SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 237 



June 1781, and they were continued with much diligence 

 till 1788. 



(To be concluded in our next. J 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



Wernerian Natural History Society, 



J\ T the meeting of this Society on the 1 1th of February, Cryolite. 

 Professor Jameson read a short account of tiie oryctognostic 

 characters and geognostic relations of the mineral named 

 cryolite, from West Greenland. 



Mr. P. Neill read a description of a rare species of whale, Rare specks pf 

 lately stranded near Alloa, in the Frith of Forth. It mea- wiiale ' 

 sured 43 feet in length ; had a small dorsal fin ; longitudinal 

 sulci in the thorax ; short whalebones ffanonsj in the up- 

 per jaw ; the under jaw somewhat wider, and a very little 

 longer than the upper ; both jaws accumulated, (at least, 

 considering the bulk of the animal, they might be so de- 

 scribed), the under one ending in a sharp long ridge. From 

 these characters he considered it as evident, that it was the 

 baleinoptera acuto-rostrata of la Cepede, and that that au- 

 thor had fallen into an errour in saying, that this species j 

 never exceeds from 26 to 29 feet long. 



At the same meeting, the Secretary laid before the So- Great se* 

 ciety several interesting communications. 1. Copies of the snake » 

 affidavits made before the Justices of the Peace at Kirkwall 

 in Orkney, by several persons who saw and examined the 

 great sea snake fhahydrus PontoppidaniJ, cast ashore in 

 Stronsa in October last; with remarks illustrative of the 

 meaning of some passages in these affidavits. — 2. An ac- Toad in a bed 

 count of the discovery of a living animal resembling a toad, c,ay * 

 inclosed in a bed of clay, in a cavity suited to its size, at 

 the depth of 57 fathoms, in the coal formation at Govan ; 

 communicated by Mr. Dixon, of Govan Hill. — 3. An in- Intrepidity of 

 stance of remarkable intrepidity displayed by an old male aa otter * 

 and female otter, in defending their young, although the 



otter 



