104 Miscellaneous. 



theless by its respiration, which is in great part cutaneous, and the 

 arrangement of its reproductive apparatus, it presents certain rela- 

 tions with the Opisthobranchs, to which it evidently forms a passage. 

 — Comptes Bendus, November 13, 1871, tome Ixxiii, pp. 1172- 

 1174. 



Drosera (Sun-dew) as a Fly-catcher. 



A valued correspondent and accurate observer, Mrs. Treat of 

 Vineland, New Jersey, writes : — 



" For several summers in succession I have taken Drosera ro- 

 tundifolia, D. longifolia, and D. fili folia from their moist beds, and 

 placed them in sand and water in such a way that they made most 

 charming window-plants. What I take for D. longifolia has spa- 

 tulate-oblong reddish leaves, and long, erect, reddish petioles covered 

 with glands like those of the leaf. This species I find a much more 

 effective fly-trap than D. rotundifolia. On some of the plants in my 

 window this summer almost every leaf held a common house-fly 

 prisoner until it died ; and it did not take the leaf very long to fold 

 completely round its victim. My husband was terribly shocked, 

 and thought it the most cruel thing he ever saw in nature ; but 

 with my prepossessions and habits, both as an entomologist and a 

 housekeeper, 1 was contentedly interested to see the work go on." 



If we rightly remember, in D. rotundifolia it is only the gland- 

 tipped bristles that bend inward and hold the insect fast, while 

 they probably suck the juice out of him. This folding of the 

 blade of the leaf itself around the fly is a new fact to us, and is so 

 especially interesting (being a step towards Bioncea) that we would 

 call particular attention to it, in the hope of further observations 

 and independent confirmation. We are told that the blade incurves 

 from apex to base in the manner of its vernation. What was long- 

 ago known of the action of Drosera rotundifolia in fly-catching had 

 almost completely died out of the books and out of the memory of 

 the present generation until very lately ; and the most remarkable 

 things relating to it and to Dioncea are not yet in print. — Prof. Asa 

 Gray in Silliman's American Journal, Dec. 1871. 



Note on a Fragment of a Teleosaurian Snout from Kimmeridge Bay, 

 Dorset. By J. W. Htjike, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. 



In this paper the author described a fragment of the snout of a 

 Teleosaurian obtained by J. C. Mansel-Pleydell, Esq., F.G.S. , from 

 Kimmeridge Bay, and which is believed to furnish the first indication 

 of the occurrence of Teleosaurians at Kimmeridge. The specimen con- 

 sists of about 17 inches of a long and slender snout, tapering slightly 

 towards the apex, where the preemaxillse expand suddenly and 

 widely. The nostril is terminal and directed obliquely forwards ; 

 the prsemaxillae ascend 2-5 inches above the nostril, and terminate 

 in an acute point ; and each praemaxilla contains five alveoli. The 

 lateral margins of the snout are slightly crenated by the alveoli of the 

 teeth, of which the three front ones are smaller than the rest : most 

 of the teeth have fallen out ; but a few are broken off, leaving the 

 base in the sockets. — Proc. Geol. Soc. June 7, 1871. 



