NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 397 



this animal are, according to Huxley, with the Triassic Hyperoda- 

 pedon, which it resembles in many points, as for example the 

 singular action of the lower jaw with its single row of teeth, 

 cutting between two rows in the upper, one row being in the 

 maxillary, the other in the palatine bones, or rather, both being 

 carried on a plate in which both bones are fused. The amphiccelian 

 character of the centra is also an important point as connecting 

 this with lower or archaic forms. 



Owen describes the osteology of this creature, under the name 

 RhynchosauruSy in Yol. 1, Anat. Vert., p. 57, 154, &c, reckoning 

 it as a New Zealand Gecko. Gunther has also described it under 

 the name of Hatteria, Phil. Trans., 1869. 



Mention is made of it in the earliest notices of New Zealand \ 

 and it appears to have been rather an object of dislike or super- 

 stitious fear among the Maories. The pigs however, as aliens, 

 feel neither dislike nor fear, and are said to be rapidly exter- 

 minating this interesting relic, so that on the mainland it is 

 becoming very scarce. 



Prof. Stephens also exhibited two specimens of Pennatulidce 

 from Burrard's Inlet, Victoria, British Columbia. These were 

 brought to Sydney by Captain Barnes, of the " Pacific Slope," 

 who had obtained them from the natives. They are said to bear 

 their polypiferous heads just at the surface of the water. One 

 of the specimens was 7 J, the other 5 feet in length ; but as they 

 consisted of little more than the slender and cylindrical rachis, 

 curiously like a dry osier twig peeled ready for the basket-maker, 

 it is not possible to identify them with any described form. This 

 exhibit was due to the kindness of A. A. Smith, Esq. 



Mr. H. Bawes Whittell exhibited some specimens of Tacsonia 

 Exonensis, showing the manner in which the honey is extracted 

 by the Spine-billed Honey-eater — Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris 

 Lath. He stated that W. S. Campbell, Esq., of Gladesville, to 

 whose kindness he was indebted for this exhibit, informed him 

 that he had often seen this bird engaged in the operation of 

 extracting the honey. He had also frequently seen it devouring 



