148 



Queensland, i'or which the name 'Iridis oscillans is proposed. — 2J On the 

 genus 7V/ra^o?tvr«« of Risso. By Dr. Ramsay, F.R.S.E., and J. Douglas- 

 Ogilby. The authors conclude that Mr. Macleay's species from liord Howe 

 Island is more closely allied to Lowe's T. ntlanticus than (o Risso's T. Cuvieri, 

 and that if, as Günther asserts, these two names are synonymous, the species 

 must be abnormally variable in its characters. The authors are, however, of 

 opinion that an attempt to join species from such widely separated localities 

 would, in the present state of our knowledge, be premature. — 3) On 

 Australian Diptera. Part I. By F, A. A. Skuse. This paper, which is the 

 first of a series of monographs of the families of Diptera, deals with the Ceci- 

 dcmiyidae, of which two new genera and ninety-two new species are described. 

 In addition there is an introduction embodying a sketch of the present state 

 of our knowledge of Australian Diptera and of the systematic arrangement 

 of the group, together with an account of the terminology made use of. — 

 4) Contributions to Australian Oology. By A. J. North. Detailed de- 

 scriptions are here given of the nests and eggs of Eopsullria capito, Old., Slic- 

 toptera annulosa, Gld., Aeluroedus niuculosus, Rsy., and P/iaps histrionica, Old. 

 — Mr. A. Sidney Olliff said he wished to call the attention of the members 

 to the extraordinary abundance of Behstoina indicum, St. Farg. & Serv. 

 (specimens of which he exhibited), a gigantic , water-scorpion' belonging to 

 the family Naucoridae. The insect had appeared in such numbers during the 

 last few months in various parts of Sydney, that it attracted the attention of 

 even the most unobservant. It was most frequently observed in well- lit places 

 in the city, light evidently having a great attraction for it. Early in Novem- 

 ber as many as twenty had been picked up under one of the electric lamps 

 at the Circular Quay, where they had fallen half-stunned after their vain efforts 

 at suicide in the light above. Mr. Olliff also stated that lepidoptera were at- 

 tracted by the electric light, although not in such numbers as by the ordinary 

 gaslight; he had himself obtained Danima Baiik&iae, Lw., Spilosoma J'ulvo- 

 hirta, W., Heliothris armiger, Hub., and Idiodes apicata, Gn., during an 

 hours searching at the electric lamps on one of the shipping wharves at 

 Darling Harbour. — Mr. J. Mitchell exhibited (a) the Trilobites from 

 Bowning described by him in a paper read at the Society's meeting in July 

 last (Proc. 1887, p. 435), (b) specimens of a new species of Acidaspis to be 

 described at next meeting, and (c) specimens of two or perhaps three species 

 of Graptolites from the Bowning Beds at Bowning and Bell Vale, found since 

 the exhibition of the somewhat less satisfactory specimens previously brought 

 under the notice of the Society (Proc. 18S6, p. 577), which, it may be re- 

 membered, were the first recorded from N.S.W. — Mr. T. Whitelegge 

 exhibited a mounted slide of Haliphysema runiulosa, Bowerbank, a curious 

 Foraminifer growing in erect tree-like tufts, its test composed of sand grains 

 and sponge spicules. This was originally described as a sponge, but subse- 

 quent observations proved it to belong to the Foraminifera. Also two slides 

 of Polyzoa, one being Pedicelliììa echinata , Sars, and the other a species of 

 Cylindroecium closely allied to, if not identificai with, C. giganteum, Busk. 

 The whole were collected under stones at low tide in Middle Harbour, Port 

 Jackson, and form interesting additions to our Marine Fauna. 



Dieser No. liegt l)ci ; Verzeichnis verschiedener AVerke v. Filiale von 

 K. F. Koehler's Antiqtiarium in Berli n. 



Druck von LIreitkopf & Uärtel in Leipzig. 



