NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 327 



March 26th, 1878. 

 Professor John Young, M.D., F.G.S., President, in the chair. 

 Messrs. William D. Gordon and James Burns were elected 

 ordinary members. 



SPECIMENS EXHIBITED. 



Mr James Coutts exhibited a number of specimens of sclerobasic 

 corals of different species, land and marine shells, pods and seeds 

 of leguminous plants, sponges, and other objects of interest from 

 Victoria, Western Africa, which had been forwarded by Mr 

 George Thomson, corresponding member. The Chairman, in 

 making some remarks on the collection, pointed out the 

 distinction between the sclerobasic corals and the sclerodermic or 

 calcareous-reef-building group. 



Mr James Lumsden, F.Z.S., exhibited two living specimens of 

 Proteus anguinus, from the stalactite caverns at Adelsberg, near 

 Trieste. These had been kindly forwarded by Mr G. A. Burns, 

 who had also sent some interesting notes by the Rev. Canon 

 Miles, containing observations on the habits of a specimen in his 

 possession. He found that it remained quiet or asleep during the 

 day, and only moved about during the night. Although supposed 

 to be blind, the eyes being but imperfectly developed, it was 

 very sensitive to light, and he thought that the great difficulty 

 found in keeping them alive in confinement was owing to proper 

 care not being taken to keep them in the dark and to prevent 

 them from being disturbed during the day, which is their natural 

 period of rest, together with the further difficulty of finding them 

 proper food. The Chairman pointed out, from diagrams and 

 preserved specimens of the salamander and newt, the place which 

 this genus holds in the class Amphibia. He also explained its 

 affinity to the Labyrinthodon of Triassic times, and to the 

 Batrachia, and illustrated the transition of the tadpole of the frog 

 into the perfect form by a series of models, which showed the 

 tufted gills with great distinctness. 



Professor Young exhibited an Otter, Lidra vulgaris, Erx., found 

 in the Botanic Gardens on the 11th of this month. This animal, 

 which proved to be a female, had been seen frequently in the 

 river opposite the Gardens for about a week, and was observed in 

 the water about two hours before it was found on the land dead. 



