1868.] Zoology. 431 
be the father of the future stock. The discovery would appear to be 
almost too wonderful to be true, but its value and reality are vouched 
for by some of the leading bee-keepers in Germany. Mr. Woodbury, 
a Devonshire bee-keeper, says, “ M. Kohler’s process having been 
communicated to me, I can state that it is simple and perfectly 
feasible ; it has moreover been tried by some of the leading apiarians 
in Germany, who have publicly testified to its success. The natural 
method of pairing seems to be intended as a provision against unions 
between drones and queens of the same stock, which would be 
brothers and sisters, and therefore in directing their union artificially 
this point must be kept in mind. If pure Ligurian stocks can be 
maintained, the black bee will probably become an extinct species 
in a domesticated condition. 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ZooLoGicAL Society oF Lonpon. 
The condition of this flourishing Society was laid before the Annual 
Meeting in April last, by which it appeared that there were 2,702 
members, and the income of the Society amounted to 25,0417. The 
ordinary expenses were 21,566/., and 4,652/. had been spent in new 
buildings or live animals. They have a reserve fund of 10,0002. 
The number of persons who had visited the gardens in the year was 
556,214. The gardens contained 2,010 animals, wiz. 531 quadru- 
peds, 1,320 birds, and 129 reptiles. 
Every week new animals are acquired by the gardens of the 
Society, a weekly register of which will be found in the pages of 
Mr. Buckland’s Journal, ‘ Land and Water.’ Of course, the greater 
number of these are birds, among which a nightingale captured in 
the gardens figures, and which sings contentedly in the society of a 
hen which has lived through the winter. The Regent-bird of 
Australia (Sericulus melinus) has been brought, for the first time, 
to England, and is interesting from possessing bower-building 
habits in common with the Satin-bird and Bower-bird. Some of 
the magnificent Formosa pheasants (Huplocamus Swinhoit) have 
also been received. But perhaps the most popularly interesting 
animals are four ringed or marbled seals (Phoca discolor), which 
occupy the pond in the place of the curious Walrus which unfortu- 
nately died. 
At the ordinary meetings of the Society the usual amount of 
interest has been exhibited. Perhaps the most important paper was 
one by Professor Huxley, on the classification and distribution of 
the birds belonging to his divisions, Alectoromorphe and Hetero- 
morphe.* This elaborate paper treated of the homologies of the 
* By the latter term the Professor proposed to designate the singular form 
Opistbkocomus, which recent examination had convinced him must be arranged as a 
distinct group in the vicinity of the Alectoromorphe. 
