ON NAUTILUS AND SOME OTHER ORGANISMS. 153 
form of the wings of a given bird, and name accordingly. All 
those whose hand-creases are referable to the same bird con- 
stitute one family or “ta-uk,’’ apart from any question of 
‘blood relationship. Thus a man of the “kanai ta-uk,” or 
family of the sea-gull, cannot marry a woman of that “ ta-uk.” 
It is also tabu to eat bird-flesh, but they all eat pork—exactly 
the reverse of what occurs in New Britain, at least as far as 
the men are concerned. 
Probably most of the fighting i1 New Hanover is due to the 
complicated relations of the sexes. “ Plenty fight belong 
Mary.” 
Finally, I may conclude these brief notes by adding that if 
a Kanaka kills another Kanaka of lis own ta-uk he does not 
eat him, according to my information.—Yours very truly, 
Anrruur WILLEY. 
Ratum, New Britatn, 
via Singapore ; 
June 4th, 1895. 
Dear Proressor Lankester,—The following are a few zoo- 
logical observations, relating chiefly to the fauna of Blanche 
Bay, which I have incidentally made during the last few 
months. 
1. Polyclades.—The Polyclade fauna is rich both in species 
and individuals. Most of those that I have hitherto had any 
opportunity of observing have been taken close to the shore 
of the island of Rakaiya (or Raluan), in Blanche Bay, from 
the lower surfaces or in the crevices of volcanic stones. 
I have, however, on several occasions also obtained them 
from the reef opposite Ralum. Although a fact of no absolute 
value proceeding from so limited an experience, it is neverthe- 
less worth mentioning that the Polyclades fromthe reef off Ralum 
have all belonged to the subdivision Cotylea, and included a 
very fine Thysanozoon, attaining a length of 66 mm.; whereas 
