96 



remarks upon a new specimen of the supposed fossil Lamprey [Palaeospon- 

 dylus Gunni) from the Old Red Sandstone of Caithness, and read a note on 

 its affinities. — A communication was read from Dr. Robert Colle tt, F.M. 

 Z.S., on a collection of Mammals made by Mr. Knut Dahl in North and 

 North-west Australia in 1894 — 96. The collection contained specimens of 

 34 species, two of which, viz. Pseudochirus Dahlii and Smiihopsts iiitela, pro- 

 ved to be new to science. The former species had been described in the 

 'Zoologischer Anzeiger' for 1895; the latter was characterized in the present 

 paper. — Mr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S., read a paper "On the Distribution of 

 Marine Mammals." The marine area of the globe was divided into six sea- 

 regions, viz. Arctatlantis, Mesatlantis, Indopelagia, Arctirenia, Mesirenia, 

 and Notopelagia, which corresponded to a certain extent with the six land- 

 regions proposed by Mr, Sclater in 1874. The characteristic Mammals of 

 each Sea-region were pointed out. — Mr. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S., read a 

 paper on a collection of Earthworms from South Africa, belonging to the 

 genus Acanihodrilus, which had been made in the Cape Colony by Mr. Pur- 

 cell, of the South-African Museum, and forwarded to him by Mr. W. L. 

 Sclater. Exemples of nine new species were contained in the collection, 

 which fact was of great interest, as previously only one representative of the 

 genus Acanthodrilus had been known to exist in South Africa. Mr. Beddard 

 also described a new genus of Earthworms, belonging to the family Eudri- 

 lidae, from Lagos, West Africa, under the name oî Iridodrilus . — Dr. Forsyth 

 Major exhibited a series of skulls and photographs of species of the African 

 Bush-Pigs [Potamochoerus), and pointed outh the characters of a new species 

 from Nyasaland, which he proposed to call P. Johnstoni^ remarkable for its 

 large size and slender snout. He also showed that the Nyctichoerus hassana 

 of Heuglin, from Abyssinia, formed a distinct species of Potamochoerus. — 

 P. L. Sclater, Secretary. 



III. Personal -Notizen. 



Necroiog. 



Am 20. Nov. 1896 starb in Glasgow David Robertson. Er war am 

 10. Dec. 1806 geboren und sollte, ohne Mittel, Landwirth werden, fieng 

 aber an Medicin zu studieren und wurde schließlich Kaufmann. Sich mit 

 54 Jahren vom Geschäft zurückziehend widmete er sich nun der lange er- 

 sehnten Beschäftigung mit niederen Seethieren. Die Gründung der biolo- 

 gischen Station in Millport auf den Cumbrae-Inseln ist hauptsächlich seiner 

 Energie zu danken. Liebenswürdig und allezeit hilfsbereit wird er seinen 

 vielen Freunden unvergessen bleiben. 



Am 7. Februar (26. Jan. a. St.) starb in Moskau A. N. Kortschagin 

 (A. H. KopqarmirB), Conservator des zoolog. Museums der Universität zu 

 Moskau. Der Verstorbene war als Erforscher der Crustaceenfauna des Mos- 

 kauer Gouvernements bekannt. 



Druck von Breitkopf ts Härtel in Leipzig. 



