“182 Miscellanies. 
16. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History. Com- 
piled from the Records of the Society, by Jurrrirs Wyman, M. D., 
Recording Secretary. 
Jan. 8, 1840.—Gero. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 
The President mentioned the fact that the brown rat had been found 
at a distance from any habitation on Nantasket beach, burrowing in » 
the sand, and subsisting on clams; the brown rat in these regions is 
not generally known to make its habitat at a distance from that of 
man 7 
Mr. Bovuve stated that he had met with the nest of the brown rat in 
similar situations. 
Jan. 15, 1840.—Gro. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 
Mr. J. E. Tescurmacuer made a report on Dr. Jackson’s Report 
on the Geology of Maine. He alluded particularly to Dr. Jackson’s 
observations on the deflection of the diluvial current from its usual 
N. and 8. direction, as indicated by the scratches on the rocks; these 
deflections were attributed by Dr. J. to the influence of the surround- 
ing elevations. There are instances in Dorchester, Mass., in which 
the direction of the current was nearly E. and W. 
Dr. J. Wyman exhibited specimens of the Otion Cuvierii, Leach, 
taken from the bottom of a ship recently returned from India ; they 
were found in vast numbers, and measured from three to three and a 
half inches in length. Dissections were also exhibited illustrating 
the anatomy of the organs of digestion, generation, and of the ner- 
vous system; the latter consists of a double nervous cord, extend- 
ing the whole length of the animal, and on which may be seen 
seven ganglia; the two cords separate and form a ring around the 
esophagus, and at the point of union form a ganglion or brain, from 
which are derived the nerves supplying the mouth and appendages. 
The Otion and other Cirrhopoda, are arranged by Cuvier among the 
ag but their nervous system approximates them to the Articu- 
ta. 
| Jan. 22, 1840.—Gro. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair 
~ Dr. D. H. Storrr read a letter from Mr. J. G. Anthony, of Cin- 
cmmnati, in which he states that the localities in and about Cincinnati 
are unusually rich in Species of shells. Within the circuit of ten 
miles around that city, there are no less than seventy species of Unio, 
five of Alasmodonta, six of Anodonta, thirty two of Helix, seven of 
