382 Miscellaneous. 



pharus Kitaiheli. The Secretary presented a monography, upon which 

 he had been engaged, of the order Testndlnese, besides a systematic 

 enumeration of the Reptiles and Amphibia of Europe. Gene gave 

 an interesting description of the amours of the Snakes which greatly 

 entertained the Assembly, dispelling entirely the horror and need- 

 less dread of these crawling animals. 



As to Fishes, the Secretary explained the characters of the chief 

 divisions ; and the Assistant-Secretary read a notice on the Petro- 

 myzon marinus, and discoursed convincingly on the puncture of the 

 Trachini. Important observations on European Fish were made by 

 Kiippell, and numerous additions to the list of Ligurian Fish by Ve- 

 rany, among which is the new species Cybium Bonapartii, an en- 

 graving of which he distributed. Amati gave an account of an 

 African fish inhabiting thermal waters, which drew from Prof. Orioli 

 some remarks evincing his science and erudition. D'Hombres Firmas 

 exhibited the fossil teeth of the Sphcerodus Gigas, and Nardo contri- 

 buted his ichthyological lucubrations. The Marquis Mazzarosa of 

 Lucca gave us in the department of Insects an important communi- 

 cation on the Tryps which injures the olives. Achilles Costa de- 

 scribed some species of Neapolitan Coleoptera ; G. Bertoloni four 

 new species from the coast of Mozambique ; the Swede Loewenhjelm 

 the Phryganea phaleenoides , never found since the days of Linneeus. 

 In MoUusks, Verany described and figured new and rare Cephalo- 

 podi, and Koelliker related curious facts respecting the males of these 

 animals. Calcara gave a catalogue of the MoUusca of Sicily, with a 

 description of new species. 



As to Radiata, Michel in described a remarkable new species of 

 Echinoderm ; and the very eloquent Professor Meneghini, the pride 

 of Italian Algology, very fully illustrated the anatomical plates of 

 Ranieri, hitherto removed from the light of science. 



Beyond the sphere of its own department, the Section of Zoology 

 extended its attention to subjects in connexion with commissions 

 serviceable to humanity, to pasturage, and to agriculture, resolving 

 queries proposed by other Sections, teaching the hygiene of cattle 

 through the instrumentality of Fossati, and overthrowing ridiculous 

 prejudices by the authoritative voice of Gene. Our Section was 

 honoured by a copious correspondence of the first zoologists of Asia 

 and America, besides those of Europe, among which it will suffice to 

 enumerate a Miiller, a Heckel, a Strickland, an Owen, a Geofi'roy 

 St. Hilaire, and above all an Oken, who wrote to express his strong 

 feeling of regard for Italy, and the interest he took in our annual 

 Scientific Congress. 



Observations on the Development of the Echinidae (Echinus esculentus). 

 By M. DuFossE. 



I have ascertained that all the eggs contained in the ovary of the 

 EchinidcB may be artificially fecundated, by placing some of the 

 points of their testaceous membrane in contact with a drop of semen 

 and of sea-water sufficiently renewed. The duration of the embry- 

 onic life of the Echinus seemed to me to vary from twenty-four to 



