliJie wa"'! more of a secondary
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
lCharacter. This compressed shape speaks
.rather against the US'tl as a ham:ner-stone,
!:IS it can easily be proved by experiment
that one' of the more globular boulders
would ssrve thi" purpose m
1
1ch better
than a' flat specimen, as it re"ts much
'ootter in ,the hand than the latter. The
size was aJ.so 1mmaterial. The iargest
spEcimen iiitherto found ,ures Sain.
jn length and weighed! 7lb. 5-oz.; but there
arc numerous specimen" which aril much
smaller; apparently the most procurable
size was about; I) to 6 inches in length.
flat pebb.les had the1r naturalLy-
smooth surface improved by polishing.
As to that th'cre cannot be tile s.'ghtest
doubt. Perhapol this view might be
questioned with regard to specimens Fig;
1, Fig. 3, and Fig. 4, though the traces
of polish'lng are very conspicuou.s in Fig.
4; 'but there <'annot be the .slightest dou'bt
that th'il specj,mens Fig. 2 and Fig 5 have
'been subjecte(J to a considera1)le amount
of grinding and polishing. In "pecimen
Fig. 2 the upper surf<lli'e has been deeply
hollowed out and. a.fterIYar(Js carefully
smoothed by polishing; the some npplies
to spedmen Fig. 1. It is prohable that
these depressions have been prodouced by
a prolongcd grinding action by mean<s of
aroother pehble, because it (loes nOL seem
very 11kely that such evenly concave sur-
faces could be produced byimmlll'ering
and subse,quent polishing. In this. case
the surface would be rougher anll mOre
UJleven. This C"an OISD 'be proved by ex-
lhlriment. Let anyone take two ordinary
iDiaba<s pebbles, using one as a hammer-
stone, and a rough spot showing rh'e re-
peated blows will soon 'be produced. But
of .smooth1ng and polishing
this rough mark will :be very imperfect.
Du the other hand, if the two pebbles are
groundo against each o,ther, and assi<sting
this Pl'OceSS :by the use of sand, a nice,
smooth snrfac,e can bil produced. The
:hest proof that these stones 'have been
treated hy grinding and 'PoH"bing is given
,by. s'pecimen Fig. 5. A smooth surfacer
seen in th'ls s'peldmen, can only he pro-
c'mced by scrapin.g or grinding. As. scrap-
is out {)f the que<stion, on of
the hfHdness O't the t.he only pos-
siMe way to produc1l this fcature is by
grinding and polishing. That the art of
grinding wa'S, therefore, not wholJ.y un-
known to the Tasmanilm alborigint's may
be tak;Jn as granted, but 'lt is ,oqually cer-
hin th9t they never applied it in ihc
manufacture of their stone implements
(Eolithes and Archaeolithes), 'but only
used it for the produdion of the speci-
mens h,ere described. This is a very re-
markable fact, giving ri<se to a cO'ns1der-
able amount of If tbe abo-
rigines knew the art of grinding,
:and the specimen.s here descri'bed leave
no doubt that they did, how is it, then,
(3 )
that they did not apply it in the manu-
facture of their tools It seems fairly
,tha t the grinding and polishing
:was done inal'd'er to improve on the ap-
pearance of thOse already smooth water-
worn pehblils. BlIt, then, why did they
not subject ,the chippedo archaeolithes to
a similar suhsequent treatment? 'rhev
kr..ew that tiley could improve, lInd
dally alter 'thil ordinary pebbles, and
fromaur way of reasoning, we <should
tMnk that it 'Would have been the most
natural thing to trea't the roughly-
chipped knives and choppers in a similar
way. But that the a'borigines did not OD
it 'ls an absolute fact. and this shows, in
my opinion, a perfilct a,bsence of a pro-
gl'essiv-e mind. They were incapable of
thinking further than their forefather'!
diu, and this lack of inventive genius, so
essential to th,c progres.s of mankinc}, is
most pmbaJJly the true re>ason of the ex-
termination O'.f their race. We may now
raise the question, for what purpose did!
th'ese remarkwble 'Stones serve Tileir
shape 'proves that a con,slderwble amount
of labour has been bestowd on them. If
we consider the long ti-me it would take
to produce a like Fig. 2, we lire
bound to assume -that these stones must
have played an important role in th'e life
of the a:borigine<S. But what their object
really was is unfortunately a mat-
ter of conjecture. As I .,t'a ted
above, very few complete speci-
mens are found; 'by far the mu-
jority are broken. and ilven the complete
5pecimens are generally a little damaged
by fra,gments being broken off. This
fcomillJgly insig'J.ifkant obsfTvaiion is,
however, of the greatest inlportance; if
we be:tr in mind that so maeh labour
ha.;; been spent in their produ<Ction, it is
imnossible to assume that th'''se stone's
we;'e ,wcidentaJly destroyed. Even tl.le
primitive Ta ;;mRnian a.'borigines kne,,"
the value of labour, and .to assume that
they wue so careless as to allow one
of theL- treasure.s-and <stont's that were .
haped 'by many a laborious day of hard
grinding must represent treasures
--'being a'ccidell'tally destroyed is highly
improbable. It is more prohwble to
sG')Jp'lse that thEse stones were pur-
posely destroyed. In examining the
broken and specimens we
lIotice anot'her curioUls -fact; j,t i.s certain
I,hat some of thesp,cimens were broken
by smashing them; a fine spedmen I
found on Hope Bea'ch shows 'ira'ces of
an almost sa,va,ge desire to des'tl'oy it by
bloW's. A fine specimen from Hokoby.
whieh has bl'en kinC];ly given to me by
:Mr. Chipman, ha" an edge whict11 has
been severely treated by bloWB, 'iJut tll,'
hardness of the ro,ck, a finely-grained
quartzite or quartzitic sandstone, with-
t'hese and, though the
1
STONE IMPL}<JMINTS OF TASMANIAN ABORIGINES, showing'fthat the original inha.bitants
of the Island unJerstood the a.rt of grinding stones. Probably a'lsociated with religious ceremonies.
1 an I lA-Bonlder or Pebble Implement, inches in curiously shaped, found b.y Mrs.
Oldmcadow.
'Z and 2A-Quo.rtzitic Sandstone, 6i inches in diameter, found near Kempton.
(4 )
STONE OF TASMANT A A RORIGINE'l. showinj!that the original inhabitantif
of the Island understood the art of grinding Probahly associated with religious ceremonies.
2B-Quartzitic Sandstone, f! in diameter, found near Kempton.
3-5 inches in length Crystalline Diabas, found at South Arm.
4-7 inches long, made out of a flat pebble, found. at Pontville.
5-Peculiar Oval Pebble. found at the famous Old Beach Camp by Mr. Anthony.
( 5 )
THE TASMANIAN NATURALlST.
sp dmen has been badly damaged, it
coU'ld IlJt ,be ,broken. There is hardly
any spedmeIl has come under my
notice vhat more ,clearly proves the two
.facts-(a) Careful production by grind-
ing the two tlat surface." with th" two
rougll central depression!;: (b) subse-
t] lwnt a tte,mpt, of destruction by means
of blows. 111 other specimens it is,
lHH\e\'er, ill1pos:;ible to aSS'llIIl! that they
,\\'ere slll';h;lleJ ltnlt broken by blows. The
. .specimen,s, notahly Fig. 2, shows no truces
that they have been .. ubject, d to such
rough treatment. The fractures are
clean and even, and t'his suggests only
one way of destruction, namdy, \)y fire,
The sp,',cimens were heated first, and
afterw;Lrds water wa" poured over them,
nnt! t:lis must naturally result in a par-
or total destl'Uction. This vLw is
borne out by a further obtiervation. Some
of th,) diabas pehbles exhibit peculiarly
cuned face:; of fraction, such as would
rt'sult '\vihen flukes Iby 'meaM 'of :hea'Lmg
and sudlleu cooling are "plintered ott,
but \\-ilich could not be produced if tile
fiakp, had been broken off bv blo'\\'8. We
kn'Jw now t'ill'se htbOI:ioLlslv manu-
faC"tlll\ d stones were purposely "de..,troy-
e<i, pit,her Ily llleans of or by heat-
illg :l1lll sudden cooHng, and this fact at
Ol.ee lilllit,; Ollr range of specuhLtion. It
i" it well-known fact that \t)wer races
oftl'n prodllee IU'l>oriously work, d
artidpd auti destrov them afterwards it
I'ueh IlrtidpH 1\re with their
primitive notion of religion. It is there-
fore v.l'y prob'Lble tlia t the specimens
here de"crihed 'were in some sort of a
'way connected with the religious or
superstitious ideas of the Tasmanian
aborigines. 'Vhat their ideas were,
whether they were omens, good
or bad, or in some way con-
nected with the wOI'shi p of tlle souJ.s of
their -'leceased re-Iation .. , I am unable to
;,ay, but it is unquestiona'ble that this
the,or,)' easily lI>ecounts for otherwise
irrec'mciJable fa,ets, viz., a tedious pro-
ductbn and subsequent intentionlLl ,de-
.. I may now mention another
mo"t interesting bet. Among the
impliments of Europe, in
lll.rticular France and England, similar
8p:<'1'11en8, t-holllgh pretty mre, have been
found. The Frem':l called them "mor-
tiers" ard jt, has been assumed
tha,t sen'ed fo]' grinrJ,ing the red
Gchre primith'e m III was in the habit of
using. It Sfems \'ery doubtful that so
much labour "hou!,l he bestowed O!l, the
protl'udion of for whic'h any
fairly 5!l!00th ",lab of stone would have
just as well, if not better. Sir
JO'hn E\'ans figures in his fundamental
work on t)he stone implements of Great
Britain, p-a'ge 238, numerous specimens
t 61
vf this ty.pe, and' be fu>sumes them to 'be,
h,tnuner-stones, though he has apparent
ly somt doubt8 as to the correctness of
his view. "However that may be, and.
I think 1 have sufficiently proved that.
these Slpecimen8 cannot be hammer-
stones, tile rClmarkable fact remain .. t,hat,
spedmens of tlhe type here described are
dmractl'ri .. tic of the' ul'chaeoliithic indus-
try, ani have be,n found in Europe, a,,"
well as ,in Tasmania. If my theory as
to their use by the '!'asmanian abor,igines,
be correct, and SO far there seem;; to
be very little doubt, this would'shed a
l'eculi.ll' light on the ,customs of archaeo-
lithic mlLn ill Europe. If the imple-
ments u'led are the .. a.me, if the religIOu!>
I'otion" areth2 "same. is it too impro-
bable an assum,ption thwt the 'l'asma-
nian aborigines were the last remains.
of a race which during ar,chaeoIithic
is to say, prev<ious to the
advent of the great ice floes-inhabited
Europe? T'lle above was already writ-
and really to go to press when 1
ha,ppeneu to look IIp Bonwi()k',s "Daily
Life ane! OrigiIi of the 'l'asmanians;'
\V'here on page I found the following
1II1POI'Lwt i:enLlrks;-"'When the Quaker
}les .. rs_ Backihouse and
,"V'aiker, were" visiting the remnant of
the tribes carried to Flinders Island, BfuSS
Strait, they ,saw a poor old lubra busy
in pblCillg" together "sundry "tlat
"tones" marked Vilriously with black
and lines. These, she ex-
plained to the' strangem, were her
country people absent from 'her_ One,
n "tone than the rest, "pre'sented
a ,fat black IVoman far away. 1t
is ju.tpossible t'lHt the Tasmanian was
in that way cOlllmuning with the-
,;pil'it,s of her friends lost in the black
war. UnwiUing to refer to them as
dead, she spoke of th'QIl as 'plenty long
way.' I have not heard of any'
fiat round stones like some found in Ire-,
land, Denmark, and Caithness, having
a sligb,t depression in the centre on 'both
sides, as of a thum!bmark, urrle.ss those
noticed by these two friends on Flinders
Island were so." The observations of
Messrs. Backhouseand Walker, who may
most probllibly have overlooked the rongh.
depreSl'ion's in the ,centre, prove conclu-
sively that t'he theory ,above advanced
is correct. In fact, the remark con-
cerning the targer stone rspresenting a
"fa t bla-ck woman" proves tha,t these
stones were connected with "absent"
(de'Ld) indivitluals, indicating a very
cl'Ude form of worship of the souls of
deceased relatives. Thi., view also ac-
count.s for their frequent oc()urrence.
though it still lea yes the fact why these-
stones were intentionally destroyed un-
eXlplained.
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
:Rnnual :frleeting.
Thp annual meeting of the club was
held in the Masonic Hall on T'hursday
evening, :September 216, ,}Ir. S. Clemes
presiding.
The following new members were
elected:--Rev. H. B. Atkinson (of Evan-
dalel, VV. A. Weymouth, G. J.
William", and A. O. Green (of Hobart).
}:xhihition of "hand-
fish," of the genus Antennarius, \vas for-
wllrdrd by A. E. Brent, having been
taken in the Derwent. Mr. A. M. Lea
exhibiteo two cases of walking-stick in-
seet,.;, praying mantis, gmsshoppers, crick-
ets. and earwigs, and niade interesting
remark" on them. Mr. W. N. Atkins
showp<! a collection of land shells, and.
MI'. E. A. Elliott a .Tapanese painting of
a hawk.
A took place as to the
adoptioll of a badge by the club, the
platypu" and native tiger being consid-
ered. But this matter was referred to
the committee for decision.
,The annual report was read and adopt-
pd. Thi,; showpd that during three years
th" mem hership of the club had amount-
ed to over !lO members. The meetings
and excuBions had been well attended,
alh] IJIIH'h Ilseful work donp. A journal
had hf'en ,;tarted, and ot-her pUblications

The balance-sheet showed a credit
balance of 6s Sd.
The foHowing office- bearers were elect-
ed:---4Chairman, .Ylr. L. Rodway; vice-
chairman, Mr. A. L. Butler; hon. editor
"Tasmanian Mr. A. M_
Lea; hon. treasurer, Mr. R. A. Black;
horil. secretary, Mr. E. A. EUiott, and
assistant secretary, Mr. E. S. Anthony;
committee, Mr. S. Clemes, Dr. F. Noet-
ling, Messrs. W. C. Cato, J. H. Gould,
F. L. Brownell, and Glive E. Lord.
The chairman CMr. Clemes) then gave
a presidential address, entitled "Ideals
of a Field Naturalis,ts' Club." He said the
main point of it lay in the firs't word,
"'field." T'heclub existed for affording
opportunities to go out of doors, and,
under the ins,truction of eJ\Cperts, learn
about nature from nature itself. r,t was
not possible for' anyone to become a
specialist in more th'an one subject; yet
if a person began to take an interest in
one subject he would soon find that it
brought him somewhat in contact with
other branches which made up natural
history.
A general discussion followed, the
members endorsing the chairman's re-
marks.
The meeting closed with the usual
conversazione.
CJetobe'r :frleeting.
A monthly meeting of the club was
held at the )!a,onic Hall on Odober 31.
Mr. L. ROdway occupied the chair, and
there was a large attendance.
Professor T. W. Kirk, Biologist to the
New Zealand Department of Agriculture,
was introuuced by the chairman as being
a visitor to Ho'bart and a leading scien-
tist in Xew Zealand.
The secretary read a letter from t,he
new .,"urator of the Museum Robert
Hall), in which the wish was expressed
that members would assist in building up
the
The following nine members were
elected:---4}1isses O. Barnard and N_
111'h.ay; }lessrs. C. Harrison, F. Hey-
wood, L. Dechaineux, A. J. Tal'lor, W. E_
Masters, A . T. Honey, and A. E. Russell_
This brings the club's total membership
up to over 100.
The exhibition of was as
follow,,: - Fern impressions from 'the
Sandfiy coal measures, by E. ,s. Anthony;
(7)
nest and eggs of summer bird, by A. L.
Butler; case of lady .birds, by A. M. Lea.;
and photos of cuckoos (taken by Mr.
Kinane, of by E. A. Elliott;
and book of pressed ferns of Zea-
land, by J. \V. Tarleton.
'Mr. L. Rodway, Government Botanist,
then gave informwtion as to the collec-
tion of plants and .how to pres'erve them
when collected. He advised members to
cOllled only in dry weather, otherwise
the .plants would become mildewed. In
mounting them it was best to 'have
sheets of paper of a regular or uniform
size. They may be gummed on to these
sheets, though with most plant,s it was
better to fasten them with small tags of
sheet lead passed through the paper and
bent over. FUll data .should be written
on the papers with all specimens.
.;.r. A. L. Butler showed how to blow
eggs through only one small hole on the
side. In this way the egg was not dis-
figured at all. Different kinds of drills,
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
blow pipes, and other apparatus were
shown, and practical demonstrations
were given on two starlings' eggs, which
operations were successfully and quickly
done.
Mr. 'A. :\1. Lea (Government Entomo-
logist) also showed llOW to set out and
mount butterfiies, moths, and other in-
sects. The wings of the former were
stretched out and fastened down with
little strips of p"per, 'the legs were put
into proper po'sition, and kept in place
with many pins, which could be taken
away when the specimen dried.
The meeting then resolved itself into
a conversazione.
November :JIieeting.
'rhe monthly meeting was held on the
28th of this month at the Masonic Hall.
The Chall"lllan L. Rodway) presided,
and there was an excellent attendance.
The following new members were
>ele'c'ted:---4.\feB!S'fs. G. iW. Is/milth \Jx!ford
University) and C. J. Large; as juniors,
!Masters E. Lines. and CIa ude Bryan.
Exnibition of Speeimens.-'Mrs. H. L.
Rollerts showed a fine stuffed specimen
olf th.1l welige-'tailed eagle (Urol1etus
audax), also eggs of several kinds of
pheasants, and of the Californian quail,
laid by her birds at Beaumaris. Mr. A.
L. Butler showed a skin of the blue
banded parrakeet, and also its eggs, and
three sets of eggs of the white-fronted
chat (.Epthianura albifrons), showing
.great difference in lllarkings. Mr. Rod-
way exhihited and described a fungus
disease on 11 specimen of Bass'ioea cine-
rea. Mr. E. A. Elliott showed a stuffed
young cormorant (.PluiIacrocorax leuco-
gas,ter) and several sets of eggs of the
same kind, taken at Bruny Island; also
egg,; of wedge-t,tiled eagle, forwarded
him by M.1'. ,T. \V. :Mellor, of South ,Aus-
tralia. .:Mr. F. L. Brownell showed
some peculiar geologieal specimens from
the Brisei" tin mines. Mr. G. \V .
. Smith ('Xilih,tt'<i some photos of the cor-
moranis' rookery at Bruny Island, and
Mr. Clive E. Lord also some photos of
this rookery and ,some others of a wedge-
t,uied eagle's ne"t near iEIooart.
In the unavoidable absence of Mr. A.
(Government Entomologist), a
pa-per by him was read by the secretary
on HA and Remarkable Genus of
Blind Beetles from Australia and Tas-
manil1, of the Fl1mily rrrichopterygidae,"
which will be found elsewhere ill this
is'sue.
Mr. Clive E. Lord read an interesting
account of the recent camp-out at Ford
Bay, Bruny Island, and which also ap
pears in this issue.
iMr. !G. IW. Smith, 0If the Ox-
f'Ol'd University, Iwho h;a,s Ibee'n senit
hy thM inst'itution 'to <to
up a report on the freshwater
crustacea of this island, gave a most
interesting account of some of these
animals, illustrating his remarks with
sketches on a blackuoard. It is antici-
pated that an artiCle oy Mr. Smith, em-
hmcing the subject matter of his re-
marks at the meeting, will appear in the
next issue of tire "Tasmanian Natural-
iBt." 1
The usual conversazione closed a very
enjoyable meeting.
Note on a t.9asmanian Jfern.-Cystopteris
Jfragilis fBern.
BY L. HODWAY (Government Botani.st).
'Thiil fern, so r,ue with us, has once
mme <been gathf'T'cd. :\11'. T. B. :\1,0 ore,
who justly stands in the front as a k"en
rec.ently found it in the neigll-
IbouriJood of the Fmnklin Rangc. Only
Qnc,!' hef(t'e i.n tll" pre".ent g'ene'l'at:on has
it been gat1here-d. namel.v, hy \V. D. Wes-
:ton, of Luullc'e'ston. who me't with it a
few year" ago in the vicinity of .:\1iddle-
\Sex Plain's. Previous to t.hat th" only
( 8 )
I'1leOr,u of it.s existence in rrasnlania is
t ha t 0 f Gunn, \Y ho dis'covered it near
Lwke St. Clair. The disir'ibution of this
delicate fern is ye.rv extensi,"e. but
chie'fiy in t'he norther;l hemisphere. It
ha;; not vet bcen found on th" mainland
of t;".lia, hut .ha" heen g:l thered in
lTI:1.ll.v localities in Zealand. In
South Xmerica it grow.s along the whole
length of the _lndi'S a.s far south as ChilL
}
t
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
In Soui'h A-f.ic,l. it occurs on manv
mountains at a considerable altitudoe. 1;1
the no.rth it has a v>erv wide ran"e from
the Arctic regiollsS:outh, Ibu't e where
it spreads to ,w',',mner P'11'ts it re-
tre,,'ts 'to the mountain top . .;, where
it is as far'south ag C}lexico,
W'e,st lndi'e,s, Abyssini;l, and the Rima-
laya,s. On the Himalayas it ascends to
,an altitud,e of 16,000 f'eet. It is a 'small,
clelicaite plant, finding it., home fOI' pre-
fel1ence in the crevice.,' of rocks. Of a
tuned ha,hit, it makes a pt'etty little
fern. T.he le:a.ves vary con
siderably in shape, and many or
va,rietie.:-;, il-cC'onlillg' t.o the bia,g -of stu
dent.s. h,,,'c hcen madp of it. Tb", leaves
,.;emO'.n1 rea!ch ,,'ix il1!cheBin length, and
are divided into primary and usually
Sconda.ry pinna.e, the ultimate divi'sion,s
:OC'ing' bonl'el'ed by 10!J.e.g or /lcute teeth.
'J.1hespol'angia are of the tl'Lle polypodia-
ceous type, namely, s-tal'k,ed with a well-
doaveJoped vertical annulus. spo-
.c-an:gia. arramged in littLe round 80ri
on .the back o'r the ultimate ,.egments
nt tli8talh'P from the 'margin,
and: arisp 'fi'om t,hoe end of n
lolteral ",pin. Iu the youllIg sta'te
fhe .-;orus is JlTot,ect.ed ohy n delicate
membra,ne 01' indllsium that arisp.s b.elow
it, and for same time appe,aos a,s a cup
O'r concave OO'Vft ope,ning abov'e. As
the sorus that membrane is bent
'hack, and is (lommonly compll'tely hid-
den. The sporangia Hri,slC 'With the
indn.,ium from t.h-e sur:f:lce lavm' of t.he
leaf, but as development they
are borne on to the hase oof the indusium
itself, and appeal' M ll,ullciJ.edto that
org'llu inst-esd of to tlbeteaf. This iN il11-
podant as' a distingni;;ihing mark. divid-
ing CYNtopteri,s from DlVallia. The ap-
''Pearance of the young indusium ha;; gain-
for the plant the popular name of
Bladdel' F
i
el'11.'
CYTOPTEHIS FRAGILTS BERN.
Notes on a 'l9asmanian eucalyptus.
(e. gunnii of J. :XooRer.)
BY L. RODWAY (Government Botanist).
In the year 1844 Sir ,T oseph Hooker
descrihp.d in the "London ,T ournal of
'Botany" a eucalypt, and named it "Eu-
calyptus gunnii." In his grea.t work,
'''Flora Ta.smaniae," puhlished ahout the
'same time, also appears a description of
:the tree, accompanied with a very re-
(9 )
liahle plate. The plant descrihed was
from Tasmanian material, and accurately
represents the tree so common in some
parts of our Midlands, from Mount Field
to Ironstone Range, and known iocally
as the cider gum. Like most other
eucalypts, the tree varies, and it is a
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
EUCALYPTUS GUNNH H.
( 10 )
THE TASMANIAN NATURAlIST.
matter of individual opinion haw ftlr the
name shall cover varieties, and where
another name shall be used. Hotanists
ha ve long given up the idea of immuta-
h!lit,v, and recognise that except
in fa voured cases 'U specific name
i" only a convenient but arbi-
trary appellation for a poorly cir-
cumscribed group of varying forms. Bi-
ologists, in order to avoid confusion, de-
cribe a particular being under a
name. That form, whether well or ill
chosen, becomes for all time the type
bearing t.hat name, and all related forms
are compared with it. The elder gum
oil' ll'aSlmaniRhs ,tlhe itylpe of '"Jjhl'cal-
yptus gunnii" of Hooker. Any persons
who endeavour tu shift this . uuk com-
mit an offence against the laws of botani-
cal nomenclature, They not only rob
the first person of his little bit of spon-
sorial conceit, but raise up confusion in
the work to be done by subsequent stu-
dents. Ther" has been no botanist so
great that by his ipse dixit he could,
with certainty, change a name. Von
great as he was, failed IJl most
instances where he tried it_ He tried
it in 1&30 with Hooker's "Eucalyptus
gunnii," only to bear the unfortunate re-
sult that to-day few Australian botanists
refer to the same form when they ust'
the name, aud men, when they send
order" :for seed: OIf "IE'U'0aly:p-
tUB gunnii" sometimes get what they
want, but they generally do not. The
typical tree has a smooth, white bark;
alternate, sblked, oblong, equal-sided
leaves of rather thick texture, seldom or
never pointed. Flowers are small, shortly-
stalked, and three together in axillary
u)llbels. 'rhe operculum varies from
shortly hemispheritl to nearly conical.
'rhe fruit is small oblong to hemispheric,
about two to three lines diameter, with
a thin rim, and sunk capsule. Even
Hooker was guilty of an error. We have
a tree common on lowlands closely re
lated to cider gum. It has somewhat
different bark and leaves, more fiowers
in the umbel, different fruit, all dif
ferent in degree, but not essentially.
Hooker described this as "Eucalyptus
acervuhj, of' fSleber, which it certainly
i,s no't.'Muelle'r, Tefcognis,ing ".le error
Hooker had made tried to remedy it by
making a worse one. He suppressed the
name "acervula," and adopted the plant
gO described as the type form of "eucal-
yptus gunnii" Hooker. It appears as
such in his "Eucalyptographia," with a.
little bit of the original form appearing
as an interesting variety. The plate
which appears in this number is a photo-
graph of a sprig of the type plant. It
is not a very good sped men, but was the
!les't lLntilahle. The ,piece with I)J'oad.pale
is t
1
w jlH'PlI'ile e(1'n'.lit-ion of the piant
exeursions.
On :-;atmday, Odober 5, the first ex-
cursion of the session was held, the ob-
ject of study being botany, and the
leader 'sfI', [.. :Roaway, Iwho 'took the
party to Bellerive and thence along the
Rokeby-roatl. After walking about a
mile a large lowlying piece of ground
was met with, and here were found
many fiourishing shrubs, and in spring it
looks' quite gay wi,th the f,ollowing
plants: -Saeckia diffusa, Aotis villo.sa,
Pimelia Iinifolia, Leucopogon ericoides,
Epacris impress'U, several acacias, and
many other kinds. Club moss was also
found growing freely.
in the bird line was a large nest in a
eucalypt, which was probably that of a.
g08-hawk, as this bird. was seen fiying
.high overhead with something in its
claw. \Vedge-tajled eagles had a nest
near the summit of this mountain for
many years, and the Stewarts, of Risdon
Ferry, have said they had been there for
30 years. Young birds were reared for
the last time in 1J.006. The tree they
built ,in was an exceedingly hard one to
,climb, and few, if any, ever reached the
nest. The tree blew down in July or
August of this year, and scat,tered ,the
nest amongst the scrub.
A geologica:J excursion to Sandy Bay
was held ori November 16, with Dr. F.
as leader. The Cliffs on the
roadside were first examined, and a clear
account of their formation was given by
,the leader. CoUectors obtained fossil
s'pecimens of leaf impressions, e,tc., from
the sedimentary deposits here. A visit
was also paid to One Tree Point, where
the strata of volcanic and sedimentart
THE TASMANIAN
rocks were examined, and clearly ex
plained by Dr. Noetling. Numerous
ques,tions were replied to by the leader,
and members expressed themselves as
well plea-sed with the information im-
parted. This excursion was highly suc-
ce.sfu!.
A general collecting outing was held
at South Arm on November 30 ,per motor
NATURALIST.
launch. Members separated immediate-
!a-llIding, s'o'me dredge'CL !a- sma1:l la-
goon for ent.omnstraca.; others collected
pla.nts or insects, while a few went over
to the roc'ks towards the Derwent light.
house and found some little penguins
nesting. The lncality, however, was
not a good collecting one, ,thoug'l the
trip proved most enjoyable.
'l96e fBandi eoot.
BY P. LOIC1(JWOOD, F.L.S. (X.S.W.)
. During Ill,}' hut vcry
stay of 'fifteen UlO'nths in th,e Patersonia
di"tr.it:t-w,h,j('h i, situated on the
Scot.bllaJcwa,l, H,t the foot of :\Iount
Arth.ur, :lnJ about I i miles frolll L::tlln
ceston-l bel'i1llle in't-erest,ed in the
!potl-Clhed llla-tllLUai..; fouwi in that loea-lity,
{:m! lIone seemed llIor,e interesting to
TIle ti.Hlll the U:lll:licoot. The 'imntlicoot
!belongs to the ol'ller 1Ia[, . .,upalia and the
j'enns l'erameies, of which Tasmania
poor;eso;e,,, ,t wo ,pedes
ohesula and Pem.nH'les guuui-but there
are >lib-out a llozen different species rang
ing o\"<),r Australia and adja.cent i,lands.
They are in the.ir tt'allits,
Jtlwllgh one little ohe,suht, whidl had lost
ihis t.ail by so'tHe or uthel', al\Ya'Vs
ea.me :Lho'lIt hon;,e for the scraps 'in
the dnytime, and would occasionally
-qnal'rd ",it:t the C:lt. The po-udl is
on the ahdominal surface of the
hody uf III,e fema.le, and opens hack
wa,n]."', wllich i., the rel"er;;e' of wlm,t we
find in other Th.e young are
'PJ'ollu('cd in "n imperf.ect of de
y!'IO<l'lll!'llt. At hirt,h the,,e impe.rfectly
d!'\ei.ol'e:l ereatur{'sa re t-ransfernd by
t.he moth{'r to hl'-l' tea,ts, which are
"itnated \\'it.hin the pouch, and there they
:f'llnin until :l,\,le t.o bkecare of them
selves. Ofc(}ul';;{', tl1ese ulllleve'oped
little ('." Il!lO-t "uck by themselve,'l,
n:tture ha..; acconiingly pro \,j-J'e d
that. t'!'Plr "'ililt . ., ,:>l,n be supplied. ISpedal
.;11us,'I", s.ur:)'ollnll Ut<' milk glands of t,he
fe'l1lal,", \\':lkh IJY a sponbneous contr,te
l.ion lompre:;,; the glan:ls, and t:ll,us force
,,-he milk do",\'1l t:'e throat,s of t,he help
kss young. \\'Ilil'(l thev differ in fJodily
form, all have long and pig like snouts,
hnt the length of the is varia'ble.
T'he three lilLldle toe,s of the forefoot
a-re almost. eq ll'a,l in length,awl furnis,hecl
with s.trong,cl1l\'ell claws. In th'e hind
foot there i..; a. clawless fir"t .toe; the
"econd and third d.igit.s have tiat, twisted
hails, the foa I'tl! exeeeding all the rest
ill lenglll, and cUJ'ying a stout pointed
( 12 )
claw, and the fifth simila'r, but smaller.
The t-a.il is t.apering, and may he dotlied
wit.h s-itOl',t hair, or almost bare. From
per.,:onal ex,p('.rience 1 have found the taU
SOlll"\yitat hrittle. Having ca,ught an
O'hesnla (ilia le) once by t,le 'ta.iJ, he gave
ou" &tnlggle, at:,l left athout a quarter
of the :J . .ppelllbge ill my hand. Of our
two species. P('rameles l)hesnla i" the
1ll0"t COlllUlon a hout th.is distril't; he is
a hrowni,ltgrey animal, with coalBe,
bristly hair, w:tile Perameks gun ni-
nameri It fter :\1 r. GUIm, a Tasmall-ian
natllntlist, who tound the first "pecimen
-is a very I'Iett.y little (lren tnre, with
stril)('s :teros" the io-wer part of the hack,
anll divi,leti in the middl'e bv a daJ'k line.
'llhe fur is of a lllUClh finer quality titan
the uhl",ula posses&es. It is very amus
ing to watch the bal1'clicoot-s aftm' sun-
clown. I have seen them swarm ont
round the local school in this d.istrict toO
gathei' up the ple,ces of bread and cake
thl'o\\"J1 llW'1." I:)." the children, who hl'ing
their dinuel''; to school, and many a good.
'[PeiIIlPn I h;t\;e cn,ught in a hoxtn,p
,Iming their evenin.g picnic. They are
fond <l: hou:sehold tho-ngh t(]'eir
hush diet con.s,i.st.s of beetltls, worms,
grubs, and roots. F,or a nest
-they roll np mo.stmpidly with their
dded graS's, a,nti hits of
sticks. Occtu,ionallv I have o.hs,e.rved a
bandicoot. ilia ke >1, burrow similar to' a
rabbit, dig out the earth with wonderful
ra'pidity. and roll in thecoJlected
materials for a ll'es,t, tihough my experi
<'nce has been that they more often
sleep in hollow Io.gs. I found it im.p-os
;:ible to keep the"e little animals in '1,
clOllle"tic state; they s'eell1 spe.cially
<lcla.pted for the roaming bus.h life which
the.v follow. One little gunni, scarcelY
halfgrown; appBal'ed to. thrive fairly
well, sleeping jn my stoudy for the
greater part of the day, only wakening
for a little milk: in the e\'ening the
little c:lap wa" all alive, ,hopping xbout
jh-e house, apparently qu,ite haPI)Y, but
THE TASMANIAN
it lack,,:[ something which nature had
'prodded for these iO\\'lv creattLl'e,;-the
bUl'rowing in th(' earth. ,. I often accom-
.[,anied lily little pet out in the o-pen, and
it W'H most ple'15ing to observe the won-
(!erful a"la.ptability with which its pig-
Jikp ';!lout ',vould loe forced under the
t'arth. J WHiI ven' S01T\' to find thu.t
11 fter :1 week 01' m,v gunni grew
duller 11 nel weaker, and one morning t,he
'little 011e was foumi to be quite
he i.., now ill a of Taslnaniun nlalll-
,ma],; in tll" La:lIlce"ton }luseulll. Some
little time after I had the pleasure of
n,reh'ing a pr'2,ent 0; two very tiny lic.tle
gllnni. wllwh hat! not IYeen clothed very
long, tll .. mother having got into one of
tho .. b:lI'barO'lls spring traps which coun,
t,],y boys are eo fond of setting, and t,hu"
'torturing many illnocent Eves. All that
was possible was done for these
"ba,by bandies," but they pined away,
and also form case specimens in
NATURALIST.
the Launceston :MuseuID. I am
sU!'e my friends of the Tasmanian
Club will ag'l'"e witb me in
saying that we c,Ln learn lllany a valu-
able le'5wn from suell lowlv creatures of
our fOTest, s,hollld pIe-dge onrseive.,
to protect our native fauna in e\'ery pos-
,;ible way, and put down very firmly ,the
cow,arelly crnclty that our poor dumb
friends have to ".utfer fl'O-lll th,e \vanton
hands of t,houg"ltle"" perwlls. '''hen
we learn to stuu v the wom['edul life 'lId
ha,bits of the 10\;'e1' creatures we can re-
ciproca te tile ",entiments of the poetess-
1 wis:l voucould. have se,en tll'em there ,.
It did my spirit good
To see the small things God had ma,de
Thus eating in t:he wood.
I hope later on to forward it f.ew morc
remarks on other little animals I had the
pleaslIl"> of acquainted with,
eamp-out of toe 'l.9asmanian '3ield :/Yaturalists
on fBruny Island.
lilY ICILLVE E. LORD.
Tt ,wu,s uedde'd to ,ho.}d .the 80vember
camp of the dUll> at Po I'd :Bay, BI'uny
J,"hnti. Th'i" 'ba v is on Ithe ,ch:annel side
o,f the bLml, a Ifttle ,to the ne>l"t'h ,of It,he
i5.th,:lhl'''; bet,w,cpn XOl,bh un'd 'Bl'uny.
_l 1',lIlding was lHa'.le IOn I:'h:burdwy,the
Hell, and 'bl' :t':lc,tillle 'lJlivrkne:ss Illa'a ,ialUeu
t he Wilt,,' were piltc:1H'd amI elvel"y;thing
lVas sl!;IP-.,11':I'l"". A'Hel' teu, Ip-la,nti 'wel'.e
d.i;!l'u'sspj, all,l IV<' Ithen .turn'ed :in to hl'l,\'e
a 'lwIII'PY Viillle w('bh ,t,he Il1llos'IlI'itoe,s, ,wh;ilch
weTe y!ery Ela.}il.y ,0,11 'Suuda,y
IHorning we Te',nJy to Elt'aTlc. ISollne
olf 'tl:lC !p-al'ty 'w,cnt t'o Nle
t,1) _'.:l\',e'n'tuil'e 13:1,1' .or Calpe 'Fl'ederi.;k
I-Jl\lll'Y, et,(,.', 'rh!e ilalgoo:Il.S Iwe,re si1tlKlt.eIJ
il,b'LHllt, thl'P'(' lulrles 'h'IO'ltl our c:a.mIP, 1(1:nd
,:O'll,sbt 10: one ,I;al'ge .and numelrlQ'IIiS 'i;maH
,S:OlTIle dista,n.ce Jiroln the Ingoon:-;,
an,l 'f]oI'l',}' ,1 ;s'andhill, is .Ad,ven.t,ure Bay,
w:IPl'e til
'
el"e is fL yerv fine hea.!cih; hut,
a:s tite'rehad no't Ibeen ;'tny r.oug:h IlVea ther
for sOllle It,jme, .f,e'w .s'hC'l'is Iwere found.
W,hlillst w:tlk:in'g' alolll;l' the 'bea'Clh ,two
dead seals were noticed. Adventure Bay
hI te'J1111i'llatecl at the north 'by 'a he'a'c1-
laml, anld ,t-he'n Icliffs ex,tend 'for mj;Jes,
t'he mo','t easterly roeill'g calmed
C.1]l F,rederiek :Henry. In Ith:ese C;ljfl',5
a. cor,moTIl'nt,s' Iwas dlis(}orveTed,
but wfter se\'cr,illl aitftelmlpts it ,w,ws :C'OU-
impo .. Ito ge,t "<1O/W'Il to 'the
neIRt" II'OlpeS, so j,t 'WIlL,s de<cided
( 13 )
t,o wait ti;! next day, .w.hen It,he,se 'cIQuld
be procmel!. I\\"ldbt wakhing COI'-
lll!Orant:-5 'a hn'ge fWlliS dbserved
laloll;g ,t';le,;lwlre. On the 'w:ay
btt1ek to .("limp mIe of Vhe Illarty visited.
ihe Sil'Idh
I
L'IlS ami dismovel"ed a roo'kerv
of lpengu'ini,"i., fhese binls h:aN.ing'
nes,t" in 'burrow:; ,in ,tllie s'aldhilJi,l. IFl"o'lll
'uhe ea.r.s o'f one '0: ell:e !pel1lguins sonue
sam,m ti'ck" .\\('l'e ollllta,ill'ed, ,ho'tlt ewI'S
heilllg quite fii:e'd with them. On 1.Y1J0'1l-
lbty o().f ,the Iparty w,eilllt ':l'3'hill'J, amI
s'o,me wPJ]t t.he is'thmnH; hut the
e.l'iflf ,\V;,\18 a, ,visit Ipaid :by ,some ot
of the members to the cormorants' rook-
ery. The eliffs at the rookery are perhaps
fl50ft. h'i<glCt, 'and ar,e Ifa:irly ea,sy ,to
de:;lcel1ll to ',vit'lliu <Llbo'llt 1200H. 'olf ,fhe
\\"'ttel', ,tha't tilley aTe pI1a,eti-
ea]ly . pP'I'!pe,ndieuJ'al'. IHundred,.; of e,o'l'-
!.nor:a,l1ts were oib-served on ,bheir nests,
\\'h:idl extel1'.l fo,!' a'ho,ult 'a mi
i
1e along t,he
diff's, a'lId are IJui1t of Ipi;g- wce,cI and
ou the Iedlge.s a,t ,the foot. The
birds were the large ,pied 'C.uIunorant--
le ev'ld,ent-
Iy 'tlheir lw"ting' se.a,son 'WlLS it 'li:ttlc'
cUIIFie'!' tha,n thp da,te ,of Oiur arri\'al, .as
H10S,t of the ne,o;lb3 ll'acl ylo:un;g one;s j,n
them. de',cell"wLn'g as far as ipos-
si'hJ.e 'by U{llWl1 ,t.he ro:ck!i1, one
of the pa,!,ty wa,ij Ilowered to the ,rookery
with ,some volpes 'brougM for t'lmlt pur--
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
; J)[)se. rrillis Wll S '<.!one onlly ru:tibe'r a gOOd
deal o'f time hall 'been 'ilpent iI1 wbte.nd-
:i ng to Ithe ncce:s8>l,ry IPrtlcaJuUons against
a(lhlents. De"pite "uhe latencSls of the
;E'I:l';;O!L sever,\,1 c11\1bc'he,s olf elg'&i'I ,were
were procured. It was aSltonishini
tincl l1O<w qni,['kly :the time Ipa,sse{t
whiht eXiplo,dlllgT t'he nJl()kerie,s, ,lmd,
tholllg,h, they ,\I"Ne only re;ruched ,in IP'lr.t,
\I'hen we h:l'.l ,c(')He,(!ted S10me stpie:dimC'ns it
was ,t,ime to reltnl'll to crullJiP. BCiddes
the CO'l'Ill'orants, llIany guns, gannets,
a nld tel'n8 '\Yere oascllved, a'ls'o a faw ,pen-
gnins, dJoiitere1i;, etc.,
whilst 'I\II'tiher inla'IlId t'he 'lnost., {,Olllmon
biI'ds HIp;peaH'd 'bo l)e IPiurakeets,
honey-ea-te,lOs ,of 'Senl'rall s.pecies, diwmlOlud
bird!s, ,tree and 81\\"allo\\'", wrens,
an.! ',everaJl Bpelcies 'of cnoJ.wos. The
"hieif kinds of fb;h {j,H1ght ,'were ,fh,Vhead,
'"<tried m'ith am ,Qc!ca'SJolllaJl cod, ",knlt.e, or
dogfish. On Tuesruay Imorn:ing we re-
tunltd 'to lIlohart, Iwhiirch wa's re:n.llhed as
the Otlke dOlck was iltriki'l1g n.
On a :New and fRemarR.able genus, of !Blind
!Beetles from :Jlustralia and 'l9asmania
of t6e 'l9rie60pterygidl2.
BY M, LEA.
Recently, having occasion to identify a
:species of the family Tnchopterygidae,
from King Island, I carefully examined
.Matthew's monograph of that family,
and one of the genera figured struck me
instantly' as being familiar. This genus,
Lil1lnlodes,* is remarkable in that its only
(at least then known) member has no
eyes or wings, that its mouth parts are
'Concealeld, and th1alt the :int,e'rcoxal pro-
cess of its prosternum is very wide, and
produced backwards on to the metaster-
num, with its hinder apex bilobed. On
examining my collection of the family,
I found that at least four species (pos-
sibly five, of which, however, ,one is
represented by a un1que specimen)
.agreed in all these remarkable features,
and that their outl'ines were very much
the same as those of Limulodes. They
all evidently belong to one genus, but
:this genus differs from Limulodes, al-
t.lOugh evidently very 'Close to it, in
having the antennae more than nine-
jointed and of differerrt shape, and the
abdomen entirely cover,ed by the elytra.t
All the species occur in ants' nests,:j: and
all appear to be quite common, al-
though on account of their exceedingly
small size they are readily overlooked.
I have taken them in the nests of a,t
least five kinds of ants (usually under
stones), and in \Vest Australia, ew
IBouth Wales, and Tasmania.
I have very great pleasure in dedicat-
ing the genus (certainly the most inte
resting one known to me from Tasmania)
to our chairman, Mr. Leonard Rodway.
:j:As also does Limulodes paradoxus .
'fln several specimens of one species
,the tip of the abdomen is exposed, but
this was probably due to improper
treatment.
*Plate 16 and i)late 2'3, fig. 103.
:R.odwayia, n. g.
Head small, widely transverse, im-
mersed in prothorax, its outline continu-
ous with outline of that segmerrt, mouth
parts concealed, eyes wanting, antennae
thin; first joint stout, concealed by head;
.second stout, outline slightly dilated to-
wards base, longer than wide, the length
of three following joints combined; third
,thin, veory little longer than wide; four,th
the wid:th of,but slightly longer than,
thIrd; fifth sub equal in length with
fourth; third to fifth parallel-sided;
,sixth slightly shoder than fifth, and
.slightly dilated to apex; seventh short-
er than sixth, and Slightly more dilated;
eighth .subtriangular, and forming small-
est and basal joint of club; ninth
transverse, wider than eighth, apex
rounued; tenth subpyrHorm, the length
of three preceding joints combined. Pro-
,thorax very large, regularly convex, sides
r,ounded, IbiMle truncate, /but p08!te,r'ior
angle.s produced, and embracing elytra.
absent.* Ely,tra small, nar-
rower than, and outline continuous with
that of prothorax. Pro sternum with
the sides produced downwards like .fiaps;
intercoxal process very wide, produced
backwards over metasternum, hinder
apex bilobed; abdomen entirely conceal
...
l
\
I
,
I
I
I
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
from above; legs entirely conceaJed
from above; ,two basal joints of tarsi
small, third elongate.
,To -examine all parts earefully would
need very careful disseetion, and as the
head of the largest before me is
less than one two-hundredth part of an
inoh in length, I have been unable to
. properly dissect it; the antennae may
really be elevenjointed; but if so, the
joint I am unable to see must be conceal-
ed by the overlapping portion of the head.
The genus, however, is so remark!l!bly dis
tinct by the characiers, which are readi-
ly observed under the micros'oope with-
out dissection, that no confusion is
likely to arise from this cause. I am un
able to eount the segments of the abd{)
men. The outer margins (seen when
the lower surface is examined) appear
to be formed of a thin, continuous fiap,
/
I-Outline of Rodwayia Minuta.
R. Ovata. 3-0f R. Occidentalis.
of which that por.tion formed by the pro-
thorax is the deepest, and tha;t 'bythe
'head is the finest. The prolongation
backwards of the hind angles of the pro-
thfrrax IS much more apparent from the
under than the upper surface. The in-
iercoxRI process of the mesosternum is
wide, Rnd more parallel,sided than in the
figure 0 given of Limulodes; the middle
coxae are ':wliso :'Wide;!", lal'ger, and mOil"e
d'isltant. Both 'the iprooess and !Coxae
hfrwever, RTe entirely conceRled by the
overlapping prosternal process.
*In Matthew's main figure on plate 16
,the scutellum appears as being absent,
but on plate 23, fig. 13, a distinct seu-
tellum is shown, and in the generic de-
scription ,i,t said it,o !be ''brevi.sJsitrrmm,
la tissimum, tnanguIRre."
2-Intercoxal Process of Prosternum of
4-0f R. Orienblis. 5-0f R. Minuta.
Ovata, n. Ip.
Pale red'd1sh ICa:staneous, B.rppen'tfugS
and tip of abdomen paler, clasely covered
with shart sericeous pubescence.
Head abaut twice as wide as long.
Prothorax very large, almost half totaJ
length, rather strongly convex, sides
feebly rounded, e'xcept towards ,the apex,
where they are strongly rounded; length
of sides almost equal to greatest width.
Elytra at the bas'e narrower than, and
clasped by bRse of, pro thorax, sides
( 15 )
gently deereasing in width from base to
near apex, apices widely and separately
rounded. Intercoxal process of pro-
sternum slightly produced 'on to metas-
ternum and entirely eoncealing middle of
mesosternum; apices widely rounded.
apex .of abdomen notched. Femora wide;
length # 1mIn.
Ho,bart; in nests of
a faIrly large black stingless ant 'und'er
stones ( over 40 specimens were taken
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
-from one nes't). 'fhe outline is almos,t
perfectly oval. In this and all the other
species the derm is ,g,hining, but some-
what obscured by the and
this bejng par'tiall.y absent from the in-
,tercoxal process of the prosternum that
portion appears to be highly polished.'
All the species are remarkably s,imilar in
genpral appearance, differing, eX'cept as
to ,the apices of ,the prosternal
in little more ,than size, slightly in
colour, and in one species in colour of
pubescence. The sculpture of the pro-
thorax and elytra is so o;bscured by ,the
clo,thing that 'it cannot be satisfactorily
seen, but it appears in all. thes'pecies to-
consist .of dense punctures arranged
transversely or at right angles ,to the
disposition of the clothing. In fact, from
some directions :there appear to be
numerous 'fine ridges, be'hind which are
placed the 'punctures, the ridges be'ing
more or less parallel with eacn other, or
slightly undulating. The back of the
head also, when removed 'from the pro-
thorax, appears to be similarly sculp-
tured. The under surface in all the
species appears to have fine, but more
or less concealed, punctures;
:R.odwayia C}eeidentalis, n. Sp.
Reddish castaneous; prothorax (espe
ci:ally at base) some,what dar,,;:er than
el.}"tra; abdomen and appendages paler
tllan elytra. Closely covered with short
sericeous pubescence.
Head scarcely twice as wide as long.
Prothorax (in proportion) slightly larger,
and with more strongly rounde.d sides
than in ovata; the elytra with sides
rather more rapidly dimIni!;lhing in width
toa:pex, and hind ape'x of intercoxal pro-
cess of prosternum more dee1ply incised.
Acbdomen apparently composed of six
segments, its apex widely and obtusely
nutched. [Femora wide and compressed,.
dik.tt',d 'in the miulUe Ipogteriorly; ,ti;bia-e
rather thm, apparently
Lerugt'h, mm.
Austra'lia: Swan River; in
of a fairly large s;tingless ",sugar"
alJJt under s,tones.
Alt'hongh :the colour is not very dark,.
it is darker than that of any other
species here described, and the' pro thorax
. often appears to be faintly infuscated in
the middle.
:R.odwayia C}rientalis, n. Sp.
Pale reddish castaneous, appendages
still paler, Closely ,covered with ,short
.sericeoml pubescence.
Outlines much as in occidentalis.
at hind apex ofproSlternal procesi>
deeper ,than in o'ccideutalis, and much
deeper tha.1l in ovata. Abdomen obtusely
nokhed at apex. Femora wide and com-
Ipressed. iLe'ngth, mm.
'Vales: Sydney; Tasmania:
Launceston. In nests of the same small
ant that harbours the following s,pecies;
in the nests of a very minute red ant,.
anU. int:hose of a ratner small "green-
head" stinging ant; all undtr stones .
In one specimen the maxillary palpi
are not concea1ed, and in shape appear
like the 'figure E, given of Limulodes.
But this specimen h broken, and in
others thepa1pi are apparently invis;ible.
Un the elytm, es:pecially to,wards the
base, there usually 'appears, in ;!;lome
lights, a bluish or greenish opales,cence;
lmt this may be due to the clothing.
:J{odwayia:Minuta, n. Sp.
Very pale reddish casitaneous; appen-
dages paler. CloselY covered withs,hor,t.
w.d<tish pubescence; paler !than in all the
preceding .species.
Outlines almost exadlv as in ovata.
,}Hnd rupices 'oIf ill'oo'terna'l procelss more
acutel.y 'producel. than in aUthe preced-
ing species, and Its .!;lides rather less in-
'flated. Abdomen apparently not notched
at a'pex, and rather more densely pUlbes-
C'ent than in the other species. Femora
wider than in the other species. Length,
mm.
( 16 )
Hab.-Tasmania: Ho,bart,
<Sheffield. Common in' nests of 'a &mall
black ant (Colobopsis Gasseri Fab), un-
der stones. ,
'1'hi8is the shortest beetle yet described
from Australia and rfasmania, but its.
'total bulk is slightly greater than tha,t
of Ptilium Simsoni; hItnerto the short-
est described species. There are, how-,
ever, several considera:bly smaU1lr species.
of :the family in my collection.