358 MR. E. L. LAYARD ON THE GENUS STENOGYRA. [Juue 19, 



I regret to have no further stages in the life-history of this Grega- 

 riue ; I have not yet seen any evidence of sporulation, except in the 

 division of the nucleus. I propose, however, to publish a fuller 

 description later, when I may perhaps have succeeded in discovering 

 the formation of spores. 



I think it is clear that this organism is a Sporozoon, and that it 

 belongs to the Gregarinidse ; I refer it to the true Gregarines on 

 account of its general form, the nature of the granules in the pro- 

 toplasm, &c. But the cyst is quite unlike anything that has been 

 recorded in a Gregarine'. On the other hand, in the Myxosporidia 

 cysts are met with which are nucleated, and probably therefore 

 formed pathologically by the tissues in vyhich the parasite lives. 



Juue 19, H 



Prof. Flower, C.B., LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. 



A letter was read addressed to the President by Dr. Emin Pasha, 

 dated Tunguru Island (Lake Albert), October 31st, 1887, announcing 

 the despatch of further collections of natural-history objects, and 

 promising for the Society some notes on European migratory birds 

 observed in that country. 



The following extract from a letter addressed by Mr. E. L. Layard, 

 F.Z.S., H.B.M. Consul at Noumea, New Caledonia, to Mr. J. 

 Ponsonby, F.Z.S., concerning the distribution of some Land-shells 

 of the genus Stenogyra, was read : — 



"Mr. Garrett's remarks (P. Z. S. 1887, p. 18o) on the distribution 

 of Stenogyra tuckeri remind me to tell you that be wished me to 

 communicate to the Zoological Society the fact that the West-Indian 

 species, S. octona, has suddenly turned up here in thousands ; how 

 introduced none can tell. They are on a coffee-estate at Kanala on 

 the East Coast, about halfway to the north end of the island. I 

 have made inquiries, and cannot learn that Mons. Evain (presumably 

 tlie planter) ever had anv seed coffee from the West Indies. All he 

 planted came from Bourbon, and it would be interesting to find out 

 whether the species has appeared there also. Mons. Evain's nephew, 

 vyho collects shells, found it here, and gave it to me as a fine example 

 of 8. sotiverbiei, our native species. I recognized it at once ; but he 

 was much astonished on being shown wiiat it was. He says it is in 

 thousands. Garrett said that this fact might throw light on the 

 distribution of the other species. I have always maintained that 

 there was no diff'erence between 8. souverbiei, S. artenois, 8. tuckeri, 



^ Waldenburg (Arch. Path. Anat. 1862) speaks of a miclcafcd cjsi-mexnhrtme in 

 certain Gregarines of the Earthworm. Biitschli, however (Broun's ' Thiei-reich,' 

 Protozoa, p. 536, note) is disinclined to believe in Waklenburg's statement. It 

 may be that Waldenburg has found cysts in Lumbricus like those of Pcrichcsta 

 described here. 



