234< Astronomical Society. 



Sosa, consisted of a pelvis, nearly perfect, a thigh bone, several vir- 

 tebrae, five or six ribs, and four teeth. After much solicitation Mr. 

 Parish became possessed of them, and in the hopes of procuring the 

 remainder of tlie skeleton, he deputed Mr. Oakley, a gentleman of 

 the United States, to make the necessary investigations. 



Mr. Oakley soon ascertained that other bones were imbedded in 

 the mud at the bottom of the river, and by diverting, in part, the 

 course of the stream, he succeeded in obtaining a scapula, an os 

 femoris, five cervical vertebras, several teeth, and numerous other 

 bones which were too much decayed to be preserved. 



Besides these valuable remains Mr. Oakley procured parts of two 

 other skeletons of the Megatherium ; one of them from a small rivulet 

 near Villanu^va, and the other from the banks of the lake at Las 

 Aveiras. Both these skeletons were accompanied by a thick osseous 

 covering, or shell, considerable portions of which were preserved, and 

 form part of the collection sent to England by Mr. Parish. 



The preceding history of the discovery of the bones of the Mega- 

 therium, was succeeded by an enumeration and description of them, 

 by Mr. Clift ; from which it appears that the parts of the skeleton 

 brought to England by Mr. Parish, although comparatively much 

 less numerous and complete than those in the specimen preserved in 

 the Royal Cabinet at Madrid, fortunately include several essential 

 parts which are deficient in that specimen ; and that consequently from 

 the discovery of these remains, the history of the animal will be much 

 improved. Of the hitherto undescribed parts, the structure of the 

 teeth, — the existence of the pubis and ischium, — and a large propor- 

 tion of the caudal vertebrae, are the most important and essential 

 additions to our previous knowledge of this most singular and 

 stupendous creature. 



ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 



Feb. 10. — Extracts from the Report of the Council of the Society to 

 the Twelfth Annual General Meeting, held this day. 



In compliance with the Bye-laws, the Council now report to the 

 members at large, the progress and state of the Society, at this their 

 twelfth anniversary. During the past year, an important alteration 

 in the condition of our body, alluded to in the last Report, has 

 taken place : a Royal Charter has been obtained ; and, conformably 

 thereto, an altered and amended set of Bye-laws has been agreed to 

 by the Society, differing however but little from those which were 

 before in existence ; the principal alterations being such as were re- 

 quired by this new state of things. 



Amongst the deaths which have occurred in the preceding year, 

 the Council regret the loss of two very valuable members of the 

 Society, as well as two of its Associates : viz. the Rev. Fearon Fal- 

 lows, late astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope, Capt. Foster of 

 the Royal Navy, M. Pons of Marlia, and the Abbe Gregoire. 



Mr. Fallows is an example, and, in this country, happily, not a 



