766 



iiEroni — 1884. 



the Trias. Future discoveries will probably briiijr to light intermediate form^ 

 between these orders and tlie typical Dinosaurs. 



li^^lv 



Tlie Cnic-fdilia have some stronjr aflinilies with tlie Dlnnsaurld, esp(>clally wit', 

 those of the order Snuropuda. The extinct <rcniis Bchidon of the Triassic, fi,r 

 example, resembles Dij)/iidoci(s, particularly in tlie large antorbital vacuiti<'s of the 

 .skull, the posterior position of the external nasal aperture, as well as in otlicr 

 features. 



The Ii/n/nc/tnccp/i(il(i, represented by the genus Ilattcriii, have several important 

 characters in common with the Dinomurid, and, as the former is evidently au 

 ancient type, it is probable that a real iiilinity may exist between these two group>, 



Tluit birds are closely related to Dinosaurs, tliere is no longer any questiun. 

 In addition to the various cliari"'ters wliich tliese groups have been knowu t ) 

 share with each otlier, two more may be added in consequence of discoveries made 

 during' the past year. The genus t'crotomxrus, a carnivorous I tinosaur from tlif 

 Jurassic of the Uoehy Mountains, recently described by tlie author, has thepelvir 

 bones coossified, as in all known birds, living' and extinct, excej)t Arvlia-optertj.i, 

 The same reptile, moreover, litis the metatarsal bones iirmly united, as in all adult 

 birds, with possibly the single excejitiou of Areli(copfvrifx; while ail the known 

 Dinosaitria, except CenitosuKriis, have both the jielvic and the metatarsal ljone< 

 separate. Tlie exception in each case brings birds and reptiles near together at 

 ■'his point, and their close alllnity is now a matter of demonstration. 



10. Qn the TiHiliincntdri/ TI!)i(I-Liuih of the T<ti/ Whale, Mcgai)tera Icnfi- 

 mana, IJij Professor J. STRurHi:iis, M.D. 



The author said the humpbacked whale was extremely rare on the British cna«t, 

 One hail b^en seen often spouting for some weeks in December in the Firth of Tav: 

 it was mortally wounded, and finally towed ashore dead, near Aberdeen, It was a 

 male, forty feet in lentrth. After it liad been exhibited for a couple of weeks at 

 Dundee he had partially dissected it. Having been ])reserved, it was furtlipr 

 exhibited, and he had only completed his dissection immediately pievious to 

 coming out. The presence of a rudimentary thigh-bone had been discovered in 

 this species many years ago by the late Professor lleinhardt of Copenliagen. The 

 thigh-bone was composed entirely of a cartilage of conical shape, in length live and 

 a half inches on the right side, four inches cm the left : it was incased in fibrous 

 tissue, and rested loosely on the pelvic bone without artificial surface. Lookinirat 

 the anatomical facts, and comparing them with tlose in the otlier species he bad 

 referred to, the conclusion which must be arrived at was that the thigh-bone in the 

 humpbached whale was a rudimentary structure : a vestige of a more coinplet>' 

 limb possessed by ancestors from which it was descended. The skeleton of this 

 Avhale would, he hoped, be placed in the Dundee Museum, before the Associati'm 

 met in Aberdeen next year. 



11. Note on the ocairrence of Bacteria on the Surface of Coins. 

 Bij Professor Louis Elsberg, ^1.3/., M.I). 



In the early part of this year Professor Paul F. Reinsch, of Erlangen, well known 

 as a student of algro, published in the German periodical ' Flora ' (No. 9, 1884) a 

 description of two new species of algas found in the incrustations on the surface of old 

 coins, and named by him respectively Chroocoacus monrtariim and ricurococcuf 

 moneturum. He also announced that he had discovered on pieces of money that had 

 long been in circulation innumerable bacteria. These he described as ' rod-sbapod 

 bacteria (oscillaroid forms), with oscillating motion (vibrio), and spiral motion 

 (spirillum), and spherical bacteria (micrococcoid forms), with their peculiar oscilla- 

 tory dancing motions.' lie said, ' Sometimes all these forms occur on one coin ; but 

 in most cases either spherical or rod bacteria predominate, the first constituting 

 most frequently the main mass. Spirillum is found more rarely, but on carefal 



