Zoological Society. 211 



orifice at their apex. A careful examination of the interior structure, 

 however, makes it evident that the shell is multilocular, and that it 

 is formed upon the type of the Helicostegue Foraminifera, closely 

 resembling Globigerina in the commencement of its growth; the 

 supposed * valves ' being the walls of the outer whorl, the chambers 

 of which are very large, and are partially subdivided by incomplete 

 septa. All the principal chambers communicate by orifices of their 

 own with a sort of central funnel which leads to the external orifice ; 

 and thus their relation to it is very much that of the separate orifices 

 of the chambers of Globigerina to its umbilicus. The cavities of the 

 chambers are occupied by a spongeous tissue, which contains sili- 

 ceous spicules ; and although the possibility that this spongy sub- 

 stance may be parasitic must not be lost sight of, yet reasons are 

 given which seem to render it almost certain that this is the proper 

 body of the organism, on which Dr. Gray, who first discerned its 

 true affinities, has conferred the generic name of Carpenteria. 



The author concludes with some general observations upon the 

 mutual affinities of the " typical forms " of Foraminifera whose struc- 

 ture he has now elucidated ; and he sums up the evidence which his 

 examination of them has furnished in regard to the very wide range 

 of variation which seems especially to characterize this group, — 

 avowing his conviction that the only classificatiou of it which can 

 approach to a really natural arrangement, will be one founded upon 

 the idea of "descent with modification" as the means by which an 

 almost infinite variety of special forms has been evolved from a few 

 fundamental types. 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



May 8, I860.— E. W. H. Holdsworth, Esq., F.L.S., in the Chair. 



On an apparently New Species of Paradise-Bird. 

 By William Goodwin. 



I beg permission to introduce to your notice a Bird of Paradise, 

 which I believe to be either altogether unknown, or at least hitherto 

 undescribed. 



I have interested myself for many years in this branch of Orni- 

 thology, and possess in my own collection twenty-nine specimens, re- 

 presenting all the different species known up to the present time, 

 with the exception of Semioptera Wallacii. I have had opportunities 

 of inspecting the fine collections of these birds sent to England by 

 that energetic and able naturalist Mr. Wallace, and have searched 

 in vain for any specimen similar to that which I have now the 

 honour of introducing to the meeting. I therefore conclude it to 

 be in all probability an entirely new and undescribed species. 



The bird now before you, which I believe to be the female, came 

 into my possession about twenty years ago, together with another, 

 which I have no doubt is the male bird. This latter specimen is 

 now in the British Museum. 



I received them both from Mr. Bartlett, and we then agreed in 



