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letter was read from Surgeon-General George Bidie, C.M.Z.S., referring 

 to a case of the breeding of the Elephant in captivity. — Prof. Bell made 

 some observations on the "British Marine Area", as proposed to be defined 

 by the Committee of the British Association. Prof. Bell opposed the idea of 

 omitting the Channel Islands from the British area. — Prof. A. Newton, 

 F.E..S., exhibited (on behalf of Mr.W. Eagle Clarke) a specimen of Bulwer's 

 Petrel [Bulweria coliimbina), believed to have been picked up dead in York- 

 shire. — Mr. H. E. Dresser exhibited (on behalf of Lord Lilford) speci- 

 mens of a new species of Titmouse allied to the Marsh- Tit [Parus atei-), ob- 

 tained by Dr. Guillemard in Cyprus, which he proposed to designate Parus 

 cypriotes. — Mr. Boulenger exhibited a living specimen of a rare African 

 Batrachian [Xenopiis laevis), which had been sent to him by Mr. Leslie, F.Z.S., 

 of Port Elizabeth. — Prof. Flower exhibited a photograph of a specimen 

 of Rudolphi's Whale [Balaenoptra borealis) , taken in October last , in the 

 Thames near Tilbury. — Mr. G A. Boulenger, F.Z.S., read an account 

 of the Reptiles and Batrachians collected by Mr. H. H. Johnston on the Rio 

 del Rey, West Africa. Amongst these were examples of two species of Ba- 

 trachians new to science. — Mr. Edgar A. Smith read some notes on three 

 Species of Shells obtained by Mr. H. H. Johnston at the Rio del Rey, 

 Cameroons. — Mr. A. G. Butler, F.L.S., read a paper containing an 

 account of two small Collections of African Lepidoptera obtained by Mr. H. 

 H. Johnston at the Cameroons and the Rio del Rey. — A communication 

 was read from Mr. G. E. Dobson, F.R.S., on the genus Myosorex. The 

 paper contained the description of a new species from the Rio del Rey 

 (Cameroons) district, which he proposed to call Myosorex Johnstoni, after Mr. 

 H. H. Johnston, who had sent home the specimens. — Mr. G. A. Bou- 

 lenger gave the description of a new species of Hyla from Port Hamilton, 

 Corea, living in the Society's Gardens, which he proposed to name Hyla 

 Stepheni, after its discoverer. — P. L. S dater, Secretary. 



2. Linnean Society of London. 



17th November, 1887. — There was exhibited for Surg. Gen. Bidie of 

 Madras a photograph of the Indian Elephant in coi tu, taken at Thayetmys, 

 Burmah. This disposes of the traditional statements of the old traveller De 

 Varthema and others as to the unusual position in the act of copulation which 

 in fact as is shown by the photograph is as in other Pachyderms. — A paper 

 was read by Mr. Patrick G ed des, on certain Factors of Variation in Plants 

 and Animals. In this part of the memoir he more especially dealt with plants 

 and the shortening of the axes in leaf and flower etc. According to him the 

 origin of species is to be found in soil and climate on the one hand, and in 

 a more or less distinct ebbing of the vegetative activities back from the 

 growing point. Modification by descent is seen to take place along a definite 

 line of change within which the action of natural selection can at best some- 

 what accelerate its journey, when it does not actually retard or exterminate 

 it. — There followed a communication on the Copepoda of Madeira and the 

 Canary Islands, with descriptions of new genera and species of Mr. Isaac C. 

 Thompson. Sixty five species in all were obtained. Of these six are new 

 to science and three are possibly of generic significance. Of the total number 

 twenty three are known in British Waters, and of these fourteen belong to 



