228 Zoological Society. 



hewn square posts which supported the building with great facility, 

 and upon reaching the ceiling would return head-foremost ; some- 

 times they would roll themselves up into a ball and throw themselves 

 down, and apparently without experiencing any inconvenience from 

 the fall, which was in a measure broken upon reaching the ground 

 by the semi-yielding scales, which were thrown into an erect posi- 

 tion by the curve of the body of the animal. In climbing, the tail, 

 with its strongly pointed scales beneath, was used to assist the feet ; 

 and the grasp of the hind feet, assisted by the tail, was so powerful, 

 that the animal would throw the body back (when on the post) in a 

 horizontal position and sway itself to and fro, apparently taking 

 pleasure in this kind of exercise. It always slept with the body 

 rolled up ; and when in this position in a corner of the building, 

 owing to the position and strength of the scales and the power of 

 the limbs combined, Mr. Fraser found it impossible to remove the 

 animal against its will, the points of the scales l.eing inserted into 

 every little notch and hollow of the surrounding objects. The eyes 

 are black and very prominent. The colonial name for this species of 

 Munis is Attadillo, and it is called by the Booby, ' Gahlah.' 



May 9. — William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Mr. Hinds proceeded with his descriptions of new species of Shells 

 collected during the voyage of Sir Edward Belcher, C.B., and by H. 

 Cuming, Esq., in his late visit to the Philippine Islands : those cha- 

 racterized in the paper read were laid on the table. 



Genus Corbula, Bruguiere. 



CoRBULA CRASSA. Coi'b. tcstcl solicld, iiicrassatd, elevatd, albidd, 

 incequilaterali, latere antico paululum siqyerante, longitudinaliter 

 sulcatd, antice rotundatd, postice ad extremitatem truncatd. ah um- 

 hone ad marginem posticam biaiigulatd ; valvarum margine ventrali 

 inclausd, gibbosissimd, sinistrce postice denticulatd ; umbonibus 

 obliquis, posticis ; inths fused. Long. 11 ; lat. 7 ; alt. 7 lin. 

 Hab. Straits of Macassar; Straits of Malacca; Sabonga, island of 

 Zebu ; Bais, island of Negros, Philippines. Obtained in from seven 

 to thirty fathoms, on a floor of coarse sand or gravel. 

 Cab. Belcher et Cuming. 



Remarkable for the preponderance of the bulk of the anterior half 

 over the posterior, a circumstance which also occurs in C. bicurinata. 

 This, however, depends in some measure on the age, and is thus 

 most conspicuous in those specimens which may be considered as 

 beyond adult age. 



Corbula tunicata. Corb. testd ovato-trigond, obliqud, antice ro- 

 tundatd, postice nasutd, excavatd, ab umbonibus angulatd ; valvis 

 incequalibus, dexlrd jjnecipue maxima, valde sulcata, epidermide 

 tenui corned, indutd, sinistra prope umbonem sulcata, aliter epi- 

 dermide densd indutd; umbonibus obliquis posticis ; intixs fused. 

 Long. 12; lat. 7; alt. 9 lin. 



Hab. Island of Corregidor, Bay of Manila ; in seven fathoms, coarse 



