XKi'm§i i m 'M i"?^ -{sv'^-^'IV W: ' r'V; '-.trv' m^ '.or llT\i j^ "^ ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA PAPERS & PROCEEDINGS OI" THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA FOR THE YEAF^ 1923 (With 13 Plates and 19 Text Figures) ISSUED 9ih Af^HIL, 1924 PUBLISHED BY Till: SOCIEIY The rasmanian Museum, Argylc Slrect. lloliail 1924 Price : Ten Shillings 5 ?-)\l62? L^rv l-^C The responsibility of the statements and opinions in the following papers and discussions rests with the individual authois and speakers ; the Society merely places them on record. f ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA The Royal Society of Tasmania was founded on the 14th October, 1843, by His Excellency Sir John Eardley Eardley Wilmot, Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land, as "The Botanical and Ilorlicultural Society of Van Diemen's Land." The Botanical Gardens in the Queen's Domain, near Hobart, were shortly afterwards placed under its management, and a grant of £400 a year towards tlieir maintenance was made by the Government. In 1844, His Excellency announced to the Society that Her Majesty the Queen had sij^nil'ied her consent to become its patron; and that its designation should tlienceforward be "The Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land for Horticulture, Botany, and the Advancement of Science." In 1848 the Society established the Tasmanian Museum; and in 1849 it commenced the publication of its "Papers and Pro- ceedings." In 1854 the Legislative Council of Tasmania by "The Royal Society Act" made provision for vesting the property of the Society in trustees, and for other matters connected with the management of its affairs. In 18."j5 the name of the Colony was changed to Tasmania, and the Society then became "The Royal Society of Tasmania for Horticulture, Botany, and the Advancement of Science." In 1800 a piece of ground at the corner of Argyle and Mac- quarie streets, Hobart, was given by the Crown to the Society as a site for a Museum, and a grant of £3,000 was made for the erection of a building. The Society contributed £1,800 towards the cost, and' the new Museum was finished in 18Gl2. In 1885 the Society gave back to the Crown the Botanical Gardens and the Museum, which, with the collections of the Museum, were vested in a body of trustees, of whom six arc chosen from the Society. In consideration of the services it had rendered in the promotion of science, and in the formation and management of the Museum and Gardens, the right was reserved to the Society to have exclusive possession of sufficient and convenient rooms in the Museum, for the safe custody of its Library, and for its meetings, and for all other purpose j connect- ed with it. In 1911 the Parliament of Tasmania, by "The Royal Society Act, 1911," created the Society a body corporate by the name of "The Royal Society of Tasmania," with perpetual succession. The object of the Society is declared by its Rules to b« "the advancement of knowledge." His Majesty the King is Patron of the Society; and His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania is President. — ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS, 1923 CONTENTS Vhi'a' Studies in Tasmanian Mammals, Living and Extinct. No. VIII. Pleistocene Maisui)ials from Kintr Island. By H. H. Scott and Clive Lord. K L..S 1 Studies in Tasmanian Mammals, Livinjr and K.xlinct, No. IX. Nototht'riinii vii-loridi', Owen. Hy H. H. Scott and Clivc Lord, F.L.S l Studies in Tasmanian Mammals, Li\lnjr and Extinct. No. X. Giant Wallal)y, M<irn,i,,is ,t„<ik, Owen. By H. H. Scott an.l ('live Lord. K.L.S « Notes on a GeoloKical Reconnaissance of Mt. Anne and the Weld River Valley, South-Western Tasmania. Hy A. N. Lewis, M.C., LL.B Vinculum scj-fusiiuhoii, Richardson. An addition lo the Fish Fauna of Tasmania. Hy Clive Lord, F.L.S J'i A Note on the Biiri'.il Customs of the Tasmanian Aboritrines. By Clive Lord, F.L.S '15 Mollusca of Kind Island. Hy W. L. May 47 Studies in Tasmanian Mammals. Livinj; and Extinct. No. XL Notes on a Mutilali'd I'cmur <if iXololln rlinii. By H. H. Scott and Clive Lord, F.L.S o6 5S Dijit. | Hy .'\. L. Tonnoir Australian Dixidar. I Notes on Australian lUniilniUidiu', mostly from the manuscript papers of the late Arthur NVhite. By G. H. Hardy T2 An Experimental Method of presenting the Principles determininir the General Properties of Oi)tical Gratings. By A. L. McAulay. B.Sc, B.A., Ph.U »' A Note on the Kinir Island Ktnu. Hy H. H. Scott lOo lOS Description of Two I'liderground Fungi. By L. Rodway, C.M.G. R. M. Johnston Memorial Lecture. Geological Evidence of the Anti(|uity of Man in the Commonwealth, with special reference to the Tasmanian Ahorigines. Hy Professor Sir T. W. Edgcworth David, K.B.E., C.M.G., F.R.S., B.A.. F.G.S 109 Ta.smanian Hymenoi/antraciat: By L. Rodway, C.M.G L'jl Abstract of Proceedings !'- Annual Report Officers l**** List of Members 1'''* Report 1"9 Obituary 1*^" Branch Reports ^^^ Reports of Sections 182 Accounts 1^"* Index 1***' PAPERS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA 1923 STUDIES IN TASMANIAN MAMMALS, LIVING AND EXTINCT. Number VIII. By H. H. Scott, Curator of the Launceston Museum, and Clive E. Lord, F.L.S., Director of the Tasmanian Museum. (Read 26th February, 1923.) PLEISTOCENE MARSUPIALS FROM KING ISLAND. The present specimens relate to the same find as that noted in our communication to this Society upon 13th June, 1921, when we detailed the characters relating to the humerus of Zaglossus harrissoni. Nototherhim mitchelli, Owen.—Female (?) animal. Our claim (1920, p. 24 and p. 107) that the plaster cast studied by Professor Owen, and practically elevated by him to the status of a type, was made from the skull of a female animal, is once more our theme, and the evidence is of some con- siderable interest. Of the animal to be studied, we have the nasal platform, some parts of the zygomatic arch, one tusk, the right upper maxillary with parts of four teeth in situ, and the fifth present, but detached. In addition to this, the atlas, axis, and third cervical are available to us—a most fortunate group of associated bones in view of the nature of our inquiry. We have given (1920, p. 81) a table of the calipered thicknesses of Nototherian nasal platforms, and to this we now add the following data: — N. MITCHELLI. Female. Male. Thickness of right nasal boss 47 mm. 60 mm. Thickness of left nasal boss 49 mm. 59 mm. Central thickness of nasal platform 17 mm. 25 mm. Thickness at base of nasal cartilage studs 18 mm. 22 mm Thickness midway between studs and nasal bosses 16 mm. 16 mn\ Width of nasal platform 160 mm. 175 mm. 2 STiniKS IN TASMANIAN MAMMALS. MVIM; ANI« KXTINCT. As far as it is possible to compare actual bones with a cast, these data agree very well with the skull case in ques- tion. In the item of total platform width, they agree exactly, since both give 160 mm. as a result. Again, the general all-round reduction in size agrees with what might be expected from a female animal's skull, when studied in terms of a male animal of the same species. The surface of the bone of this nasal platform is so well preserved that it is easy to note even minute, superficial markings, and we accordingly supplied a sketch illustrating the contours, and grouping of vascular scars, etc., the dia- gram, we opine, being self-explanatory. Upon the assumption that the female animals carried a less massive nasal horn than the males, it naturally follows that the cervical verte- bra would share in a dimensional reduction, and this is exactly what we find to obtain. COMPARATIVE CERVICAL VERTEBRA. Assumed female. Height of atlas Anterior height of neural canal Anterior width of neural canal Across atlantean cups Diameter of anterior centrum Anterior width of neural canal Diameter of anterior centrum Anterior height and width of neural canal • i!V II. H. SCOTT AND CLIVIO lO. LOKI). F.I..S. 3 hold good. As to size, the specimen measures in total length, between verticals, 134 mm., and seems to be intact. As usual- ly obtains, the lower surface of the exposed area of the tusk is deeply excavated by the lower tusk, a sharply drawn cross line marking its point of contact with the second incisor (whose whole crown is generally excavated to the outline of the grinding surface of the mandibular tusk). GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. It would seem, therefore, that—as already suggested— the females of Nototheriuvi mitchelli wem fully armed and carried effective nasal horns, albeit less powerful than those of their mates. This conclusion is supported by the facts deduced from the study of the less solidly built nasal plat- forms, and weaker necks. That we are not here dealing with an immature male seems fairly assured, since the bones all suggest maturity, and the teeth have been well worn dur- ing the life of the animal. No feasible method of osteo- logical development seems capable of converting this, ap- parently, matured nasal platform, of 160 mm. in width, into one of 175 mm. or more, or of expanding the cervical verte- brae to the size commensurate to the aggressive nature of the male animal. As noted in our former communication the specimens were recovered, and sent to us by Mr.