tralia, including a numerous list of birds, &c., recently brought from the Northern Territory, by Dr. B. Ninnis, surgeon to the Beatrice.

March 16th, 1865.

The following papers were read:-1. "Notes on Lichens, collected by Sir John Richardson in Arctic America." By the Rev. W. A. Leighton.-2. On the "Palms of East Tropical Africa." By Dr. J. Kirk.-3. "Descriptive List of Plants of the Anamallay Hills, in the Madras Peninsula." By Capt. R. H. Beddome, Officiating Superintendent of Forests.

April 6th, 1865.

The following papers were read:-1. "Notes on the Flora of the Desert of Sinai." By R. Milne Redhead, Esq.-These notes were collected during a tour in the East, in February, March, and April, 1864. The paper contained some very interesting remarks on the plants observed during the journey, but does not admit of extract. At Cairo everything was then suffering from recent severe frost, a most unusual occurrence. The plantains and sugar canes were almost destroyed. The desert was generally devoid of vegetation, while in the sandy wadys, which in rainy seasons are water courses, a variety of plants appeared more or less profusely-among them the Retem, (Spartium monospermum), supposed to be the Juniper bush of the prophet. Near a pool of bitter water, called 'Ain el Hawâra, and supposed to be the Marah of Scripture, where a few Palms and thick tufts of a prickly shrub, the Nitraria tridentata, the Ghûrhûd of the Arabs, which produces small oval scarlet berries, with a sub-acid flaThe camels eat this plant greedily. At night the air was laden with the delicious perfume of Mathiola odoratissima. As regards Ferns, Adiantum Capillus-veneris was stated to grow abundantly at the Pools of Solomon, in an old well on the Mount of Olives very luxuriantly, also at Aceldama; Ceterach officinarum on rocks and walls near Bethlehem; Cheilanthes fragrans in profusion at Beth Jala and in the valley of Hinnom near En Rogel; Nothochlæna lanuginosa, on rocks between Jaffa and Jerusalem; Gymnogramma leptophylla on Mount Gerizim, and Lastrea Filix-mas at Bamas-making in all six species seen in Palestine.

vour.

2. "On the Vegetation of the Western and Southern Shores of the Dead Sea." By B. F. Lowne, Esq. Communicated by Dr. Hooker.

April 20th, 1865.

The following papers were read:-" On Gripidea, a new genus of Loasacea, with an account of some peculiarities in the structure of the Seeds of that Family. By John Miers, Esq.

2. "Cabul, its Flora and Vegetable Products, &c." From communications received from the Rev. H. Jaeschke, of the Moravian Mission. By J. E. T. Aitchison, M.D.

May 4th, 1865.

Mr. R. Milne Redhead exhibited dried Specimens of Plants collected in Palestine and the Desert of Sinai; also Specimens of Anastatica hierochuntica, living and in the dry state. The following papers were read:-1." On two species of Guttiferæ." By Thomas Anderson, M.D.-Among the many rare species cultivated in the Botanic Garden of Calcutta, which have escaped the devastation of the Cyclone of the 5th of October last, there were stated to occur two species of Guttiferæ of considerable interest. The first of these Calysaccion siamense of Miquel (Mammea birmannica, Anderson), the author now described from living specimens, under the name of Mammea siamensis. M. Teijsmann says that the Siamese make necklaces of the flowers, and also offer them to the images of Boodh. The second was a Garcinia from the eastern coast of Africa, and named G. Livingstonei. The author stated that it was remarkable on account of its very peculiar habit, and also, though a true Garcinia, for its departure from one or two of the characters of the genus. The plants were raised from seeds sent to Dr. Thomson by Dr. Livingstone in 1859. This year one small tree has produced great profusion of pseudo-hermaphrodite flowers, and another has produced a few flowers of the same character. This fruitless flowering was said to occur among other species of Guttiferæ while in a young state, or at least during the first years of flowering, fruit-producing plants being those only that have arrived at full maturity. According to Dr. Livingstone the natives about the Zambesi eat the fruits, which are about the size of a walnut.

2. "Descriptions of some new Genera and Species of Tropical Leguminosa." By G. Bentham, Esq.

4. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, (11, Hanover Square.)

March 14th, 1865.

The Secretary called the attention of the meeting to several recent interesting additions to the Society's Menagerie, amongst which were specimens of a three-banded Armadillo (Tolypeutes conurus) and a male Siamese Pheasant (Euplocamus prælatus).—Mr. Alfred Newton exhibited specimens of several new or little-known Birds' Eggs, and gave descriptions of others, amongst which were those of Elanoides furcatus, Nucifraga caryocatactes, Didunculus strigirostris, Phalaropus fulicarius, Opisthocomus cristatus, Mareca americana, and Fulix affinis. Mr. Newton believed that the eggs of the Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes), which had been obtained from the island of Bornholm, were the first really authentic examples of this species that had reached this country.-Mr. Sclater exhibited and made remarks on the eggs of several birds, laid in the Society's Menagerie, amongst which were those of the Horned Pheasant Ceriornis satyra).—A paper was read by Mr. W. S. Dallas, on the feathers of Dinornis robustus, in which a full description of their structure, as exhibited in a portion of the skin of this extinct bird attached to a skeleton, lately acquired by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, was given. The remnants of the large accessary plume attached to each feather, manifested a near relationship between Dinornis and the Emeus and Cassowaries.-Dr. Crisp read a paper on the Anatomy of the Bactrian Camel, in which a description of certain intestinal glands, not before noticed in this animal, was given.-Dr. J. E. Gray gave a notice of à Common Porpoise (Phocæna communis), which had lately died in the Society's Gardens, and which was remarkable for having a row of tubercles on the upper margin of the dorsal fin. This structure did not appear to have been previously noticed in the Common Porpoise, although a species from South America, lately described by Dr. Burmeister, possessed it in a highly developed degree.-Three communications were read from Dr. P. P. Carpenter, entitled-(1.) Descriptions of new species or varieties of Chitonide and Acmaidæ, from the Panama collection of the late Professor C. B. Adams. (2.) Diagnoses of a new species of Mollusks, from the West Tropical region of North America. (3.) Diagnoses of a new species and a new genus of Mollusks, from the Reigen Mazatlan collection, with an account of

additional specimens.-A communication was read from Mr. G. S. Brady, describing sixty-six new or imperfectly-known species of Marine Ostracoda, and accompanied by elaborate drawings of the various species. Mr. Sclater pointed out the characters of a new species of bird of the genus Basileuterus, from British Guiana, and gave a synopsis of the known species of the genus.

March 28th, 1865.

The Secretary called the attention of the meeting to some recent additions to the Society's Menagerie, amongst which were a King Penguin (Apterodytes pennantii), and two examples of a rare Fruit Pigeon from the Seychelles (Erythrænas pulcherrima).—Dr. Murie and Mr. St. George Mivart communicated a joint paper on the myology of Hyrax capensis, in which various muscles of this curious type were described, and comparisons between the corresponding muscles in the orders Rodentia and Ungulata were given.-A communication was read from Mr. Gerard Kreft describing a new species of Rock Kangaroo, proposed to be called Petrogale longicauda, from New South Wales.-Dr. J. E. Gray gave a notice of a new species of Porpoise from the British seas, proposed to be called Phocæna tuberculifera, founded on a specimen lately living in the Society's Menagerie. Besides external characters, of which the principal consisted in a row of tubercles bordering the upper edge of the dorsal fin, an examination of the skeleton of the present animal betrayed a striking difference in the shape of the occipital foramen.-Dr. J. E. Gray also gave a notice of an apparently undescribed species of Porcupine (Erethizon rufescens), from South America.—Mr. Sclater pointed out the characters of a new genus and species of Passerine Birds, from Madagascar, allied to Pachycephala, which he proposed to call Hylophorba ruticilla.-Dr. Günther read a paper on a new Pipe Fish from the Australian seas, proposed to be called Phyllopteryx eques, of which a specimen has been recently obtained for the British Museum from Mr. G. F. Angas.-Dr. J. E. Gray communicated a notice of a new genus and species of Tortoises of the family Trionychida, from West Africa, for which he proposed the name Heptathyra marmorata, and also a notice of a new species of Tupaia, from Borneo, proposed to be called T. splendidula.-Dr. Cobbold exhibited and made remarks on some specimens of Entozoa and other parasitic animals collected by Mr. Devis, of Manchester.

April 11th, 1865.

Professor Huxley read a notice of the singular form of the stomach in the Bats of the genus Desmodus, in which the cardiac end of this organ assumes the form of a greatly elongated cœcum, reflexed upon itself. This and the peculiarities of the dentition seemed to Professor Huxley to indicate the probable necessity of constituting the genus Desmodus, and its allied form Diphylla, a separate section of the order Chiroptera, under the name Hæmatophilina.-Dr. Crisp read a paper on the form, weight, and structure of the eye, including the colour of the iris in vertebrate animals. Dr. Crisp also exhibited a drawing of the Aard Vark (Orycteropus capensis), and a figure of the Placenta of the Giraffe.-Dr. Murie communicated some remarks on cases of deformity in the lower jaw of the Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus), which he had found occurring in several specimens in the Museums of this couutry and America.-Mr. Sclater gave a description of new species of Indian Porcupine, proposed to be called Hystrix malabarica, distinguished from the ordinary Indian species H. leucura, by its orange-coloured spines. Four living examples of this new species had lately been presented to the Society by His Excellency Sir William Denison, K.G., Governor of Madras. —Dr. J. E. Gray communicated some notes from Mr. E. L. Layard, of Cape Town, Corr. Memb., on the specimens of Whales contained in the South African Museum, Cape Town. This was accompanied by characters of two new species of the group, founded upon examples in the South African Museum, which Dr. Gray proposed to call Ziphius layardii and Hyperoodon capensis.-Dr. Gray also communicated a revision of the genera and species of Entomophagous Edentata, founded on an examination of specimens of this group contained in the British Museum. Amongst these were the characters of three species believed to be new to science, and proposed to be called Pholidotus africanus, Dasypus vellerosus, and Cyclothurus dorsalis.

April 25th, 1865.

A letter was read from Professor William Nation of Lima, Peru, in reference to certain specimens of Reptiles intended to be transmitted to the Society's Menagerie.-Mr. Sclater made some remarks on a collection of Birds-skins, made in the vicinity of Vera Cruz, Mexico, by the Society's Corresponding Member, Monsieur A. Bou