32 XHE ZOOLOGIST. 



species of bird intended. It has been variously identified with a Grouse 

 ( the Hazel Grouse, Tetrao honasia), Fraucoliu (F. vulgaris), and Little 

 Bustard [Otis tetrax). Liddell and Scott describe it as a " long-billed bird," 

 and suggest a Woodcock or Snipe, referring to Aristotle's description. But 

 Aristotle's words do not seem to justify this view. He says (Hist. An. ix. 

 26): — " The Woodcock is taken in the orchards with nets ; it is of the size 

 of a fowl ; its bill is long, its colour similar to that of the Attagen.' Not a 

 word about Attagen having a long bill. I have little doubt that the Attagen 

 of the ancients was a Sand Grouse [Pteroclcs) of some kind, and Cuvier was 

 probably right in identifying it with the Pintailed Sand Grouse [PterocUs 

 alchata), a bird which is not uncommon in the countries bordering the 

 Mediterranean. — J. E. Harting. 



SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



LiNNEAN Society of London. 

 November 15, 1881.— Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., President, 



in the chair. 



Messrs. P. Crowley and J. Murray were elected Fellows of the Society. 



Prof. P. Martin Duncan showed a specimen of coral [Desmophyllum 

 cristagalli) which had grown upon an electric-telegraph cable off the 

 shores of Spain ; it possessed radicles, apparently due to the presence of a 

 worm close beneath the base of the coral. 



Mr. E. P. Ramsay exhibited a series of rare birds from New Guinea 

 and the Solomon Islands, prominent among which were Charmosyna 

 margarethw, Gefroijius heteroclitus, Cinnyris melaiwcephaliis, Myiayra 

 ferrocyanea, Ptilopus Richardsii, P. Lewisii, &c. 



Dr. J. Murie showed and made remarks on specimens of Ascaris bicolor, 

 Baird, from the living Walrus at the Westminster Aquarium. 



A paper was read by Mr. T. J. Briant, " Notes on the Antennae of the 

 Honey Bee," in which he describes the minute structure of the segments, 

 the joints and certain rod and cone-like organs, of highly sensitive function, 

 previously referred to by Dr. Braxton Hicks. 



The next communication was " On the Japanese Langnriida, their 

 habits and external sexual characteristics," by Mr. George Lewis. He 

 remarks that one representative of the family (L. inenetriesi) has been found 

 in Siberia, lat. 40° ; there are none in Europe, and one is known from 

 E^Tvpt; others inhabit the Malay Archipelago, Ceylon, and the American 

 Continent. The author infers, from the geographical distribution of these 

 beetles that they have emanated from a tropical area. Some in the imago 



