174 Wernerian Natural History Society. 



diacal light, and the physical nature of that light, whether entirely 

 reflected, or whether, as rendered probable by some observations, 

 partly direct, are matters for the satisfactory determination of 

 which more data are required. For the assistance of those who 

 may be inclined to prosecute the inquiry, the author adds descrip- 

 tions, both verbal and pictoi-ial, of what tlie Zodiacal light is like, 

 what observers may expect to see ; and mentions the times of the 

 year at which, in different latitudes, the phenomenon may be best 

 seen, together with a number of other attendant circumstances which 

 are necessary to be complied with, in order to procure undeniable 

 observations. 



Monday, 2\st February 1848. 

 Right Rev. Bishop Terrot, V.P., in the Chair. 

 The following Communications were read :^ 



1. Practical Illustrations of the Adjustments of the Equato- 



rial Instrument. By Professor C. Piazzi Smyth. 



2. On the Vertebral Column, and some Characters that have 



been overlooked in the Descriptions both of the Anato- 

 mist and Zoologist. By Dr Macdonald. 



Monday, 6th March 1848. 



The Very Rev. Principal Lee, V.P., in the Chair. 



The following Communication was read :— ^ 



On the Theory of the Parallel Roads of Lochaber. By James 

 Thomson, Esq., jun., Glasgow. Communicated by Pro- 

 fessor Forbes. 



(This memoir printed in the present number of this Jourtial.) 



Wernerian Natural History Society. 



At the meeting of this Society, held on Saturday 22d April, 

 Dr Neill, secretary, read a communication from Dr John Davy, de- 

 tailing some curious experiments and observations on the urinary 

 excrements of the caterpillars of several species of Papilio and Sphinx, 

 natives of Barbadoes. (This paper is printed in the present Number 

 of this Journal, p. 17, ct seq.) 



At the same meeting, Professor Jameson, president, exhibited 

 and described several highly interesting objects ; in particular, a fine 

 cast of the head of the Sivatherium fi-om the Himala Mountains, 

 with portions of the head itself: also a cast of the Pterodactyle, a 

 winaed sort of reptile : likewise magnificent specimens of the teeth 

 and great jaw of the Sauroidal Fishes of Agassiz, from the Gilmer- 

 ton Quarries — forming undoubtedly the richest collection of remains 

 of Sauroidal fishes in Europe. A fine specimen of Platina from 

 Siberia, weighing 13 ounces, was also exhibited. 



