340 



due to an excess of yellow pigment, which dififused into the skin. It had an 

 acrid smell and was highly irritating to the salivary glands. The blue colour 

 was due to the optical properties of masses of "reflecting tissue" over a 

 background of black chromatophores. Mr. Holt considered that the large 

 fins and bright colours of the male of the Dragonet had been evolved by 

 sexual selection proceeding on the lines of conspicuousness rather than on 

 those of aesthetic charms, since the male seemed to be unable to see the fe- 

 male except at a very short distance, and the converse would no doubt hold 

 good if the male were not conspicuously coloured. — A communication from 

 the Rev. H. S. Gorham, F.Z.S., contained an account of the Serricorn 

 Coleoptera of St. Vincent, Grenada, and the Grenadines, obtained throug 

 the operation of the West India Committee of the Royal Society and the 

 British Association, for the exploration of the Fauna of the West Indies. 

 Forty-two species of the subfamilies Lycidae^ Lampyi-idae ^ Telephoridae, 

 Cleridae, Melyridae^ and Bostrychidae were treated of in this paper, of which 

 19 were described as new. — A second communication from the Rev. H. S. 

 Gorham on the Coleoptera of the families Erotylidae, Endomychidae^ and 

 CoccinelUdae from the West Indies, obtained in the same manner, was also 

 read. It contained an accound of 22 species of these families, of which 7 

 were described as new. — A communication was read from Dr. Bashford 

 Dean, describing further evidence of the existence of possible paired fins 

 in the problematical Devonian organism Palaeospondylus. He maintained 

 his former views, as opposed to those of Dr. R. H. Traquair expressed in a 

 former communication to the Society. Mr. Smith Woodward, in communi- 

 cating this paper, remarked that he was inclined to agree with Dr. Traquair' s 

 interpretation of the markings on the stone round the skeletons of Palaeo- 

 spondylus as entirely due to inorganic agencies. In support of this view he 

 exhibited the specimen from Dr. Traquair's collection noticed by Dr. Dean. 



3rd May, 1898. — The Secretary read a report on the additions that 

 had been made to the Society's Menagerie during the month of April 1898, 

 and called attention to two birds presented by Dr. E. A. Goeldi, C.M.Z.S., 

 One was a hybrid between a Guinea-fowl [Numida meleagrisç^) and a Domestic 

 Fowl [Gallus domesticus Q.)\ the other was a Curassow, and had been identi- 

 fied as probably the male oiCrax pinima of Natterer. — Mr. S dater exhibited 

 three pairs of horns from the Gambia, sent to him for examination by Sir R, 

 B. Llewelyn, which he referred to Buhalus planiceros, Hippotragiis equinus, 

 and Oreas derhianus. Mr. Sclater also enumerated the 14 species of Antelopes 

 known to occur in the Gambia, and remarked that further modern information 

 on the animals of this colony would be very desirable. — A note was read 

 from the Rev. O. Pickard Cambridge, F.R.S., calling attention to the fact 

 that the term Eatonia proposed by him for a new genus of Acaridea (P.Z.S. 

 1897, p. 939) had previously been employed for a genus of Brachiopoda. 

 The name Eatoniana was proposed in its stead. — Sir Harry Johnston, 

 K.C.B., F.Z.S., made remarks on the larger Mammals of Tunisia, and selected 

 for special mention the Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Wild Cat, Caracal Lynx. 

 Hyaena, Jackal, Fennec and Common Foxes, Genet, Ichneumon, Porcupine, 

 Barbary Wild Sheep, Addax Antelope, Hartebeest, and three Gazelles. He 

 mentioned the possibility of the Leucoryx penetrating into Southern Tunisia, 

 and noted the importation into Tunis from Morocco of a Baboon [Cynoce- 

 phalus hamadryas?), which was brought there by natives of Morocco. He 



