228 Zoological Society. 



hewn square posts which supported the building with great facility, 

 and upon reaching the ceiling would return head-foremost ; some- 

 times they would roll themselves up into a ball and throw themselves 

 down, and apparently without experiencing any inconvenience from 

 the fall, which was in a measure broken upon reaching the ground 

 by the semi-yielding scales, which were thrown into an erect posi- 

 tion by the curve of the body of the animal. In climbing, the tail, 

 with its strongly pointed scales beneath, was used to assist the feet ; 

 and the grasp of the hind feet, assisted by the tail, was so powerful, 

 that the animal would throw the body back (when on the post) in a 

 horizontal position and sway itself to and fro, apparently taking 

 pleasure in this kind of exercise. It always slept with the body 

 rolled up ; and when in this position in a comer of the building, 

 owing to the position and strength of the scales and the power of 

 the limbs combined, Mr. Fraser found it impossible to remove the 

 animal against its will, the points of the scales being inserted into 

 every little notch and hollow of the surrounding objects. The eyes 

 are black and very prominent. The colonial name for this species of 

 Manis is Attadillo, and it is called by the Booby, * Gahlah.' 



May 9. — William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Mr. Hinds proceeded with his descriptions of new species of Shells 

 collected during the voyage of Sir Edward Belcher, C.B., and by H. 

 Cuming, Esq., in his late visit to the Philippine Islands : those cha- 

 racterized in the paper read were laid on the table. 



Genus Corbula, Brugui^re. 

 CoRBtJLA CRASSA. Covb. tcstd soUdd, incrassatd, elevatd, albidd, 

 incequilaterali, latere antico paululum superante, longitudinaliter 

 sulcatd, antice rotundatd, postice ad extremitatem trancatd, ah urn- 

 hone ad marginem posticam hiangulatd ; valvarum margine ventrali 

 inclausd, gibhosissimd, sinistra postice denticulatd; umhonihiis 

 ohliquis, posticis ; int us fused. Long. 11 ; lat. 7 ; alt. 7 lin. 

 Hah. Straits of Macassar ; Straits of Malacca ; Sabonga, island of 

 Zebu ; Bais, island of Negros, Philippines. Obtained in from seven 

 to thirty fathoms, on a floor of coarse sand or gravel. 

 Cab. Belcher et Cuming. 



Remarkable for the preponderance of the bulk of the anterior half 

 over the posterior, a circumstance which also occurs in C. hicarinata. 

 This, however, depends in some measure on the age, and is thus 

 most conspicuous in those specimens which may be considered as 

 beyond adult age. 



Corbula tunicata. Corh. testd ovato-trigond, obliqud, antice ro- 

 tundatd, postice nasutd, excavatd, ah umbonihus angulatd ; valvis 

 incequalihus, dextrd prcecipue maxima, valde sulcatd, epidermide 

 tenui corned indutd, sinistra prope umbonem sulcatd, aliter epi- 

 dermide densd indutd; umbonibus ohliquis posticis ; intHs fused. 

 Long. 12; lat. 7; alt. 9 lin. 



Hah. Island of Corregidor, Bay of Manila ; in seven fathoms, coarse 



