Zoological Society, 395 



guished from them by its exceeding fragility as well as by the 

 circumstance of the inflations being formed by two cells in- 

 stead of one, as is the case with all other Vesiculasperms. 



This is by no means an uncommon species, although it is 

 rare to find it with inflated cells. It appears to prefer pure 

 water, for it is usually met with in ditches in which the water 

 glides slowly along. 



Cheshunt marshes ; Stevenston, Ayrshire, Rev. D. Lands- 

 borough. 



Accurate figures, many of them coloured, have been pre- 

 served of the whole of the species above described. 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Jan. 11, 1842. — William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



A letter from the Society's corresponding member, H. J. Ross, 

 Esq., was read, in which he states that the Common Green Wood- 

 pecker of Europe (Picus viridis, Auct.) is to be found in great num- 

 bers at Trebizond, and that he has shot them as high as Gumush- 

 khaugh, which is between Erzeroom and Trebizond. 



M. P. Gervais exhibited a drawing representing the details of a 

 new genus of Marsupial animals, and communicated to the Meeting, 

 in his own name and that of M. Jules Verreaux, the description of 

 this new Mammal, which formed part of a collection brought from 

 Swan River, and, in the opinion of the authors of the paper, will con- 

 stitute among the Marsupialia the type of a distinct family, for which 

 these naturalists propose the name Tarsipedidce, and for the species 

 the name of Tarsipes rostratus. 



In general appearance, observe the authors, the Tarsipes ros- 

 tratus bears some resemblance to a Shrew {Sorex) ; but the head is 

 longer, and the muzzle is much elongated. The head and body to- 

 gether measure 4J French inches, and the tail 3j inches. The fur 

 is tolerably dense, and composed of shortish silky adpressed hairs, 

 which are of a slate-grey colour next the skin, and yellowish exter- 

 nally. The back is of a brownish yellow colour, and a dorsal black 

 stripe extends from the shoulders to the base of the tail, and on each 

 side of this stripe the fur assumes a paler hue : the upper part of the 

 head and muzzle are of the same brownish colour as the back ; the 

 under side of the body as well as the inner side of the limbs are 

 yellowish ; the hairs of the moustaches are brown, and tolerably 

 long, some about one inch in length. The muzzle is terminated by 

 a little mufle ; the nostrils are laterally pierced and virguliform ; the 

 inter-nasal furrow is nearly equal in length to the nostrils. The tail 

 is furnished at the base with fur like that of the body, but the greater 

 portion is covered with short hairs, as in the rat tribe : its extremity 

 is naked beneath, but the naked portion is but a few lines in length. 

 The ears are tolerably short, somewhat rounded, and may be com- 

 pared to those of the Shrews. 



