273 



agilis, and in the species now introduced it is, so far as I have 

 been able to ascertain, as conspicuously absent. In this 

 absence of a contractile vesicle Triconyriijpha assimilates itself 

 to many Opalinidse. While commenting upon the apparent 

 position of Triconympha, with relation to other Infusorial 

 forms (Manual of Infusoria, Vol. II., p. 553), it was sug- 

 gested by me that, with respect to the great length of its 

 cilia and characteristic movements, it to some extent re- 

 sembled the multiflagellate genus Hexamita. Though the more 

 abundant evidence since adduced has sufficed to demonstrate 

 that it belongs essentially to the Holotrichous Ciliata, the 

 great length of the cilia, the manner in which they are 

 employed, and the habits the animalcules exhibit of anchor- 

 ing themselves to foreign substances by their long posterior 

 cilia, is suggestive of the remote derivation of these White 

 Ant parasites from a flagelliferous type allied to Hexamita. 



Of the two remaining Infusoria found by me in the Tas- 

 manian White Ant the one is apparently referable to Dr. 

 Leidy's genus Pyrsonymjpha, while the other belongs to Stein's 

 multiflagellate genus Lophomonas, so far recorded as a para- 

 site only of the Drthopterous insects Blatta and Gryllotalpa. 

 Several important points in their organisation not having 

 yet been clearly ascertained, descriptive details of these two 

 new forms are reserved for a future communication. ^ 



^Jj^O - iTi ^ T77T.V /(fPrJ 



ON A METHOD OF DETERMINING THE TRUE 



MERIDIAN. 



By H. C. Kingsmill, M.A. 



[Bead November 17, 1884.] 



I propose to describe a method of obtaining the true 

 meridian by observation, which, so far as I am aware, has not 

 been tried in this colony. The method is theoretically 

 simple, but many ideas which are simple in theory, are 

 found to have practical difficulties which render them useless 

 in actual work. 



I do not think that this objection ^vill apply to the case in 

 question, but I shall be glad to have the opinion of some one 

 who has had experience in taking observations. 



Public attention was called to the meridian question some 

 time ago by Mr. Mclntyre, a New Zealand surveyor, who 

 gave much valuable information in a paper which he read 

 before this Society. 



He pointed out that magnetic bearings were not suffi- 



