Miscelluneous. 33 1 



nucleus and finely granular contents. These cells appear to me to 

 be comparable to those which have been described in the same 

 situation in Hydatina senta, and by liay Lankester in the embryo of 

 Pisidium jpusillum. — Comptes Rendus, January 17, 1876, p. 233. 



On the Range of the Striped Opossum. 



To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 



Gentlemen, — Permit me, through the medium of your valuable 

 publication, to add a new locality to the already very extensive 

 range of the Striped Opossum, Dactyl ops il a trivirgata (Gray). I have 

 lately received from the Herbert River, near Rockingham Bay, a 

 very fine young specimen of this interesting animal. It differs only 

 from Dr. Gray's description in the great length of the fur on the 

 body and taD, and in the dark parts being of a jet-black colour ; the 

 hands and feet are of a pale buff", the terminal third of the tail 

 white, the remaining basal portion black above, mixed with white on 

 the sides and whitish below. For this specimen we are indebted to 

 Mr. J. Montgomery, of the Department of Roads for the District of 

 Cardwell. Yours truly, 



AustraUan Museum, E. Piebson Ramsay, 



Sydney. • Curator. 



On the Natural History of the Rockingham- Bay District, Australia. 

 By E. PiERSON Ramsay, Curator, Australian Museum, Sydney. 



Rockingham-Bay district is a most interesting one for the natu- 

 ralist. I have myself travelled over the greater portion of the settled 

 districts of the eastern and southern parts of Australia ; but in no 

 one place have I met Avith so large a fauna, the birds alone amount- 

 ing to about 300 species, including sea-birds. The mammals, inclu- 

 ding three new species and one of a new genus lately described by 

 me, amount to about 20 species. With insects of all orders the 

 whole district is teeming. The Lepidoptera, of the genera Papilio, 

 Ornithoptera, &c., are particularly rich and highly coloured ; of the 

 Sphingidaj I obtained 8 species, among them three new to science, 

 which I hope shortly to find time to describe. 



The only class in which the district appeared to be poor was the 

 land and freshwater shells. Within a radius of about fifty miles, to 

 which my researches were chiefly confined, I only obtained about 

 15 species, including the genera Helix, Pup>ina, Bulimus, Vitrina, 

 Oeotrochus, Physa, Lymnea, Melania, Cyclas, and Anodonta. 



The groves of banana (Musa Banksii, Midler) and of the noble 

 palm trees were remarkable for their beauty and elegance. I was 

 particularly struck with one, an immense shield-i)ahn, with peltate 

 fronds, and measuring in long diameter (i feet, short diameter being 

 about 5 feet. This noble species was noticeable at a great distance, 

 its large shield-like leaves ])resentiiig l)road, well-defined green disks 

 cropping out h«'ro and there througli llie luxuriant vegetation which 



