223 



Southey, Esq., of Culmstock, Schoombie Station, South Africa. — Mr. 

 S dater exhibited and made remarks on some specimens from Nyasaland, 

 lately sent home by Sir H. H, Johnston, K.C.B. Amongst these was a fine 

 head of the Sable Antelope [Hippotragtis niger) from the Zomba plains, and 

 an example of the Brindled Gnu [Connochaetes gorgon) , or of a nearly allied 

 form, believed to be the first specimen of this Antelope sent home from 

 British East Africa. — Mr. S dater also exhibited, by the kind permission 

 of Mr. Justice Hopley, of Kimberley, a pair of horns of the so-called Anti- 

 lope triangularis J said to have been obtained somewhere on the Zambesi. 

 These horns were now generally supposed to be abnormal horns of the cow 

 Eland. — Mr. W. E. de Winton gave an account of a small collection of 

 Mammals from Ecuador, lately sent to the British Museum by Mr. L. Söder- 

 strom, H.B.M. Consul at Quito. It contained examples of only three species, 

 but two of these appeared to be new to science. One of them was a new 

 Deer, proposed to be called Pudua mephistophelis , and the other a Rodent of 

 the genus Icthyomys^ which was named /. Söderstromi. — Mr. F. E. Bed- 

 dar d, F.R.S., read a paper on the Anatomy of a Grebe [Aechmophorus major) ^ 

 and added some remarks upon the Classification of the Charadriiform Birds, 

 to which he considered the Auks to be more nearly related than to the Grebes. 

 — A communication was read from Messrs. F. D. Godman, F.R.S., and 

 O. S al vin, F.R.S., on the Butterflies of St. Vincent, Grenada, and the 

 adjoining Islands, based on the collections made by Mr. Herbert H. Smith. 

 — ■ A communication was read from Miss E. M. S h arpe containing an 

 account of the Lepidoptera obtained by Dr. Donaldson Smith during his 

 recent expedition to Lake Rudolf. Examples of 91 species were obtained, 

 of which two were apparently new. These were described as Panopea walen- 

 sensis and Papilio Donaldsoni. — A second paper by Miss E. M. S harp e 

 contained an account of the Lepidoptera obtained by Mrs. E. Lort Phillips 

 in Somaliland. Eighty-four species were enumerated, one of which, Teracolus 

 ludoviciae, appeared to be undescribed. — A communication from Mr. W. 

 F. Kir by contained descriptions of some Dragon-flies obtained by Mr. and 

 Mrs. liort Phillips in Somaliland. Three of these were described as new to 

 science. — P. L. Sclater, Secretary. 



2. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 



March 31, 1896. Mr. Collett on the morphology of the cranium and 

 the auricular openings in the North European species of the family Strigidae; 

 to which is added some recent opinions upon the systematic position of the 

 Owls, by R. W. Shufeldt. — Prof. Henry A. Pilsbry called attention to 

 a fine collection of barnacles obtained from the bottom of a vessel recently 

 returned from a voyage to Hongkong from San Francisco and back by 

 way of Java and India. Balanus tintinabulum was the commonest of the 

 species represented, the varieties zebra and spinosus although growing under 

 identical conditions retained their individuality perfectly. — The question 

 of the constancy of varietal characters was debated by Messrs. Sharp, 

 Pilsbry and Heilprin. — Mr. Pilsbry also described a specimen of 

 Pugnus parvus, a Ringiculate mollusk. The species is involute, a unique 

 character, none of the fossil forms of the family possessing it. He also de- 

 scribed a Central American Melanian under the name Pachycheilus ivalli 

 It is distinguished by a remarkable double sinuätiön of the outer lip which 



