230 = THE ZOOLOGIST. 
supposed to be a fossil tooth imbeded in surrounding matrix. Careful 
inspection, however, showed it to be one of the spined dermal plates of one 
of the Ray tribe of fishes, somewhat weather-worn and altered in appearance 
by burial. 
On behalf of Mr. Thomas Higgin there was likewise shown a photograph 
of the natural size of Chitina ericopsis, and specimens of the same were 
exhibited under the microscope. Mr. H. J. Carter described the above 
as a new genus and species of the Hydractiniide, in the ‘Annals and 
Magazine of Natural History,’ 1873 (4th ser.), vol. xi., p. 13, but hitherto 
no figure has been given of structural or other peculiarities. Somewhat 
worn specimens in the British Museum Collection are labelled “ Dr. Sinclair 
and Sir George Grey, New Zealand.”—J. Muris. 
‘ 
ZooLoeicaL Society oF Lonpon. 
May 7, 1878.—F. D. Guopmay, Esq., F.Z.S., in the chair. 
The Secretary read a report on the additions that had been made to the 
Society's Menagerie during the month of April, 1878, and called special 
attention to a Squirrel from Ecuador (Sciwrus stramineus), of a species 
new to the Society’s collection, and to a male Beisa Antelope (Orya beisa), 
presented by H.H. the Sultan of Zanzibar, and kindly brought home for 
the Society by Capt. Pasley of H.M.S. ‘ Simoom,’ April 27th. 
Mr. T. J. Parker read some notes on the stridulating organ of Palinurus 
vulgaris which had first been described by Dr. K. Mobius, but on whose 
observations Mr. Parker offered several criticisms. 
A communication was read from Dr. F’. Buchanan White, entitled ‘« Con- 
tributions to a Knowledge of the Hemipterous Fauna of St. Helena, and 
Speculations on its Origin.” In the first part of his paper the author, after 
briefly noticing what was known with regard to the fauna and flora of that 
remote and interesting oceanic island, and mentioning the various theories 
that had been brought forward to account for their origin, discussed the 
difficulties of the animals, and argued that they had evidently been derived 
at a remote period from the Palearctic Region by way of Madeira, the 
Canaries, and the Cape de Verde Archipelago. In the second part of his 
communication, Dr. White described the Hemiptera collected in St. Helena 
by the late Mr. T. V. Wollaston, during the recent visit of that lamented 
naturalist to that island. The collection included thirty species, of which 
five were probably introduced; one appeared to be indigenous, but seemed 
identical with a European species, and the remaining twenty-four were 
regarded by the author as new and peculiar to the island. Seven new 
genera and one new subgenus were created for the reception of ten of the 
species, the rest, with one exception, being referred to European genera. 
