246 



which had been presented to the Natural History Museum by Mr. J. Jenner 

 Weir, F.Z.S. The author proposed to call it C. Weiri. — P. L. Sclater, 

 Secretary. 



5 April, 1887. — The Secretary read a report on the additions that 

 had been made to the Society's Menagerie during the month of March 1887, 

 and called special attention to two Long-tailed Grass-Finches [Poëphila acuti- 

 catida) from N, W. Australia, presented by Mr. Walter Burton, F.Z.S. ; and 

 to a Fisk's Snake [Boodon Fiskii) and a Narrowheaded Toad [Bufo angusticeps) 

 from South Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk. — Mr. F. Day, 

 F.Z.S., exhibited and made remarks on a specimen of a Mediterranean Fish 

 [Scorpœna scrofa) , taken by a trawler off Brixham early in March last, and 

 new to the British fauna. — Mr. J, H. Leech, F.Z.S,, exhibited some 

 specimens of new Butterflies from Japan and Corea, and gave a short account 

 of his recent journeys to those countries in quest of Lepidoptera. — The 

 Secretary read a letter addressed to him by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, 

 C.M.Z.S., of the Cape Colony, respecting the killing and eating, by a Shrew, 

 of a young venomous Snake [Sepedon Immachates). — Prof. Flower, F.R.S., 

 communicated, on behalf of Messrs. John H. Scott and T. JefFery Parker, of 

 the University of Otago, N.Z., a paper containing an account of a specimen 

 oi a young female Ziphius, which was cast ashore alive at Warrington, north 

 of Dunedin, New Zealand, in November 1884. — Mr. Richard S. Wray 

 read a paper on the morphology of the wings of birds, in which a description 

 was given of a typical wing, and the main modifications which are found in 

 other forms of wings were pointed out. One of the principal points adverted 

 to was the absence, in nearly half the class of birds, of the fifth cubital 

 remex, its coverts only being developed. The peculiar structure of the wings 

 in the Ratitae and the Sphenisci was also commented upon. — A communi- 

 cation was read from the Rev. H. S. Gorham, F.Z.S., on the classification 

 of the Coleoptera of the division Languriides. The author pointed out the 

 characters which, in his opinion, were available for the systematic arrange- 

 ment of this family of Coleoptera, and for its division into genera. The 

 subject had hitherto not received the attention it deserved, and several errors 

 .had gained currency, owing to the hasty and insufficient way in which the 

 structure of these insects had been analyzed. He added an analytical table 

 of about forty genera, many of those proposed being new. Further notice of 

 the American genera would soon appear in Messrs. Godman and Salvin's 

 , Biologia Centrali- Americana'. — P. L. Sclater, Secretary. 



4. Linnean Society of London. 



il^^ March, 1887. — Mr. Alfred O. Walker read a paper on the 

 Crustacea of Singapore. The collection in question having been made by 

 Surg. Major Archer during 1879 — 1883. The species were chiefly dredged 

 in 15 — 20 fathoms, or got on shallow sand banks. A full list is given of 

 all the forms identified and several new species are described; among these 

 are Doclea tetraptera, Xanthe scaberrimus , Maii Miersii and Gephyra Arc/ieri. 

 — A paper by George King on the Indian Figs was read, in which it was 

 shown that Insects play a considerable part in the fertilization of certain 

 forms. Dealing with the structural peculiarities of the flowers in the Genus 

 Ficus, he specifies (1) male (2) pseudohermaphrodite (3) neuter, and (4) 



