Royal Society. 63 



formation is playful and jocose, such as a child would like to read, 

 his puns are not good ; nor are they such as his model, the late 

 Charles Lamb, would care to have attached to his name. Speaking, 

 for instance, of the Kangaroo, Mr. White says that the flying leaps 

 of the great Boomer Kangaroo were found to measure 15 feet, "each 

 hop being as regular as if the ground had been stepped over by a 

 drill-sergeant. Charles Lamb," he adds, "would have called him a 

 hopeful subject " ! His language, too, in some places, is rather 

 ambiguous. The notice of the Green Lizard, for instance, is 

 very interesting — "a harmless and very pretty creature, which 

 delights to bask in the sun, as if it wanted its cold blood warmed 

 with the genial rays ;" but we never knew before that this pretty 

 little reptile could either admire, with a painter's eye, a beautiful 

 landscape, or, like a skilful botanist or entomologist, collect plants 

 or insects ! — and yet our author says, " Jersey abounds in lizards ; 

 for I saw them nearly everywhere as I rested, admiring the views, 

 or picking up wild jiowers and insects. ^^ Of course it was the 

 author who did so ; but, from the allocation of the words, and the 

 punctuation, it appears as if it were the lizard that admired the pro- 

 spect and picked up the wild plants. 



In his preface, Mr. White gives us to understand that this vo- 

 lume is to be followed by another, containing " some of the more 

 striking objects of Zoology." We shall be glad to see him again. 

 From the title-page, it appears that this is the third edition of this 

 work. It deserves such encouragement ; for it is carefully got up, 

 the descriptive letter-press contains much valuable information, 

 which even adults may enjoy and be improved by, and the illustra- 

 tions, which are generally upon a large scale, are sure to please the 

 young, and give a good idea of the most striking characteristics of 

 quadrupeds and the gay plumage of birds. At the end of the book 

 there is appended a scientific index and a kind of tabular arrange- 

 ment of great part of the animal kingdom. These must be very 

 useful both to the general reader and to the teacher or parent who 

 may use the book. To them and to all concerned in the education 

 of young people, we strongly recommend this " Instructive Picture 

 Book." 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 



December 16, 1858. — Sir Benjamin C. Brodie, Bart., President, in 



the Chair. 



" Description of a mutilated skull of a large Marsupial Carnivore 

 (Thylacoleo Carnifex, Ow.), from a conglomerate stratum, eighty 

 miles S.W. of Melbourne, Austraha." By Professor R. Owen, 

 F.R.S., &c. 



In this paper the author gives a description of a fossil skull and 

 certain of the teeth of a quadruped of the size of a lion, in which he 



