318 DR. J. E. GRAY ON A NEW BRITISH PORPOISE. [Mar. 28, 
Out of 211 species of fish which I have brought in safety to this 
country from Cochin, nearly one in eight appear to have been hitherto 
undescribed. As zealous Dutch and French travellers have more 
efficiently collected ichthyological specimens in Malabar than else- 
where on the shores of India, it shows the vast field still left to be 
explored. The freshwater fishes of the inland hills appear almost 
unknown ; for out of eight species kindly furnished me by the Rev. 
H. Baker, jun., five were entirely new. 
The difficulty in India of obtaining fresh specimens, of preserving 
them when obtained, the damage they receive on being conveyed 
from place to place, and the almost impossibility of procuring at out- 
stations good ichthyological works of reference make the study of 
the finny tribes more difficult, perhaps, than that of any other branch 
of zoology. At the same time these very difficulties render it more 
productive than most others in new forms and hitherto unknown 
species. 
March 28th, 1865. 
John Gould, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 
The Secretary called the attention of the Meeting to the valuable 
addition recently made to the Society’s collection in the shape of a 
pair of the rare Fruit-Pigeon of the Seychelles Islands, Erythranas 
pulcherrima (Scop.), remarkable for the curious naked wattles at the 
base of the bill, and for other peculiarities. This pair of birds, be- 
lieved to be the only individuals of the species ever received alive in 
this country, had been presented to the Society by Lady Barkly, the 
wife of H. E. Sir Henry Barkly, K.G., Governor of Mauritius. 
The Secretary also announced the arrival on the preceding day of 
a fine specimen of the King Penguin (Apterodytes pennantir) of the 
Falkland Islands. This bird, which was believed to be the only 
Penguin ever brought alive to Europe, had been obtained at the 
Falklands, and skilfully conveyed to this country by Commander 
Fenwick, of H.M.S. ‘ Harrier,’ by whom it had been liberally pre- 
sented to the Society. 
The following papers were read :— 
1. Norice or A New Species or Porpotsrt (PHOCENA TUBER- 
CULIFERA) INHABITING THE MourH oF THE THames. By 
Dr. Jonn Evwarp Gray, F.R.S., F.L.S., erc. 
The fact of a new species of Porpoise heing found on our own 
shores, at the mouth of the Thames, must be considered as a proof 
of how little we at present know of the species of Cetacea. 
