is the longest and largest) is thrust forward into the food, the slender third finger is raised upwards and backwards above the rest, while the first finger or thumb is lowered, so as to be seen below and behind the chin; in this position the hand is drawn backwards and forwards rapidly, the inner side of the fourth finger passing between the lips, the head of the animal being held sideways, thus depositing the food in the mouth at each movement; the tongue, jaws, and lips are kept in full motion all the time. Sometimes the animal will advance towards and lap from the dish like a cat, but this is unusual. I have never heard her utter any cry, or produce any vocal sound, during the many hours at night in which I have watched her habits, nor has she appeared shy or angry at my presence. With reference to food, this creature exhibits no inclination to take any kind of insects, but feeds freely on a mixture of milk, honey, eggs, and any thick, sweet, glutinous fluid, rejecting meal-worms, grasshoppers, the larvae of wasps, and all similar objects. Consequently I am inclined to think that this animal is not insectivorous. Its large and powerful teeth lead me to infer that it may possibly wound trees, and cause them to discharge their juices into the cavity made by its teeth, and that upon this fluid it probably feeds. This appears to me the more likely, as I observe that our specimen returns frequently to the same spot on the tree which she had previously injured. I am also strengthened in my opinion by noticing the little attention paid by the animal to its food. It does not watch or look after it; for I have on several occasions removed the vessel containing its food during the time the animal was feeding, and the creature continued to thrust its hand forward, as before, upon the same spot-though after a while, finding no more food, she discontinued, and moved off to search for more elsewhere. This apparently stupid act is so unlike the habits of an animal intended to capture or feed on living creatures that I am inclined to believe that the Aye-aye feeds upon inanimate substances. I have frequently seen it eat a portion of the bark and wood after taking a quantity of the fluid food. The excrement of this animal much resembles the dung of small rabbits, being in separate nearly round balls. On Marriages of Consanguinity. By GILBERT W. CHILD, M.D. Oxon. Two opposite views of the effect of the above marriages have been held(1.) That they are unnatural, and entail degeneracy upon their offspring as a natural consequence, and independently of the ordinary laws of inheritance. (2.) That they are not contrary to any law of nature; and that when ill consequences are observed to follow them, they do so by ordinary inheritance only. Two kinds of evidence have been employed in investigating this subject(1.) That derived from observation and statistics in the case of human beings, and (2.) From carefully recorded experiments in the case of animals. The former tends somewhat to support the first opinion, and the latter the second. Upon criticism of the evidence of the former kind, it appears that the results of various observers are inconsistent with one another, and that in one instance a similar investigation has shown worse results to be produced from the intermarriage of natives of different European countries than those alleged to have followed from the marriages of blood-relations. Further, the impossibility of obtaining correct family histories is sufficient to invalidate all evidence of the kind in such cases as the present. On the other hand, the evidence from the breeding of animals is clear and conclusive up to the point that animals are known to have been bred with a degree of closeness physically impossible in the human race, without any apparent degeneracy. This evidence is open to one serious objection, viz. that the animals so bred are subject to careful selection, which is impossible in the case of mankind. This is an objection, in fact, not against consanguineous marriages altogether, but against such marriages between unhealthy persons, and proceeds on the hypothesis that the ordinary laws of inheritance affect close-bred animals equally with others. It is therefore consistent with the second opinion, and inconsistent with the first. The remainder of the paper was occupied by the relation of several observations upon mankind made in the Mediterranean, the Scottish islands, in Cornwall, and elsewhere by Dr. Davy, and kindly communicated by him to the writer, all of which tend to show that many instances are to be found in which inhabitants of isolated districts, known to intermarry closely, are seen to be in possession of more than average health; also by one case observed by the writer in a race of cats, in which certain peculiarities were found to reappear in the third generation, after at least two successive distinct crosses. The writer's conclusions are as follows :- 1. That statistical evidence from observation of man is peculiarly inapplicable to questions of the kind under discussion. 2. That the evidence in favour of the opinion that close breeding is contrary to a law of nature is highly unsatisfactory. 3. That there is positive evidence, from the results of recorded observations upon animals, that no such law affects them-i. e., that where the causes of degeneracy are absent, any degree of close breeding may exist without producing ill effects; and therefore, 4. Unless we are prepared to believe in two distinct physiologies, the same must be true of the human race. 5. It will remain an interesting question, how far reasoning similar to the above will be found to affect the views recently put forward by Mr. Darwin, in his work on the fertilization of Orchids. The following are the works referred to in the paper of which the above is an abstract: Devay. Hygiène de Famille, 2nd edit, deuxième partie, sec. ii. ch. iv. v. Child. In Medico-Chirurgical Review for April 1862. Bondin. In Comptes Rendus for June 16, 1862. Anderson Smith. In Lancet for July 5, 1862. Youatt. The Horse, p. 317 (edit. 1855). Samson. In Comptes Rendus for July 21, 1862. Beaudouir. In Comptes Rendus for August 5, 1862. Stonehenge. (J. H. Walsh.) The Horse, in the Stable and in the Field, p. 139. On Ribs and Transverse Processes, with special relation to the Theory of the Vertebrate Skeleton. By Dr. Cleland, In the first part of this paper, the points were sought to be shown in which prevailing theories were untenable when compared with the phenomena exhibited by ribs and transverse processes in different classes of Vertebrata. According to the writer of the paper, all morphological discussions resolve themselves into investigations of the relative amount of significance attachable to different classes of phenomena. We compare structures, and inquire in what respects they differ and in what they correspond. The question then arises, what points of difference or correspondence are of primary importance, and what points are only subordinate? The importance of such points can only be estimated by their prevalence in a series of animals, and the time of their appearance in the embryo. Now, looked at in the earliest condition, the embryo is developed from a portion of the germinal membrane split up into layers, which fold inwards to complete the outline of the body in such a manner that the innermost layer forms the epithelial lining of the intestine and appendages, while the outermost layer forms the cuticle, together with the brain and spinal cord. The spinal cord is thus originally superficial, and it only becomes deeply placed in consequence of processes, projected from the middle and superficial layers, rising on each side of it and uniting in the middle line. On the other hand, the visceral cavity is not bounded by processes projected from the opposite aspect of these layers, but by the layers themselves; therefore the visceral ring cannot be appropriately compared to the neural ring, which is formed merely of two radiations given off from the visceral ring. Yet the prevailing theories, according to which the ribs and transverse processes of mammals, birds, reptiles, and fishes are compared, e. g. those of Müller and Owen, require us to believe that the skeleton is so planned round the bodies of the vertebræ, that the neural arch on the dorsal aspect corresponds to the visceral arch on the ventral aspect. That condition is only found in the tail; and the tail is not a typical por tion of the body, but a degenerated series of segments, in which the products of the deepest parts of the embryo are entirely unrepresented. With regard to the series of structures traced back into the tail, it was shown that structures lying in series were not necessarily strictly homologous, that, in fact, correspondence was a thing of degree, and that inferior arches of caudal vertebræ were found in series sometimes with mesial spines, sometimes with vessel-embracing arches, sometimes with costal arches of trunk-vertebræ, and sometimes with more than one of these. The key to the comprehension of the skeleton was maintained to lie in the double relation of the skeleton of the trunk to the visceral cavity and chorda dorsalis, both being to it centres, but in different senses-the visceral cavity being that which it tended to encircle, the chorda dorsalis the line from which its efforts to encircle the visceral cavity began. The correspondence of inferior caudal arches of one class of Vertebrata to those of other classes was shown to be of primary importance; and their differences in respect of attachment, and of the structures with which they were in series, of secondary importance. All transverse processes or ribs tending to embrace the visceral cavity were shown to have a primary correspondence, even though attached to different parts of the vertebræ, and to be more closely allied one with another than to any structure projecting into the muscles, such as the superior transverse processes and ribs of fishes. (This paper is published in full in the 'Nat. Hist. Review' for Jan. 1863.) On Geoffroy St.-Hilaire's Distinction between Catarrhine and Platyrrhine Quadrumana. By Dr. COLLINGWOOD, Liverpool. The terms applied long since by this eminent French naturalist are of great general importance, and point out very characteristic distinctions; but the definitions universally given of those terms are such as to make the terms themselves appear liable to numerous exceptions. Thus, the Old-World Monkeys possess nasal septa varying from inch (Semnopithecus) to inch in thickness (Colobus); while in those of the New World, although the septum is sometimes (Cebus) inch thick, in other instances it does not exceed inch (Eriodes). Neither do the definitions "nostrils opening beneath (or in front of) the nose," and "nostrils opening to the side of the nose," apply by any means generally. It appears as though the spirit of St.-Hilaire's distinctions were quite forgotten by his successors, who have endeavoured to connect all the Quadrumana under a Procrustean rule. Typical animals fulfil, for the most part, the definitions given; but aberrant genera wander in this respect, as in others, from the ordinary definitions. It is to the form of the septum itself, in its anterior aspect, that we must look for the real basis of St.-Hilaire's distinctions-that form being wedge-shaped in the Monkeys of the Old World, and hourglass-shaped in those of the American continent. This causes all the curious changes of direction which the nostrils undergo, and is without exception. Hence it results that in Catarrhine Quadrumana the lower angles of the nostrils rapidly converge over the mouth, while those of the Platyrrhine Monkeys diverge a test which, while it is most readily applied and is not liable to misinterpretation, is at the same time altogether independent of the thickness of the nasal septum. On the Change of Form of the Head of Crocodiles; and on the Crocodiles of India and Africa. By Dr. J. E. GRAY, F.R.S. The author stated that the Crocodile, when first hatched, has the front of the face short and rounded, even in those that have an elongated beak in the adult state. The nose of the different species lengthens, and gradually assumes the form which is the character of the kind; and it is at this age that the peculiar forms of the different kinds are best examined and compared. After the animal has assumed its adult size, the bones of the head dilate on the side, and the forehead and nose become more swollen. The change of form thus produced is so great, that some naturalists have regarded them as distinct species. This dilatation of the sides and increase in thickness of the bones of the head are doubtless for the support of the large teeth which are developed as these animals attain their adult age. The author observed, that this was a good instance, as showing the necessity of studying all kinds of animals in all their stages of growth, and under different circumstances. He stated that no species could be said to have been properly observed until all these circumstances had been examined and noted; and that though the notice of a single individual or state of an animal was useful, it could only be regarded as a signpost, indicating the existence of an animal which required further study and examination. He then proceeded to speak of the African Crocodile. He observed, that Adanson mentioned three crocodiles as found in the Senegal. Cuvier, in his monograph, thinks that Adanson had made some mistake, and makes some very severe remarks on the inaccuracies of travellers; but more recent researches had shown that in this case the traveller was correct, and the philosopher at fault. Adanson mentions the Green and the Black Crocodiles and the Gavial of Senegal. There can be no doubt, from the West-African specimens which are in the British Museum, that Cuvier was right in regarding the Green Crocodile as the crocodile also found in the rivers in the northern and southern parts of Africa. Cuvier, on the other hand, considered the Black Crocodile of Adanson was identical with the Alligator with bony eyebrows found in South America. This is not the case; for there is a Black Crocodile found in West Africa, which is often imported into Liverpool; and there are specimens in the British and Liverpool Museums, and some young ones living in the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park: it is a true crocodile, but peculiar from having three long plates in the eyelids; and it was probably this peculiarity that misled Cuvier. It is to be observed, that the French naturalists have not yet discovered this fact; for the author stated that he had recently purchased from the French Museum the skeleton of this African Black Crocodile under the name of Alligator palpebrosus from the Brazils; and there was little doubt that it must have been the examination of the skull of this animal that induced some zoologists to believe that some specimens of alligators had the teeth sometimes fitted into notches in the margin, as in the crocodiles, while in fact they were observing the skull of a true crocodile, and not an alligator. The Gavial of Senegal, of Adanson, is most like the Crocodilus cataphractus of Cuvier, which has a long nose like a gavial, but is a crocodile: this animal has been redescribed under various names. Dr. Gray stated that the crocodiles of India had been much misunderstood; some authors said the common crocodile of Africa was found in India, others confused more than one species under the name of C. palustris. There are four species found in India: two are confined to the estuaries or the mouths of rivers, where the water is brackish,-as Crocodilus porosus or biporcatus, which is found on all parts of the coast and also in the islands of Java and Borneo, and even on the north coast of Australia; the other is a new species, confined, as far as we at present know, to the coast of Pondicherry. The latter is only known, from a specimen lately received (French), as Crocodilus biporcatus. The other two are confined to the inland rivers; and they are sometimes found high up in the mountains, where the water of the river is frozen. It is to be observed that these river-crocodiles, which have been confounded with the African kinds, are known from them by the short, broad shape of the intermaxillary bone, which is separated from the maxilla by a straight suture, while in the crocodiles of the African rivers the intermaxillary bone is produced behind and between the edge of the maxilla. One species is generally distributed over distant parts of India; the other is confined to Siam, and is probably the animal described by the French missionaries, though the specimen in the British Museum has no crest on the occiput; but the author believes that this may be either an effect of age or an individual peculiarity. On the Production of similar Medusoids by certain Hydroid Polypes belonging to different Genera. By the Rev. T. HINCKS, B.A. The author's object in this paper was to put on record the remarkable fact, which had lately come under his observation, that the Tubularian polypes, Stauridia producta (Wright) and Coryne eximia (Allman), produced Medusoids which at the time of detachment were undistinguishable from one another. The genus Stauridia was nearly allied to Coryne, but was distinguished from it by having tentacles dissimilar in character. Its upper tentacles were furnished with globular tips, its lower were filiform and rigid; in Coryne all the arms were capitate. The S. producta was a small, creeping, unbranched form; the C. eximia was branched, and attained a considerable size. Yet of the life-series of these two Hydroids, thus dissimilar in general character, one term was identical. A strictly analogous fact would be the production of flower-buds absolutely identical by two plants of different genera. Reference was also made to the close similarity, if not perfect agreement, existing between the Medusoid of Coryne eximia and that of the C. Sarsii of Loven. The author then described the gonophores of the Stauridia producta, and the development of its Medusoid, which was characterized as having a somewhat bellshaped umbrella, studded with thread-cells; a rose-coloured manubrium, with a simple mouth; four radiating vessels; four tentacles, which originated in as many rose-coloured marginal tubercles, on one side of which was a dark reddish-brown ocellus. The arms were very extensile, set with knot-like clusters of thread-cells, and terminating in a spherical bulb. There were no marginal bodies except the tentacles. The author objected to the use of the term Medusoid to designate the free reproductive body of the Hydroida, as tending to perpetuate a false conception of the nature of the sexual zooid. It helped to keep up the idea of its distinct and absolute individuality, and to conceal its real significance as the mere equivalent of the flower-bud in the plant. In the life-series of the Hydroid the polype was the alimentary zooid, and the sexual element or term might be conveniently and correctly designated the gonozooid. On a Species of Limopsis, now living in the British Seas; with Remarks on the Genus. By J. GWYN JEFFREYS, F.R.S.* The author described the animal of Limopsis aurita (Brocchi), which he had lately taken by dredging off the north coast of Shetland, and he gave an historical account of the genus. This discovery, in a recent state, of a shell previously known only as a tertiary fossil, was adduced by Mr. Jeffreys in support of an opinion which he had elsewhere expressed, that many species of Mollusca, which were supposed to have become extinct, existed somewhere in the vast extent of the present submarine area. A knowledge of the animal of Limopsis, and of the true position of the genus, was among the desiderata of both conchologists and geologists. A list of the recent species, with particulars of their synonymy and habitat, was appended to the paper. On a Specimen of Astarte compressa having its Hinge-teeth reversed. By J. GWYN JEFFREYS, F.R.S. The author exhibited a specimen of Astarte compressa, taken by Mr. Robert Dawson in the Moray Frith, having only one primary tooth in the left valve, and two primary teeth in the right valve, being the contrary of what usually occurs. The muscular impressions were in their ordinary position. Mr. Jeffreys considered this to be a case of partial or incomplete reversal, and that it was different from the cases of reversed bivalves which had been noticed by Dr. Gray in the 'Geological Journal for 1824 and Philosophical Transactions' for 1833. In those cases the shell was inequivalve; in Astarte it is equivalve. Notice of some Objects of Natural History lately obtained from the Bottom of the Atlantic. By Prof. W. KING. Her Majesty's ship 'Porcupine' has been engaged during a portion of the past summer in taking deep-sea soundings on the west coast of Ireland, in connexion with the proposed Atlantic-telegraph scheme; and the author has been authorized by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to draw up a report on the various organic and inorganic objects obtained during the expedition. * See Annals of Natural History, 3rd ser., vol. x. p. 343. |