150 Miscellaneous, 



" The admeasurements agree very closely with V. Daubentonii, to 

 which we believe it must in every respect be referred." 



A NEW MARSUPIAL ANIMAL. 



Perameles Tuckeri, n. s. Head short, conical ; ears large, hairy, 

 coloured like the back, with a blackish edge ; fur soft, brown, va- 

 ried with gray hairs, and black tips ; sides yellow-brown, beneath 

 yellowish gray, under fur of back lead-coloured ; tail as long as the 

 body, tapering, hairy, and coloured like the body at the base, black- 

 ish and with rather adpressed hairs for two- thirds of its length. 

 Length of the head 2^, of the body 5 J, of tail 5|, of hind foot 2 J inches. 



Inhab. Australia. In the collection of Mr. Tucker, the naturalist 

 dealer, after whom I have named it. — John E. Gray. 



A NEW SPECIES OF FOSSIL DOLPHIN. 



M. Von Olfers laid before the meeting of the Royal Academy of 

 Sciences of Berlin (Dec. 19, 1839), the fragments of some fossil re- 

 mains of Cetacece found in the Prussian states. The most important 

 are the clearly distinguishable remains of the skull of a Dolphin 

 (Delphis Karstenii) converted into sandstone, which differs from all 

 hitherto found, and appears to form the transition between D. glo- 

 biceps and the allied species and the fossil genus Ziphius. It oc- 

 curred near Bunde in Westphalia. Vertebrae of Baltsnoptera were 

 also communicated by Prof. Becks; they occurred in a clay bed 

 [Thonlager] between Bocholt and Oeding. 



ON THE MINERAL CALLED DYSODIL AS A PRODUCT FROM THE 

 SHELLS OF INFUSORIA. BY C. G. EHRENBERG. 



In 1808 M. Cordier in Paris gave this substance the name of 

 Dysodil, as a peculiar species of mineral ; it had, however, previously 

 been placed by mineralogists amongst the bituminous substances, 

 and called foliated mineral pitch {bldttriges Erdpech) . As is well 

 known, it is combustible, and in Sicily, where it was first discovered, 

 it is used as peat. 



As early as the 16th of April of this year, I made a communica- 

 tion to the Society of the Friends of Natural History in Berlin (see 

 the Staatszeitung of the 29th of April), in which I stated that this 

 mineral occurring in Sicily, resembling yellow wax, and composed 

 of densely matted together siliceous shells (Kieselschalen) of the 

 Navicular penetrated and cemented by a kind of resin, consists of a 

 species of mail- covered infusoria. I also stated that there existed 

 in the collections of the mineral-dealer, M. Krantz of Berlin, a lig- 

 nite from Westerwalde, the colour of which is quite black, and in 

 which may be recognised all the microscopic characters of the yellow 



