Royal Society : — On Eozoon Canadense. 325 



regard to the present handsome volume, that it is a monument at 

 once worthy of the naturaHst whose name it bears and creditable to 

 his literary executor, who has shown excellent judgment in his se- 

 lection of matter, and good taste in the illustrations, of which latter 

 it is only needful to observe that they are from the pencils of Hewit- 

 son and Wolf. 



To all oologists the * Ootheca* will be indispensable. 



Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Collection of the Australian 

 Museum. By Gerard Krefft, Curator and Secretary. Sydney : 

 printed by order of the Trustees. 1864. 



This Catalogue is prepared on the model of Dr. Gray's * List of 

 Mammalia in the British Museum.* Indeed it is almost a facsimile 

 in form and appearance, with the addition of a few notes on the 

 habits of some of the more recently discovered species, the descrip- 

 tion of three or four which Mr. Krefft thinks had not been described 

 before, a synopsis of the dental formula of each genus, and some 

 short directions for the preservation of specimens. Considerable 

 attention is paid to the local names which are given to the animals 

 in the different districts of Australia which they inhabit. 



We may give the following as a specimen of the notes that it con- 

 tains. Under PJiascogale penicillata^ Mr. Krefft observes — ** The 

 female is not provided with any visible pouch ; the number of mammae 

 is ten, and as many young are occasionally brought forth, though 

 probably not more than four or five reach maturity." After quoting 

 Mr. Gould's account of its habits, he proceeds — "As I have fre- 

 quent opportunities of observing this animal, I am able to state that 

 Mr. Gould's charges as to its depredations are quite unfounded, as it 

 is a truly insectivorous animal, which may, indeed, occasionally cap- 

 ture a small bird or a mouse. When it has taken up its quarters in 

 a store, the owner can derive benefit only from its presence, as it 

 destroys cockroaches and other insects, and soon clears the place of 

 smaller rodents, though it is no match for a rat" (p. 29). 



The collection consists of 283 species, thus divided : — Primates 45, 

 Ferae 62, Marsupialia 59, Rodentia 57, Edentata 7, Pachydermata 7, 

 Ruminantia 35, Cete 1 1 . 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 



Dec. 15, 1864. — J. P. Gassiot, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



" On the Structure and Affinities of Eozoon Canadense.*^ In a 

 Letter to the President. By W. B. Carpenter, M.D., F.R.S. 



I cannot doubt that your attention has been drawn to the dis- 

 covery announced by Sir Charles Lyell in his Presidential Address 

 at the late Meeting of the British Association, of large masses of a 

 fossil organism referable to the Foraminiferous type, near the base 



