152 Miscellaneous. 
On the Origin of Species. By J. Gwyn Jerrreys, Esq. 
At the last Meeting of the British Association, held at Oxford, 
Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys exhibited in the Natural History Section several 
specimens of Buccinum undatum, each of which had a double oper- 
culum,—in one instance a second or supplementary operculum being 
piled on the usual one, and in the others there being two separate 
opercula, instead of one, in each Whelk. Mr. Jeffreys adverted 
briefly to the different kinds of monstrosity which occur in animals 
and plants, and said he believed this to be the first case of a similar 
monstrosity in the Mollusca. He observed that the monstrosity 
under consideration appeared to be congenital, and not to have arisen 
from an accidental loss of the original organ, because in some of the 
specimens both opercula were cases of hypertrophy, and in the others 
of atrophy ; and he mentioned that all the specimens came from the 
same place (Sandgate, in Kent), showing a repetition, and perhaps 
a hereditary transmission, of the same abnormal phenomenon; 
and he suggested that thus permanent varieties might in course of 
time be formed, and constitute what some naturalists would call 
** distinct species.”” He adduced, in support of this view, the case 
of a reversed monstrosity of the common Garden Snail (Helix as- 
persa) having been bred for many years in succession by the late 
M. d’Orbigny, in his garden at Rochelle, as well as many instances of 
a reversed form of Almond Whelk (Fusus antiquus) having occurred 
in the same localities on the coasts of England and Portugal, such 
being the normal form in the Crag. 
On the Habit of Notopteris Macdonaldii, Gray. 
By Joun MacGituivray, Esq. 
This curious Bat, which does not correspond sufficiently with the 
characters of any genus I have access to—coming nearest, however, 
to Macroglossus or Kiodotus—inhabits a deep, narrow, and very 
high cavern communicating with the sea, at the south-east corner of 
this island. I twice paid visits to this spot, but could not effect an 
entrance either by land or water: this can only be done during a 
dead calm, at low water, spring tides. A few days ago the specimen 
_ in the bottle was brought me: it had been found dead that morning 
under a banana in blossom, where it had probably been feeding during 
the night. The natives had previously told me that the Negrei 
Putegétho (as they call it) is fond of resorting at night to the 
banana blossoms. 
Aneiteum, July 1859. 
PENTACRINUS FISHERI, 
described by Mr. Baily in our last Number, was erroneously stated 
to have been found in the Kimmeridge Clay: it should have been 
the Oxford Clay of Weymouth. 
