318 



Australia. It was assumed that the parasites of so rare and 

 remarkable a creature would possibly prove to be equally 

 remarkable, and having been sent first from Australia to New 

 Zealand, they were subsequently forwarded to England with a 

 request that he would examine and describe them. A very 

 slight examination sufficed to show that they were of two kinds, 

 of which the first were the spinous seeds of some plant 

 entangled amongst the finer hair of the mole, and the others 

 were the heads of a small species of ant. It was mentioned by 

 Dr. Stirling that Notoryctes appeared to be an insect feeder, and 

 that the remains of ants were found in its intestines; the 

 inference, therefore, was that this mole had been raiding or 

 burrowing in close proximity to an ants' nest, and had been 

 attacked by the garrison in force, each ant seizing as much fur 

 as it could grasp with its mandibles and holding on with a 

 determination stronger than its neck. The mole was, amongst 

 other things, remarkable for the extreme rapidity with which 

 it burrowed in the sandy soil of its native country, and it 

 would, no doubt, easily sweep off the bodies of its foes by that 

 means. 



Mr. Michael said with regard to the tick he had been 

 struck by the similarity between the coloured plate with which 

 Mr. Lewis had illustrated his paper and the drawing given. As 

 stated by Lucas, he had drawn attention to it, and had himself 

 little doubt that the two species were identical. The variation 

 in the markings in ticks of the same species, and even in those 

 of the same individual under different circumstances, were so 

 remarkable that he did not lay much stress upon the differences 

 noted. With regard to the Marsupial Mole, it had excited more 

 attention than any other zoological discovery of late years, but 

 it was an absolute mistake to call it a mole, because it was 

 really no ally of the mole whatever. 



Mr. Karop announced that the Journal was in the hands of 

 the printer, and would be now very shortly issued. The death 

 of their late Editor, Mr. Hailes, had been a matter of much 

 trouble, and to this cause some of the delay was undoubtedly 

 due. 



The following objects were exhibited : — 



Flumatella Mr. F. W. Andrew. 



Asplanchna BrightwelUi Mr. W. Burton. 



