312 Geological Society. 



remain quiet, huddled up with her young ones ; but at night she 

 became very restless, and eager to escape. The little ones were 

 as frolicsome as puppies, and apparently as fond of play : and many 

 of their actions were not a little ludicrous. During the day they 

 seemed to prefer a dark corner for repose, and generally resorted to 

 the spot to which they had been accustomed, although they would 

 change it on a sudden apparently from mere caprice. They did not 

 appear to like deep water, but enjoyed exceedingly a bathe in shal- 

 low water, with a turf of grass placed in one corner of the pan : 

 they seldom remained longer than ten or fifteen minutes in the water 

 at one time. Though apparently nocturnal, or at least preferring 

 the cool and dusky evening to the glare and heat of noon, their 

 movements in this respect were so irregular as to furnish no grounds 

 for a definite conclusion. They slept much, and it frequently hap- 

 pened that one slept while the other was running about, and this 

 occurred at almost all periods of the day. They climbed with great 

 readiness to the summit of a bookcase, placing their backs against 

 the wall and their feet against the bookcase ; and thus, by means of 

 their strong cutaneous muscles and of their claws, mounting with 

 much expedition to the top. Their food consisted of bread soaked 

 in water, chopped e^^, and meat minced very small ; and they did 

 not seem to prefer milk to water. One of the young ones died on 

 the 29th of January 1833, and the other on the 2nd of February, 

 having been kept alive in captivity for nearly five weeks. 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



1835. January 7th. — A letter from Dr. Bostock, F.G.S., addressed 

 to George Bellas Greenoagh, Esq. P.G.S., containing an account of 

 the analysis of a mineral water from the Island of St. Paul, in lat. 

 38° 45' S. and long. 77° 53' E., was first read. 



The island of St. Paul is stated, on the authority of Capt. Ford 

 and Mr. Houslip, to be of volcanic origin, very rugged in its outline, 

 and to have the form of a bowl, 10 or 12 miles in circumference, into 

 which the sea flows by a narrow opening, capable of admitting a 

 boat. The surface of the island is, in many places, covered with 

 pumice, and at night flames were observed to issue from various 

 crevices in the rocks. With the exception of the island of Amster- 

 dam, about 40 miles to the north of it, St. Paul's is at a great distance 

 from any land. 



In the hole from which the water was taken the thermometer 

 stood at 212°. 



Dr. Bostock then explains the manner in which he conducted the 

 examination, and gives the following as the earthy constituents of 

 100 grains of the water: 



Muriate of soda 2*3 grains. 



Sulphate of soda -053 



Muriate of lime -340 



Muriate of magnesia *059 



Loss -038 



2-790 



