NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. xllX 



The following were elected Ordinary Members : The Hon. The 

 Lord Provost, Sir James King of Campsie, LL.D., F. S.A.Scot., 

 12 Claremont Terrace ; Professor Sir William Thomson, LL.D., 

 D.C.L., P.R.S.E., 11 The University ; Sheriff A. Erskine Murray, 

 Sundown, Montgomerie Drive, Kelvinside ; Sheriff D. D. Balfour, 

 2 North Park Terrace, Hillhead ; Mr. W. P. Alexander, 203 

 AVest George Street; Miss E. W. Thomson, 3 St. John's Terrace, 

 Hillhead ; Miss C. T. Blackie, 1 Belhaven Terrace, Kelvinside ; 

 Mr. James G. Johnston, Crag Lodge, Carmunnock ; Mr. Robert 

 Boyd, 473 Eglinton Street ; Mr. Thomas Duff, 1 1 Percy Terrace, 

 Kelvinside ; Mr. Thomas Miller, 91 St. Andrews Road, Pollok- 

 shields ; Rev. John Smith, M.A., B.D., The Manse, Partick. 



Mr. Robert Broom, B.Sc, exhibited a series of skulls of the Cat, 

 Rabbit, and Hedgehog, illustrating the changes in form from the 

 period of birth to that of adult life. He pointed out that in the 

 early embryonic condition the brain is developed to a very great 

 extent at a time when the parts which are to become the face are 

 represented by only the merest rudiments. All through after-life, 

 however, the brain and the face continue to develop at different 

 rates, the facial region developing much more rapidly than the 

 brain, so that, as life advances, the face projects more and more. 

 The increasing development of the facial bones, as compared with 

 those of the cranium, was very well seen in the series of Rabbits' 

 skulls shown, of which the following measurements were submitted : 



Ratio of Frontal, Parietal, and Interparietal, to length of Jaw. 



In a Rabbit at Birth, ... 

 In a Rabbit 14 days old, 

 In an almost adult Rabbit, 

 In an old Rabbit, 



Equally striking figures were also submitted regarding the skulls of 

 the Cat and Hedgehog. 



Mr. A. Somerville, B.Sc, F.L.S., showed specimens of Pinna 

 ramulosa, Reeve, and Spondylus americanus, Lam., lent by 

 Professor James Thomson, LL.D., F.R.S., for exhibition to the 

 Society. These shells were obtained off the South Coast of Cuba, 

 where they were found attached to a submarine cable which had 

 been lifted for repairs after six years' immersion. 



Mr. Somerville also exhibited two valves of Barbala plicata, 

 Leach, a fresh-water bivalve of large size, found in the rivers 

 of China. Attached to the inner surface of each specimen 



