COUNCIL FOR 1848. 11 



the Tertiary Siwalic range. A selection of these is temporarily 

 displayed in the room appropriated to British Ornithology. In 

 exchange for some duplicates from this collection, Mr. Brown, 

 of Stanway, near Colchester, has given a specimen of the Nau- 

 tilus imperialis, from the London Clay of Essex, and the branch 

 of a tree, perforated by Teredo, from the same formation at 

 Bognor. To the liberality of the Royal College of Surgeons, 

 the Society is indebted for a series of casts of the bones of 

 gigantic birds, which, though now totally extinct, appear to 

 have inhabited, in immense numbers, at no very remote epoch, 

 the Islands of New Zealand. They have been placed in the 

 case containing the recent skeletons of Struthious Birds. The 

 Rev. William Vernon Harcourt has presented an interesting 

 selection of Tertiary Fossils, and specimens of igneous rocks, 

 illustrative of the geology of Madeira, and a large series of 

 rock specimens has also been received through the same gentle- 

 man, from Signer Pastor, of Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, to whom a 

 collection of duplicate British Minerals and Fossils has been 

 sent in return. Mr. Pease, of Hessle, has presented to the 

 Society a series of teeth of the "Ptychodus decurrens" of 

 Agassiz, found in the chalk quarries of that district, being the 

 first recorded occurrence of this remarkable fossil fish in the 

 chalk of Yorkshire. 



The Ornithological department has received an important 

 acquisition in a specimen of the Apteryx, brought from New 

 Zealand by Major Wilmot, and purchased from Mr. Graham 

 for the Society by a subscription amongst the Members. Mr. 

 Meynell has undertaken the re-arrangement of the general Orni- 

 thological Collection. The labels for this collection are printed 

 from the carefully digested catalogue prepared by Mr. Gould, 

 and the Secretary has introduced aU the known habitats of the 

 birds which this catalogue includes. When the arrangement 

 is completed, the Ornithological collection will combine beauty 

 of display with facility of reference for scientific purposes.* 



Miss E. Backhouse, of York, has permitted the Keeper of the 

 Museum to select from the extensive series of Shells, brought 



* The Secretary has pleasure in acknowledging the effective assistance which he 

 has received from the Sub-curator, Mr. Baines, in tlie performance of this duty. 



