Miscellaneous. 77 



skeleton, with a mutilated portion of the cranium ; its general aspect 

 is that of a small land lizard, but its osteological characters are pe- 

 culiar, exhibiting a blending of true lacertian with batrachian attri- 

 butes. If the animal prove upon the discovery of bones to be a 

 true lizard, it must have closety resembled the green lizards ; if, on 

 the other hand, it turn out to be an aquatic salamander, it must 

 have been very similar in form, and doubtless in habits, to our Tri- 

 tons, but with better-formed limbs, and more expanded dorsal and 

 costal regions. Dr. Mantell has named it Telerpeton * Elginense, to 

 indicate its remote antiquity, and the locality whence it was obtained. 

 Dr. Mantell also placed before the Society specimens of fossil ova, 

 hitherto supposed to be eggs of gasteropodous mollusks, from the 

 Lower Devonian shales of Forfarshire. These Dr. Mantell stated he 

 had reason to conclude are unquestionably ova of batrachian reptiles : 

 those in clusters belong to animals of the frog-tribe ; and others that 

 occur singly or in pairs, and often attached to a leaf, resemble those 

 of aquatic salamanders. 



Notes on the Habits of the Crustacea of the Antilles. 

 By Dr. P. Duchassaing of Panama. 



During his sojourn in the Antilles, Dr. Duchassaing studied the 

 habits of several Crustacea, principally those of the terrestrial crabs. 

 The following facts are extracted from his work. 



The Cardisomata of Latreille, known at the Antilles under the 

 name of Land Crabs or White Crabs, are omnivorous, devouring every- 

 thing they chance to meet with ; they live generally in the muddy 

 ground of the mangrove swamps, where their nourishment consists 

 almost exclusively of the sweet fruit of the corkwood (Annona pa- 

 lustris), which grows in quantities in those places. They dig them- 

 selves holes in the mud and withdraw into them at the least noise. 

 Those which live in the vicinity of the cemeteries dig burrows which 

 go to the bodies and make these their food. The places of sepulture 

 in the Antilles are thus pierced in all directions by the burrows of these 

 animals. Nevertheless the Cardisoma carnifex is much sought after 

 as food in the Antilles ; its flesh is more delicate than that of the 

 Gecarcini. Care is taken only to use those for eating which live in 

 the mangrove swamps, far from the burial-places ; these are kept 

 in close places where they are fattened with broken victuals. They 

 are caught with the same trap that is used for taking rats ; this con- 

 sists of a box with a sliding door, in which a piece of the fruit of the 

 Annona is placed as bait, and when the animal touches this, the door 

 falls and it is caught in the box. But the time when their pursuit is 

 most productive is during the heavy rains of the winter, when the 

 swamps are inundated ; the animals then being unable to remain in 

 their holes, withdraw in thousands to the nearest dry places, when they 

 are taken in great quantities, and their flesh is particularly esteemed. 



The Ucce of Latreille are also very abundant in the Antilles ; they 



* rrjkfy procul J €pir€Tov, reptilis. 



