343 



of the scapho-lunare of that author, while he produced good reason for be- 

 lieving the same observer's second centrale to consist of two elements, and 

 his praeaxial centrale to be the basal element of a praehallux. — Mr. Old- 

 field Thomas, F.Z.S., read the description of a new genus and species of 

 Muridae from Queensland, allied to Hydromys, which he proposed to call 

 ^eromys myoides. 



4*'*^ June, 1889, — The Secretary read a report on the additions that 

 had been made to the Society's Menagerie during the month of May 1889. — 

 Mr. H. E. Dresser exhibited and made remarks on some eggs of the Adria- 

 tic Black-headed Gull [Larus melanocephalus) and of the Slender-billed Gull 

 [Larus gelastes]^ which had lately been obtained at their nesting-places in the 

 marshes of Andalucia by Col. Hanbury Barclay, F.Z.S., and himself. — 

 Dr. G. J. Romanes, F.R.S., read a paper on the intelligence of the Chim- 

 panzee, as shown in the course of experiments made with the female Chim- 

 panzee called ,, Sally" which has been living several years in the Society's 

 Menagerie. — A communication was read from Signor Fr. Sav. Monti- 

 celli, containing notes on some Entozoa in the Collection of the British 

 Museum. — Mr. S dater read a list of the birds collected by Mr. George 

 A. Ramage (the Collector employed by the joint Committee of the Royal 

 Society and the British Association for the exploration of the Lesser Antilles) 

 in Dominica, West Indies, and made remarks upon some of the species. — 

 P. L. Sclater, Secretary. 



2. Linnean Society of New South Wales. 



24tii April, 1889. — 1) Botanical. — 2) Geological. — 3) Diptera of 

 Australia. Part VI. — The Chironomidae. By Frederick A. A. Skuse. The 

 unsatisfactory state of our knowledge of the family — owing principally to 

 the fact that a very small number of those who have contributed towards our 

 knowledge of this group have bestowed upon their work the unstinted labour 

 and precision requisite in dealing with such particularly approximate forms — 

 is pointed out ; and as an attempt to somewhat facilitate the study of the 

 Chironomidae it is suggested that at least three well-defined sections exist, 

 which may be called the Chironomina, the Tanypina, and the Ceratopogonina. 

 The author then goes on to enumerate the species, of which only eight have 

 been hitherto described, while four species of Chironomus mentioned in 

 Walker's ,, Notes" appear to have been only named by him. Seven species 

 of Chironomus, six by W^alker and one by Macquart, have been described, 

 but so inadequately as to be quite unintelligible. The remaining species is 

 Ceratopogon rhynchops^ Schiner. To these sixty-six new species are added, 

 bringing the total up to seventy-four. Three new genera are proposed, two 

 allied to Tanypus, and one to Ceratopogon. — Mr. Skuse exhibited speci- 

 mens of sixty-seven species of Chironomidae described in his paper; a 

 Tineid bred from a species of stag-horn fern growing in Mr. Macleay's 

 garden ; also an excellent drawing by Mr. G. V. Hudson of Wellington, New 

 Zealand, of the imago and enlarged wing of a Dipterous fly which is phos- 

 phorescent in its larval condition. In 1886 both Mr. Meyrick and Mr. Hud- 

 son observed these luminous larvae for the first time inhabiting the banks 

 of a shady creek in New Zealand, and although the latter gentleman has 

 since repeatedly tried to obtain the perfect insect by breeding, his eff"orts have 



