oe a eS 
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 107 
great difficulty ‘that I drew it out. The Dabchick, I think, much more 
frequently than the Kingfisher, loses its life in the above manner.— 
C. Marruew Prior (Bedford). 
[On the 31st January last a Dabchick was brought to us which had been 
found choked precisely in the same manner, and the “ Miller’s-thumb” was 
still sticking in its throat.—Eb.] 
Larer Macxare, at Prymovra.i—An enormous example of the 
common Mackarel, Scomber vulgaris, measuring two feet in length, 
thirteen and a quarter inches in girth, and four pounds and one ounce in 
weight, was taken in a drift net off Plymouth on February 9th. The 
colour and markings of this fine fish were of the ordinary kind, and very 
bright. Mr. Couch, in his ‘ History of British Fishes,’ mentions that the 
largest he ever saw measured half an inch short of two feet; but Pennant 
speaks of one sold in London that weighed five and a quarter pounds.—J. 
GatcomBeE (55, Lower Durnford Street, Stonehouse, Plymouth). 
Scynnarus Arctus at Prymouru.—A specimen of this rare British 
crustacean was brought up in a trawl off Plymouth, in the middle of 
January, and is now in the possession of Mr. Spence Bate, by whom it has 
been preserved. I have heard of but one other local example of this species 
having been taken, which I duly recorded some years ago.—J. GATCOMBE. 
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 
Linnean Soctety oF Lonpon. 
January 17, 1878.—Professor ALLMAN, F.RB.S., President, in the chair. 
Mr. J. B. Kerswill, of Fairfield, St. Germains, Cornwall, was balloted 
for, and duly elected a Fellow of the Society. 
Professor Owen, C.B., read a paper “On Hypsiprymnodon, Ramsay, a 
Genus indicative of a distinct Family (Pleopodide) in the Diprotodont 
Section of the Marsupials.” The animal in question is an inhabitant of 
the Rockingham Bay district of Queensland. There it sparingly frequents 
the dense and damp shrubs bordering the coast. It is diurnal, and feeds 
on insects, worms, and tuberous roots, or palm-berries. These it grasps in 
its fore paws, and, sitting on its haunches, munches after the manner of the 
Phalangers. It breeds during the rainy season, viz., February to May. . 
Both sexes have a musky odour, are alike in size, and somewhat over a 
foot long. This Rat Kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus) Mr. E. P. 
