2 NOTICES OF SERIALS. 



Actiniae viz., A. aurora, A. venusta, and A. thallia. Since the Aqua-vivarias have 

 become the fashion of the day, numerous have heen the searchings after sea anemones ; 

 and we were surprised, during the first fortnight of an " Actinia hunt," to supply the 

 tanks of the Zoological Gardens, Dublin, to find that among some hundreds of ane- 

 mones collected, at least^ye were not described in Johnston's " British Zoophytes;" 

 some of them may be varieties, but we recognise among them the A. thallia, Gosse, 

 and, if we mistake not, the A. venusta, which we recollect seeing in the large cavern 

 in St. Catherine's, Tenby, We have little doubt but that further investigation will 

 bring to light several more new species both among the Actinias and Antheas. 

 Bibliographical Notices The Ferns of Great Britain, by Sowerby. Proceedings of 

 Learned Societies Royal Society, June 15 ; Earl of Rosse, President, in the Chair. 

 Zoological Society, November 25, 1851 ; W. J. Broderick, F.R.S., in the Chair. 

 A paper was read by Professor E. Forbes, on a species of JEquorea, inhabiting 

 the British seas. December 9 ; W. Yarrell in the Chair. March 23, 1852 ; Pro- 

 fessor Owen in the Chair. Linnean Society, January 17, 1854 ; Robert Brown, 

 V. P., in the Chair. Botanical Society of Edinburgh, July 13, 1854 ; Professor 

 Balfour in the Chair. Miscellaneous On the Co3nurus cerebralis of the Sheep, 

 by Dr. KUchenmeister ; On the Occurrence of Zinc in the Vegetable Organism, by 

 A. Braun ; Notes on the Bovine Animals of the Malay Peninsula, by G. W. Earl 

 Meteorological Observations for August, 1854. 



No. 83, November: (A. Schneider) Contributions to the Natural History of 

 the Infusoria; (H. J. Carter) Zoosperms in Spongilla ; (J. Miers, F.R.S.) On the 

 Genus Lycium concluded from page 194 ; (W. Thompson) On the Occurrence of 

 the Bottle-headed Whale (Hyperooden bidens, Flem.) in Portland Roads, and 

 remarks thereon ; (L. Agassiz) On the Primitive Diversity and Number of Ani- 

 mals in Geological Times. This paper is a reprint from Silliman's American 

 Journal for May, 1854 ; it is deeply interesting, and in every way worthy of its author. 

 (Robert Warrington) Memoranda of Observations made in small Aquaria, in 

 which the balance between the animal and vegetable organisms was permanently 

 maintained ; (Professor J. W. Bailey, U. S.) On a Mode of giving permanent 

 Flexibility to brittle specimens in Botany and Zoology. We learn here, that by 

 dipping specimens of Chara Corallina, Crustacea, and other brittle specimens, 

 either of zoology or botany, in a neutral saturated solution of chloride of calcium, 

 and then letting them drain in the open air, they will lose their excessive brittleness, 

 and become flexible ; the salt being neutral, no fear need be apprehended of its 

 injuring colour or texture, while its antiseptic properties will aid in the preservation 

 of matters liable to decay. Manual of Natural History, for the use of Travellers. 

 Proceedings of Societies Zoological Society. Miscellaneous On the Natural 

 and Artificial Fecundation of JEgilops by Triticum, by M. Gordon; The Ounces 

 and African Seal, by Dr. Gray ; On the Development of the Actinias, by M. 

 Haime ; Rare Irish Mollusca, by S. Wright ; On a new species of Suthora, from 

 China, by G. R. Gray ; On some Fishes allied to Gymnotus, by A. R. Wallace I 

 Meteorological Observations and Table. 



No. 84, December : (George Dickie, M.D., Professor of Natural History, 

 Queen's College, Belfast) Remarks on Associations of Colour, and the Relations of 

 Colour and Form in Plants. This is a most interesting paper. We extract some 

 of the principal conclusions at which Professor Dickie has arrived First, " that 

 the primaries, red, yellow, and blue, arc generally present in some part or other of 



