528 Itoyal Society, 



ant of India ; which, however, appear to have been little studied, 

 and less understood, as far as attempting to arrest or to prevent its 

 inroads. 



The various materials, such as Kyan's corrosive sublimate of men- 

 cury, Sir W. Burnett's chloride of zinc, Margary's salts of metals, 

 Payne's combination of muriate of lime and sulphate of iron, forming 

 in the timber an insoluble compound, and Bethell's creosote or oil 

 of coal tar, were discussed. All had their partisans, and were stated 

 to have succeeded and failed under certain circumstances. Speci- 

 mens of piles from Lowestoft harbour, whose waters were notoriously 

 full of worm, showed that timber in a natural state was in a few 

 months thoroughly perforated by Teredo in the centre, and Limnoria 

 on the surface ; but that piles which had been properly saturated 

 according to Bethell's system, in exhausted receivers, and subjected 

 to such pressure as ensured the absorption of about ten pounds' weight 

 of the creosote, or oil of coal tar, by each cubic foot of the timber, 

 were perfectly preserved from attacks of marine animals of any kind. 

 In one instance a partially " creosoted " pile had a notch cut into it, 

 deeper than the impregnation had extended ; a Teredo made its entry, 

 and was found to have worked in every direction, until it arrived 

 within the reach of the creosote, when the animal turned away and 

 eventually left the pile. Bethell's system was admitted, by all the 

 speakers, to be that which hitherto, after many years' exi)erience, 

 had afforded the most satisfactory results. Some most conclusive 

 experiments, instituted by Mr. Rendel at Southampton, were stated 

 to have produced the same results ; and at Leith all the piles were 

 weighed before and after their saturation, to ensure their absorbing 

 the full allowance of at least ten pounds per cubic foot. 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 

 [Continued from p. 235.] 



June 21, 1849, — "On the Anatomy and Affinities of the Family 

 of Medusae." By Henry Huxley, Esq. Communicated by the Bishop 

 of Norwich, F.R.S. 



The author commences by remarking that no class of animals has 

 been so much investigated with so little satisfactory and comprehen- 

 sive result as the family of Medusce (including under that name the 

 Medusa:, Monostomatce and the Rhizostomidce), and proposes in this 

 paper to give a connected view of the whole class considered as 

 organized upon a given type, and an inquiry into its relations with 

 other families. This he has been enabled to do through numerous 

 and peculiar opportunities for the investigation of these animals, 

 enjoyed during a cruize of some months along the eastern coast of 

 Australia and in Bass's Strait*. 



The memoir is divided into two sections, of which the first treats 

 of the anatomy of the Medusae, and the second of their affinities. 



* Mr. Huxley is Assistant- Surgeon to H.M.S. Rattlesnake, now engaged on a 

 surveying voyage conducted by Capt. Stanley on the coasts of Australia and New 

 Guinea. 



