SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 33 



A communication was read from Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, containing a 

 correction, with additional notes, upon the anatomy of the Trochilida, 

 CaprimulgidcB, and Cypselida. 



A communication was read from Dr. E. A. Philippi, containing a pre- 

 liminary notice of some of the Tortoises and Fishes of the coast of Chili. 



Mr. Sclater exhibited the head of, and made remarks upon an apparently 

 undescribed species of Gazelle from Somali-land. 



December 1, 1886.— Prof. W. H. Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, 

 in the chair. 



Prof. Bell exhibited and made remarks on a rare Entozoon, Tcenia nana, 

 from the human subject. 



Mr. Tegetmeier exhibited and made remarks on a pair of antlers of an 

 Elk, Alces machlis, said to have been recently obtained in the Galtee 

 mountains in Ireland. 



Mr. Frank E. Beddard read a paper on the development and structure 

 of the ovum in the Dipnoid fishes. The present communication was a 

 continuation of a research into the structure of the ovary in Protopterus. 

 The author, besides being able to give a more complete account of the 

 ovarian ova of Protopterus, was able to supplement this account with 

 some further notes respecting the structures observed in the ovary of 

 Ceratodus. 



Mr. A. Smith Woodward read a paper on the anatomy and systematic 

 position of the Liassic Selachian, Squaloraja polyspondyla. After a brief 

 notice of previous researches, the author attempted an almost complete 

 description of the skeletal parts of Squaloraja, as revealed by a fine series 

 of fossils in the British Museum. He confirmed Davies's determination of 

 the absence of the cephalic spine in certain individuals (presumably females), 

 and added further evidence of its prehensile character, suggesting also that 

 the various detached examples afforded indications of one or more new 

 species. The author concluded with some general remarks on the affinities 

 of the genus, and proposed to institute a new family, " Squalorajidse," which 

 might be placed near the Pristiophoridse and Rhinobatidse. 



Mr. Sclater pointed out the characters of an apparently new Parrot of 

 the genus Conurus, from a specimen living in the Society's Gardens. The 

 species was proposed to be called Conurus rubritorqiiis. 



Mr. F. Day communicated (on the part of Mr. J. Douglas Ogilby, of 

 the Australian Museum, Sydney) a paper on an undescribed fish of the 

 genus Pimelopterus from Port Jackson, New South Wales, proposed to be 

 named P. meridionalis. 



Mr. G. A. Boulenger read a paper on the South African Tortoises 

 allied to Testudo geometrica, and pointed out the characters of three new 

 species of this group, which he proposed to call Testudo trimeni, T. smithii, 



ZOOLOGIST. — JAN. 1887. I> 



