192 



Prof. Wyman said, he questioned whether these latter 

 could be properly denominated eyes. 



Mr. Ayres exhibited to the Society drawings of the heads 

 of two male Eels that he had received from Bellows Falls. 



The proportions of the specimens differed so much that at first 

 sight they might seem to be of different species, but Mr. Ayres 

 said that he was satisfied they were both the Common American 

 Eel, Murcena Bostoniensis. He further stated that all the Amer- 

 ican eels from localities on the coast of the Atlantic and streams 

 flowing into it, so far as he had examined them, belong to this 

 species. His remarks were corroborated by Dr. Storer, who said 

 that he did not consider the great varieties of color and marking 

 seen in different eels as indicating difference of species. 



Dr. Wyman made a report on the cranium of a Manatee, 

 presented to the Society by Dr. George A. Perkins, by 

 whom it was obtained in W. Africa. 



This was a cranium of a Manatee of the same species as that 

 referred to in a communication from Dr. Perkins published in the 

 Proceedings of the Society, Vol. II. p. 198. In a note to that 

 communication, the provisional name of Manatus nasutus had 

 been given. The cranium in question, though much mutilated, 

 gave positive evidence that the species, as there suggested, wasti 

 new one. It is characterized by a narrow forehead like that of 

 M. latirostris, but is depressed instead of being elevated as in 

 the last named species. The teeth are molars -}§ -i^, of which 

 five on each side are in use ; the enamel is smooth and the 

 inner root is grooved on its internal face. The malar tones are 

 broader in their zygomatic portions than in either of the other 

 species. The occipital for amen is triangular, with rounded angles 

 as in the other members of the genus, but in this species the 

 apex is turned upwards, whereas in all the others it is directed 

 downwards. 



Prof. Wyman also gave a description of the arrangement 

 of the cancelli of the bones in various parts of the human 

 skeleton, and explained his view of their adaptation to sus- 

 tain the weight resting upon them, illustrating it by draw- 

 ings on the blackboard. 



\A 



