Mimicry and Protective BesemUances among Animals. 53 



Wednesday, 17th March 1875.— Robert Scot Skirving, Esq., President, 

 in the Chair. 



The following gentleman was balloted for and elected a Resident Member : 

 Dr Robert Saundby, Sanghtonhall. 



The following donations were laid on the table, and thanks voted to the 

 donors : 



1. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. XXVII. , Pt. 11, 

 Session 1873-74. 2. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Session 

 1873-74.— From the Society. 3. Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical 

 Society of Liverpool, Session 1873-74, Vol. XXVIII.— From the Society. 

 4. Nova Acta Regite Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis, ser. tertia, Vol. IX., 

 Fasc. 1, 1874.— From the Society. 5. Bulletin Metereologique Mensuel de 

 L'Observatoire de L'Universite D'Upsal, Nos. 7-13, Juin— Decembre 1873.— 

 From the University. 



The following communications were read ; 



I. — Notes on Mimicry and Protective Pesemhlances among 

 Animals. By John Gibson, Esq. 



In this communication the author stated that, although the 

 term " mimicry," in so far as it implied a theory, was objec- 

 tionable; still, premising that its adoption did not commit one 

 to the " conscious volition " implied in the usual acceptation 

 of the term, it was the single word in our language which 

 came nearest to describing the phenomena under considera- 

 tion. 



This subject was first brought into notice by Mr Bates, in 

 a paper read before the Linnean Society, shortly after the 

 publication of Darwin's " Origin of Species." Since that time 

 cases of mimicry have been observed in all quarters of the 

 globe, by such travellers as Bates, Wallace, and Belt; and 

 notices of these are to be found scattered throughout books of 

 travel and scientific journals. These the author had collected, 

 and now brought before the Society arranged in three groups : 



(1.) Mimicry of Backgrounds generally. 



(2.) Particular Mimicry of the Vegetable Kingdom. 



(3.) Particular IMimicry of the Animal Kingdom. 



Among instances of the latter, he referred to the following 

 as probable cases of mimicry, but which had not hitherto been 

 noticed as such : 



(1.) The cobra (Naja tHpudians) is the most deadly of 



VOL. IV. G 



