Papers. 29 



Ruleptorhamphas longirostris Cuvier, Regne Anim.. 2nd ed., vol. 2. p. 286. 

 1829. 



The only specimen contained in the collection measures 336 mm. from 

 the tip of the upper jaw to the end of the middle rays of the caudal, and 

 the mandible projects 120 mm. beyond the upper jaw. I have previously 

 recorded this species for Lord Howe Island.* 



Aulacocephalus temmincki Bleeker, Verh. Batav. Gen., vol. 26, 1857, 

 Tchth. Jap., p. 12. 



This record appears to be the first for the species in the Western Hemi- 

 sphere, and the locality represents its most southerly known range. The 

 places whence it has been obtained are widely separated, and are as follows : 

 Japan. Siam, Mauritius, Kermadec Islands. The specimen measures 

 270 mm. in length. 



Epinephelus daemelii Giinther, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (4), vol. 17, p. 391, 

 1876. 



Quite common on the coast of New South Wales, and found also at 

 Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, this species is now recorded for the Ker- 

 madec Islands, and furnishes another instance of the similarity of their 

 respective fish faunas, a matter to which I have already drawn attention. 



Upeneus signatus Giinther, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3), vol. 20, p. 59, 1867. 



A similar example is provided by the red mullet, known from the waters 

 of New South Wales .and Lord Howe Island. Though not yet taken at 

 Norfolk Island, it is tolerably certain to be found there when representative 

 collections of its fauna are made. 





5. The Action of Alhyl Iodides on ( \>ppir~oxide. 



By H. G. Denham. M.A.. D.Sc. Ph.D. 



[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 12th July, 1911.] 



The existence of cupric iodide in aqueous solution was first demonstrated 

 by Moritz Trautz (Ber. d. D. Chem. Gessell, 1884, vol. 17, 1866), while 

 Carnegie (Chem. News, 1889, vol. 59, 57) showed that any attempt to obtain 

 solid cupric iodide by the evaporation of a solution containing Cu ++ and 

 L'ions always led to the separation of iodine and cuprous iodide. Walker 

 and Dover (Jour. Chem. Soc, 1905. vol. 87, 1584) obtained a compound of 

 the formula Cul 4 , but all efforts to obtain cupric iodide itself have up to 

 the present proved futile. The presence of the slightest trace of moisture 

 is sufficient to cause the decomposition of the unstable cupric iodide, and 

 it is to this fact that our failure to prepare this salt is due. 



The action of dried methyl-iodide vapour on heated copper-oxide 

 appeared to the author to form a promising method for securing cupric 

 iodide, and, as the vapour of the alkyl iodides can be readily dried over 

 phosphorus-pentoxide, it was hoped that the iodide, once formed, would 

 not suffer the usual decomposition. 



* Waite : Rec. Aust. Mus., vol. 5, p. 24, 1903. 



