291 



Orbitae bergen einen Scleralring, — die Zähne sind spitzconisch, mit großer 

 Pulpa, glatt, ohne Falten. Die kleinen Kiemenbogenzähnchen bilden bogen- 

 förmige Reihen in dem Winkel zwischen Wirbelsäule und Hinterrand des 

 Schädels, die Chorda dorsalis ist stark intravertebral erweitert, — die Cau- 

 dalwirbel tragen vom Fortsätze, welche auf einen- seitlich comprimirten 

 Ruderschwanz hindeuten. Die Rippen sind kurz und gerade. Der aus einer 

 zarten mittleren Thoracalplatte, den winkelig gebogenen Coracoiden, den 

 dünn stabförmigen Schlüsselbeinen und halbkreisförmigen Schulterblättern 

 bestehende Schultergürtel ist trefflich erhalten, ebenso die Ilia, Ischiopubica, 

 sowie die sämmtlichen Knochen der Extremitäten. Carpus und Tarsus waren 

 nicht verknöchert, von Hand und Fuß liegen nur 4 Finger resp. Zehen vor. 

 Ein Bauchpanzer scheint nicht vorhanden oder nur sehr zart gewesen zu 

 sein. Branchiosaurus gracilis muss die Wasserlachen der Permzeit in Schwär- 

 men bevölkert haben, da seine Skeletreste stellenweise dicht neben und quer 

 über einander gepackt liegen. 



III. Mittheilungeu aus Museen, Instituten etc. 



1. Zoological Society of London. 



16th May. 1S82. The Secretary read a report on the additions that 

 had been made to the Society's Menagerie during the month of April, 1882, 

 and called special attention to the following birds, all of which were said to 

 be new to the Collection. — 1) A male Rifle-bird [Ptilorhis paradisea) , in 

 immature and worn plumage, changing very slowly into the adult dress, but 

 apparently in good health ; 2) a pair of Black-headed Tragopans [Ceriornis 

 melanocephala) ; 3) four Rüppell's Parrots [Poeocephahs Rtieppelli] , from 

 Western Africa; 4) a Western Black Cockatoo [Calyptorhynchus naso] , con- 

 spicuously differing from the eastern C. Banksi va. its smaller size; 5) a male 

 Cabot's Tragopan Ceriornis Cabotv, making a fine addition to the gallinaceous 

 series ; and 6) two of the recently described Uvaean Parrakeet [Nymphictis 

 uvaeensis). — There was exhibited; on behalf of Mr. Henry Stevenson, a 

 specimen of the Dusky Petrel \Piiffinus ohscurus) , which had been picked up 

 dead in the neighbourhood of Bungay, Norfolk, in 1858. — A communi- 

 cation was read from the Rev. O. P. Cambridge on some new genera and 

 species of Araneidea. Of the sixteen species described, two were from Caf- 

 fraria, one from St. Helena, two from Ceylon, and the remaining eleven 

 from the Amazons. — Mr. W.A. Forbes called attention to a peculiarity 

 recently observed in a young male specimen of Pithecia salarias, in which the 

 third and fourth digits of both hands were completely , webbed. ' — Mr. 

 W.A.Forbes also read a paper on certain points in the anatomy of the 

 Todies [Todus], and on the affinities of that group. He dissented from the 

 views of most previous authors as tho the close affinities of these birds to 

 the Momotidae, considering that they must form a group by themselves, to 

 be called Todiformes , of value equivalent to the Pici-, Passeri-, and Cypseli- 

 formes of Garrod. There were many grounds for supposing that Todus is a 

 very ancient form, more nearly representing the ancestors of the whole group 

 of Anomalogonathous birds than any other living form. — A communication 

 was read from Mr, Roland T rimen , F.Z.S.. containing a description of 



