433 



to those of that singularly obscure and interesting river, empties 

 them, thousands of miles from our settlement at Bathurst, into the 

 Bight of Benin. 



The following Donatioas to the Library were announced : — 



The Canadian Journal. New Sei'ies. No. 6. 8vo. — From the 



Canadian Institute. 

 Silliman's American Journal. No. 66. Svo. — From the Editors. 

 Journal of the Statistical Society of Loudon. Vol. XIX., Part 4. 



8vo. — From the Society. 

 Schriften der Universitat zu Kiel, 1854, 1855. 4to. — From the 



University. 

 Bulletin de la Societe de Geographic. 4"""° Serie, Tom. XI. — From 



the Society. 

 Abhandlungen herausgegeben von der Senckenbergisclien Natur- 



forschenden Gesellschaft. Band II., 1"* lieferung. 4to. — 



From the Society. 



Monday, 5th January 1857. 

 PftOPESSOR CHRISTISON, V.P., in the Chair. 

 The following Communications were read : — 



2. Some Remarks on the Literature and Philosophy of the 

 Chinese. By the Rev. Dv Robert Lee. 



2. Observations on the Crinoidea, showing their connection 

 with other branches of the Echinodermata. By Fort- 

 Major Thomas Austin, F.G.S. Communicated by Pro- 

 fessor Balfour. 



The author remarks, that although there are upwards of 280 

 writers on the Crinoidea, yet there is no class of ancient animals so 

 much misunderstood. These animals have not merely played an 

 important part in the system of creation as regards animal life, but 

 they have also modified the physical condition of the globe. They 

 are found abundantly in limestones, both of the Silurian and of the 

 Carboniferous epochs, attaining their maximum in the latter. The 



