224 TRANS. OP THE ACAD. OF SCIENCE. 



March 16, 1863. 

 The President, Dr. Engelmann, in the chair. 



Eight members present. 



Letters were read as follows: from the Amer. Phil. Socie- 

 ty, Philad., Mar. 11, 1863, announcing publications sent ; from 

 Wm, Lykins, Esq., Lawrence, Kansas, Feb. 4, 1863, ordering 

 a copy of the Trans. ; and from J. Kelly O'Neall, Esq., Leba- 

 non, 6., Feb. 20, 1863, ordering Vol. I. of the Trans. 



The Corresponding Secretary laid upon the table the Bul- 

 letin de la Societe Imp. zoologique d'Acclimatation, Paris, 

 No. 1, Jan., 1863, from the Society. 



Prof. R. L. Tafel read a paper on the Celtic ingredient in 

 the English language, the same being an abstract of Part II. 

 of his forthcoming work, entitled "Investigations into the 

 laws of English Pronunciation and Orthography." 



Dr. Engelmann presented a preparation in alcohol of the genital parts 

 of a female Opossum. When killed (March 14th), twelve young ones 

 were found with it. Four had lost their hold when the mother perished, 

 and were found crawling about; the eight others continued to adhere to 

 the teats in the pouch, but soon died, though some of them still remained 

 attached. The young ones were, like an embryo, entirely naked ; the 

 head disproportionately large ; the eyes and ears covered by a membrane ; 

 the very small nostrils open; the mouth, a small round orifice, enclosing 

 the apex of the teat, which was not drawn in deeply; the body with the 

 head was 9 lines long ; the crooked tail, 3 lines long ; weight, 21 to 23 

 grains. Their position in the pouch was not in " clusters," but in two 

 regular rows, the heads outward and the tail ends inward, and almost 

 touching those of the opposite side. They could have been scarcely one 

 week old, as Dr. Bachman states (Audubon &. Bachman's Quadrupeds 

 of N. Amer.) that new-born young weigh 3 or 4 grains, and, eight or ten 

 days old, 22 or 23 grains. As the time of gestation is fifteen or sixteen 

 days (according to the same authority), we may look for pregnant female 

 Opossums, in our climate, about the month of March. 



April 1, 1863. 

 The President, Dr. Engelmann - , in the chair. 



Xine members present. 



Letters were read from the following Societies : Smithso- 

 nian Institution, Mar., 1863, announcing packages forwarded 

 from foreign Societies ; Verein fur Vaterlandische Naturk. in 

 Wtirttemberg, Stuttgart, Oct. 18, 1862; Offenbacher Vereiu 

 fin- Naturk., Nov. 10, 1862; Schweitzerische Naturf. Gesell- 

 schaft, Bern. Sept., 1862; Verein fur Naturkunde, Presburg, 

 Mar. 20,1859; K. K. Geologische Reichsanstalt, Wien, Sept. 

 20, 1862; Naturf. Gesellschaft, Niirnberg, Nov. 10, 1862; 



