154 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
verrucosus, obtained by Mr. Johnston on Kilimanjaro, which was found to 
be parasitic on a species of Mantis. 
Mr. E.J. Miers communicated the description of a new variety of River 
Crab of the genus Thelphusa (T’. depressa, Krauss, var. Johnstoni), which 
had been obtained by Mr. H. H. Johnston in the streams of Kilimanjaro. 
Mr. Francis Day read the fourth of the series of his papers on races 
and hybrids among the Salmonid@, continuing the account of the Howie- 
town experiments from November, 1884, to the present time. 
Prof. Ray Lankester read some notes on the heart described by Sir 
Richard Owen, in 1841, as that of Apteryw, and came to the conclusion 
that the heart in question was that of an Ornithorhynchus.—P. L. ScuatER, 
Secretary. 
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 
The Cruise of the ‘ Alert’: Four Years in Patagonian, Polynesian, 
and Mascarene Waters. By R. W.Corrincer, M.D. Third 
Edition. 8vo. London: Sonnenschein & Co. 1885. 
Report on the Zoological Collections made in the Indo-Pacific 
Ocean during the Voyage of H.M.S. ‘Alert,’ 1881-82. 
Printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum. 
1884. 
THe surveys made by the ‘Adventure’ and ‘Beagle’ in 
1826-36, and by the ‘Nassau’ in 1866-9, were excellent, so 
far as the requirements of their times were concerned; but the 
great increase of ocean navigation within the last few years had 
rendered it necessary that the charts should contain more 
minute surveys of certain places which were not formerly of 
importance. Accordingly in 1878 it was decided by the Lords 
of the Admiralty to equip a vessel for the threefold purpose of 
continuing the survey of the Straits of Magellan, of investigating 
the nature and exact position of certain doubtful reefs and 
islands in the South Pacific Ocean, and of surveying a portion 
of the northern and western coasts of Australia. 
The vessel selected for this special service was the ‘ Alert,’ 
already so well known in connection with the Arctic Expedition 
of 1875-6, and the command was given to Capt. Sir George 
Nares, K.C.B., who was subsequently succeeded by Capt. 
Maclear. Needless to say, the equipment included apparatus 
