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human spleen a large number of crystals of the phosphate of 

 magnesia and ammonia. He had also noticed in the blood 

 corpuscles of the spleen crystals of hrematin, an interesting fact 

 when taken in connection with Dr. Ravenel's recent observations 

 upon the cartilage corpuscles. Kolliker had recently announced 

 the existence of such crystals in fishes and some warm blooded 

 animals, but not in man. Dr. Burnett had not seen his state- 

 ment at the time he made his observations. 



Dr. Cabot read some observations upon the recent 

 appearance in New England of Ibis guarauna. 



Ihis guarauna has been confounded with I.falcinellus by many 

 naturalists, among others even by Nuttall, Buonaparte, and 

 Audubon. Lately our newspapers have contained several 

 notices of some specimens of the Glossy Ibis which have been 

 procured in different parts of this State, with various theories 

 to account for their appearance in this part of the world, (such 

 as, that they had passed round by Bhering's Straits, &c.) 

 all of which are absurd for several reasons : 1st. The bird is 

 not the same as that found in the old world ; it is larger. 

 2nd. The I. falcinellas is as rare in the north of Europe as /. 

 guarauna is here. 3d. Since the bird feeds on living animals 

 and plants, it could not subsist on its voyage through the arctic 

 regions at the early season at which it must have passed ; it 

 could much more easily have come straight across the ocean. 

 4th. We have a much more easy way of accounting for their 

 appearance, namely, the /. guarauna (the bird which has been 

 mistaken for I. falcineJlus) is found in immense flocks in 

 Mexico and in considerable numbers in Texas and Florida, 

 where it breeds ; so that, to account for their appearance here 

 we have only to suppose that a ^ew wandered a couple of days' 

 journey farther north than usual, as we know to have been the 

 case occasionally with other southern birds, as the Martinico and 

 Florida Gallinules, White Egret, Pelican, &c. During the 

 present month, four specimens of the /. guarauna have been 

 procured in the New England States, three of them in Massachu- 

 setts, of which one was shot by Mr. F. Brown on the Fresh Pond 

 marshes, and by him presented to the Harvard Natural His- 

 tory Society, who with great liberality presented it to iis. The 



