220 



of the conclusion that the ova of the Salnionidse may be impregnated 

 ab externo, the results of all which have been negative, and remark- 

 ably contrasted with those in which, after exclusion, the milt and 

 roe have been mixed, — impregnation having been effected and the 

 eggs rendered prolific. 



Secondly, he notices the generative organs of these fishes, and 

 points out how, anatomically, they are clearly unfit for performing 

 the reproductive function according to the hypothesis of impregna- 

 tion ab externo, though perfectly adapted for it in accordance with 

 the received doctrine. 



Thirdly, he adverts to the manner in which, during the spawning 

 season, the male and female fish approach each other, as being also 

 in accordance with the same doctrine, and opposed to the inference 

 of internal impregnation. 



In conclusion, he observes, that even admitting the accuracy of 

 the detail of the experiment adduced to prove such a mode of im- 

 pregnation, the conclusion drawn is not a necessary one, — inasmuch 

 as the ova included in a perforated box and placed in a stream, may 

 have been impregnated by milt shed in the adjoining water, and 

 by it in its flow conveyed to them. 



2. Account of a remarkable Meteor seen on 30th September 

 1853. By William Swan, Esq. 



On the 30th September 1853, I was with my friend Mr David 

 Wallace, in a field near his house, Balgrummo, in the neighbour- 

 hood of Leven, in Fifeshire. The atmosphere was very clear, and 

 the sun was shining brightly. The sky was covered in some quar- 

 ters with thin cirrous clouds, and we had been watching the changes 

 in the appearance of the clouds nearly overhead, when Mr Wallace, 

 who was still observing the sky, pointed suddenly upwards, and called 

 on me to look, I did so, and instantly saw a round body, apparently 

 as large as a star of the first magnitude, moving rapidly upwards, 

 — roughly speaking, towards the zenith, or more accurately, towards 

 the sun. This, as I immediately aftei-wards ascertained, was about 

 11^ 15™ Greenwich mean time. 



The region of the sky which the meteor traversed was cloudless 

 and serene, so that I had an extremely favourable opportunity of 

 observing it, and I continued to see it for about a second of time. 



