Miscellaneous. 141 



Lep ido siren *; &.nd indeed the little we know of the minhocao agrees 

 well enough with what is said of the rare and singular animal dis- 

 covered by M. Natterer. 



That naturalist found his Lepidosiren in some stagnant waters near 

 the Rio da Madeira and of the Amazon : the minhocao is not only- 

 said to be in rivers, but also in lakes. It is, without doubt, very far 

 from the lake Feia to the two localities mentioned by the Austrian 

 traveller ; but we know that the heats are excessive at Goyaz. La 

 Serra da Paranahyha e do Tocantimf, which crosses this province, is 

 one of the most remarkable dividers of the gigantic water-courses of 

 the north of Brazil from those of the south ; the Rio dos Piloes be- 

 longs to the former, as does the Rio da Madeira. The Lepidosiren 

 paradoxa of M. Natterer has actually the form of a worm, like the 

 minhocao. Both have fins ; but it is not astonishing that they have 

 not always been recognized in the minhocao, if, as in the Lepidosiren, 

 they are in the animal of the Rio dos Piloes reduced to simple rudi- 

 ments. " The teeth of the Lepidosiren," says BischoiF, *' are well- 

 fitted for seizing and tearing its prey ; and to judge of them from 

 their structure and from the muscles of their jaw, they must move 

 with considerable force." These characters agree extremely well 

 with those which we must of necessity admit in the minhocao, since 

 it seizes very powerfully upon large animals and drags them away 

 to devour them. It is therefore probable that the minhocao is an 

 enormous species of Lepidosiren ; and we might, if this conjecture 

 were changed into certainty, join this name to that of the minhocao 

 to designate the animal of the lake Feia and of the Rio dos Piloes. 

 Zoologists who travel over these distant countries will do well to 

 sojourn on the borders of the lake Feia, of the lake Padre Aranda, 

 or of the Rio dos Piloes, in order to ascertain the perfect truth — to 

 learn precisely what the minhocao is ; or whether, notwithstanding 

 the testimony of so many persons, even of the most enlightened 

 men, its existence should be, which is not very likely, rejected as 

 fabulous. — Comptes Rendus, Dec. 28, 1846. 



AWARD OF MEDALS. LlNNiEAN SOCIETY. 



A Special General Meeting of this Society was held on Friday the 

 8th of January, to consider the subject of the following Statement 

 and Resolution of Council relative to the Bequest of the late Edward 

 Rudge, Esq., F.L.S. 



The Council, after much patient and anxious deliberation, had 

 unanimously come to the following resolution : — 



" Resolved, — That in the opinion of this Council, on a full con- 

 sideration of the terms of the bequest of the late Edward Rudge, Esq., 

 of the interest of a sum of £200, for the purpose of establishing a 

 Medal ' to be awarded by the President and Council of the (Linnsean) 

 Society, at their discretion, to the Fellow of the said Society who 

 shall write the best communication in each volume which after his 

 (the testator's) decease shall be published by the said Society, in 



* Annales dcs Sciences Naturelles, 2™* serie, torn. xiv. p. 116. 

 t In an article on the whole of the mountains of Brazil, 1 shall make 

 known the portion of the chain which should bear this name. 



