186 PROF. T. H. HUXLEY ON MENOBRANCHUS. [Mar. 17, 



vegetable food for three or four days, was bought, apparently in a 

 hopeless state of starvation, by one of M. Godeffroy's collectors. He 

 offered it some insects, which it eat readily, and on which diet it 

 soon recovered its health. It was fed for a fortnight upon beetles, 

 grubs, &c, and was thriving well ; but, unfortunately, it escaped 

 from its cage one day while it was being fed. 



" The native name of the Pareudiastes is not Punce, as given in 

 the Society's 'Proceedings' for 1871 on the authority of Mr. Kubary, 

 but Puncie, best spelt for those unacquainted with the Samoan dialect, 

 Punahe. It is found both on Upolu and Savaii, but is apparently 

 more common on the latter island than on the former. I have never 

 heard of it being seen except some distance inland amongst the 

 mountains." 



The following extract was read from a letter addressed to the Secre- 

 tary by Dr. G. Bennett, F.Z.S., dated Sydney, January 16th, 1874,: — 



" On the 7th inst. I received a letter from the Rev. Mr. Whitmee, 

 dated Samoa, South Pacific, December 15th, 1873, in which he says, 

 ' I take the liberty of sending to your care, to be transmitted to the 

 Zoological Society of London, one living Didunculus strigirostris 

 and two Quiros-Island Curlews. The Didunculus is a young bird 

 which I had unfledged from the nest, and eats ravenously almost any 

 thing of the vegetable order. The Curlews also have long been 

 accustomed to vegetable food. They may all be fed on rice, biscuits, 

 &c. on board a ship.' 



"These birds arrived in excellent health and condition and continue 

 so to the present day. I have them at my home under Mrs. Bennett's 

 care, which I considered would be better than sending them to the 

 Aviary in the Gardens; and fortunately Broughton is in Sydney in the 

 « Paramatta,' and I shall request him to take charge of them for you. 

 "The 'Paramatta' will leave for England early in February." 



Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S., made some remarks on the introduction 

 of the Ide (Leuciscus melanotus, var. or/us) into this country. 



The following papers were read : — 



] . On the Structure of the Skull and of the Heart of Meno- 

 branchus lateralis. By T. H. Huxley, Sec.R.S. 



[Eeceived March 17, 1874.] 



(Plates XXIX.-XXXII.) 



I. The Skull. 



In 1835, Mayer, in his ' Analecten fur vergleichende Anatomie,' 

 published a brief account of the anatomy of Menobranchus lateralis. 

 Under the head of "Osteologie" (p. 82), he remarks : — 



"The skull has a singular form, which results from the brevity of 

 the mandible and the direction of the long quadrate bone obliquely 



