144 



vessels possessed of a structure hitherto only met with in the placenta 

 of Choloepus Hoffmanni among the Edentates. 



6) That Procî/o^ differs from every other Carnivore, the foetus of 

 which has been hitherto examined, in the non-possession by the latter 

 of an umbilical vesicle. 



7) That Procyon differs from all Carnivora, of which the young 

 have been hitherto examined, in as much as the foetus is provided with 

 a supernumerary cuticle or Epitrichium — a structure, which has only 

 been met with in the young of certain members of other mammalian 

 groups. 



From an examination of the various facts detailed in the paper the 

 author arrives at the conclusion that a consideration of the modifica- 

 tions in form and structure of the placenta alone is insufficient as 

 affording a basis upon which to found a natural classification of the 

 Mammalia. 



III. Mittheiluiigen aus Instituten, Gesellschaften etc. 



1. Lìnnean Society of London. 



December 16tli 1880. — The only zoological contribution read at this 

 meeting was »On the Land-Molluscan Genus Durgella , with notes on its 

 Anatomy and description of a new Species« by Lieut. -Col. H. H. Godwin- 

 Austen. Durgella was founded by Mr. W. T. Blanford in 1863, and 

 his paper was the first attempt to classify the Indian land shells by the form 

 of the animal and structure of the foot, besides being valuable as regards 

 their distribution. — The genus contained three species, Z). levicula Bens., 

 D. mucosa Blandf., and D. seposita Bens. The type, D. levicula, is now in 

 the Cambridge Museum. From examination of living specimens, and as com- 

 pared with the type, Col. Godwin-Austen is satisfied of the distinct- 

 ness of the genus, it having but a distant relationship with Girasia, Macro- 

 chlamys etc. He doubts, however, if the species rmicosa ought to be placed 

 in the genus ; and states that if the species sejjosita is the same as his 

 hilineata from the Dufla Hills, as Mr. G. Ne vili asserts, it must also be re- 

 moved, for the latter is a true Macrochlamys . Durgella has a very remarkable 

 odontophore, quite unlike any other Indian species of the Zonitidae. The 

 author treats further of its anatomy, and characterizes the genus afresh, de- 

 scribing D. Blanfordi, from Assam, as a new species. 



January 20th 1881. — A Squirrel's nest from a holly bush was ex- 

 hibited by Mr. Charles B e r j e a u , and in his remarks theron he mentioned 

 he could find no specimen of this rodent's aboreal domicile either in the Bri- 

 tish Museum or other London collections. 



Druck von Breitkopf und Härtel in Leipzig. 



