187 

 2. Linnean Society of New South^^Wales. 



March 28tli. 1894, — 1) Notes on Australian Typhlopidae. By Edgar 

 K.. Waite, F.L.S. Two new species are described and figured — T. ha- 

 tillus, from New South Wales, and T. diversus from Queensland. Some dis- 

 crepancies in the published descriptions of T. tinguirostris , Peters, and T. 

 ajftnis, Blgr. , are pointed out. Three aspects of the head of T. Wiedii, Pe- 

 ters, the only species hitherto unfigured, are given in order to complete the 

 series. The measurements of a gigantic example of T. polygrammicus are 

 recorded, the total length being 717 mm (28 V4 inches). — 2) and 3) Bo- 

 tanical. 4) On the Nests and Habits of Australian Vespidae. By Walter W. 

 Froggatt. — 5) Description of Calliostoma purpureo-cincium^ a new Austra- 

 lian Marine Shell. By C. Hedley, F.L.S. A small Trochoid, ornamented 

 with beaded sculpture, and coloured orange with a spiral lilac band, is 

 added to the local fauna under the above title. A figure will accompany the 

 description. — 6) Note on the habitat of the Naked-eyed Cockatoo [Cacatua 

 gymnopis, S dater) . By Alfred J. North, F.L.S. Living specimens caught 

 near Burketown in N. Queensland, now on view in Sydney, have been exa- 

 mined ; and there are specimens in the Macleay Museum from the Gulf of 

 Carpentaria and from Port Darwin , and in the Australian Museum from 

 Cambridge Gulf. The note of interrogation in the record of the habitat for 

 this species given in the B.M. Catalogue of Psittaci [»South Australia (and 

 also Northern and N.W. Australia?)«] may therefore be dropped. — 7) Oolo- 

 gical Notes. By Alfred J. North, F.L.S. \) Ptilotis analoga; 2) Lampro- 

 coccyx malayanus. 8) Observations upon the anatomy of the »dumb-bell- 

 shaped bone« in Ornithorhynchus, with a new view of its homology. By J. T. 

 Wilson, M.B., Professor of Anatomy, University of Sydney. The »dumb- 

 bell-shaped« bone is not confined to the palatine region , but both dorsally 

 and posteriorly it is in intimate relation to the nasal septum. From the dorsal 

 part of its hinder extremity it sends backwards a distinct vomerine spur, about 

 3 mm in length , which is bifurcated posteriorly and grooved along its dor- 

 sal border , forming a splint for the ventral edge of the cartilaginous nasal 

 septum. The tips of this bifid spur are connected with those of the ante- 

 riorly bifid end of the true vomer by means of a strong »vomerine ligament«, 

 varying in length from about 2 mm downwards. In coronal sections this 

 ligament is seen to possess the same sectional shape as the vomerine spurs, 

 and to be structurally and morphologically continuous with the bone at 

 either end. The vomerine spur lies quite dorsal to the palatine plate formed 

 by the maxillae, and it extends backwards to a plane from 2 — 3 mm behind 

 the tip of the anterior median process of the latter, from which it is sepa- 

 rated by an interval. This interval forms a wide passage of communication 

 (1 mm vertically), below the nasal septum, between the nasal cavities of 

 opposite sides, and it is lined by columnar epithelium like the neighbouring 

 parts of these cavities. The »dumb-bell-shaped bone« is a true »anterior 

 vomer« formed by the fusion of bilaterally symmetrical halves ; and both in 

 its nasal and in its palatine relations it resembles the palatine lobe of the 

 vomer in Caiman niger. — Mr. Hedley exhibited specimens of the land 

 shell Flammulina rosacea , Petterd (= Helix taniarensis , Petterd) , found for 

 the first time in N.S.W. by Mr. Cyril Quaife, who procured several living 

 specimens in the coal mine valley, Blackheath. At this point, its northern 



