151 



li. Mittheilungen aus Museen, Instituten etc. 



1. Zoological Society of London. 



17th March, 1896. — Mr. S dater called the attention of the meet- 

 ing to the prospectus of the great work of the German Zoological Society, 

 to be called »Das Tierreichtc , spoken of at the last meeting, and gave some 

 particulars as to the mode in which the plan was intended to be carried out. 

 — Mr. S dater also called attention to the appointment of a Commitee on 

 Zoological Nomenclature at the International Zoological Congress held at 

 Leyden last year. — A communication was read from Lt.-Col. C. T. Bing- 

 ham, F.Z.S., containing a contribution to the knowledge of the Hymenopte- 

 rous fauna of Ceylon. The paper was founded mainly on the collections made 

 in that island by Col. Yerbury, R.A., and Mr. E. E. Green, and dealt only 

 Avith the Monotrochous Hymenoptera, of which 335 species were recorded. 

 Of these 7 were now described as new. The autor observed that this number 

 was far less than what must actually occur in an island with so varied a 

 climate and flora. Most of the species, as was to be expected, likewise occurred 

 in India. — A communication was read from Mr. Edward T. Browne, F.Z.S., 

 on British Hydroids and Medusae. This paper contained descriptions of the 

 early stages and notes on twenty species of Medusae, of which examples had 

 been collected at Plymouth, and in Valencia Harbour on the west coast of 

 Ireland. It also contained a revision of the synonyms of the species and an 

 account of their distribution. Notes on the hydroids connected with some of 

 the species were added. — Mr. A. Smith Woodward, F. Z.S., read a 

 paper on some extinct fishes of the Teleostean family Gonorhynchidae. He 

 described a new specimen of Notor/oneus osculus from the Eocene (Green River 

 Shales) of Wyoming, U.S.A., confirming Cope's determination of this fish 

 as a member of the family Gonorhynchidae. He also pointed out that the 

 so-called Sphenolepis sqiiaviosseus and S. Cuvteri^ imperfectly described by 

 Agassiz from the Eocene of France, are generically identical with Notogo- 

 neiis. In proof of this identification, he gave an account of new specimens in 

 the British Museum. The Gonorhynchidae were thus shown to have com- 

 prised freshwater fishes in the early tertiary period both in Europe and North 

 America. — P. L. S dater. Secretary. 



2. New York Academy of Sciences, Biological Section. 



Feb. 7, 1896. — Dr. J. G. Curtis in the Chair. A communication 

 from the council was received asking that the Section take action on Rep. 

 Hurley's bill »To fix the standard of Weights and Measures by the adop- 

 tion of the metric system of weights and measures.« — On motion of 

 Dr. Dean the Section approved the bill and the Secretary was directed to 

 express the entire commendation of it to the Council. — Dr. Arnold 

 G raf read a paper on »The Structure of the Nephridia in Clepsine.« He finds 

 in the cells of the intra cellular duct fine cytoplasmic anastomosing threads 

 which form a contractile mechanism. These are stimulated by granules 

 which are most numerous near the lumen of the cell, and thus peristalsis is 

 set up which moves the urine out of the duct. In the upper part of the intra 

 cellular duct, the two or three cells next to the vesicle or funnel have no di- 

 stinct lumen but are vacuolated; the vacuoles of the first cell being small, 

 those of the second larger and so on , till the vacuoles become permanent as 

 a lumen. He explains the action of the first cell as being similar tho the in- 



