650 . REPORT — 1902. 



4. On Protective Resemblance in the Malay Peninsula. 

 By H. C. Robinson. 



5. Professor E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., exhibited .-—{V) Lantern Illustra- 

 tions of British Insects in their oiatural attitudes. (2) Three-colour 

 Lantern Slides of Mimicry, Protective Resemblance, Seasonal Forms 

 of Butterflies, &c., and opened a discussion on ^ The Interpretation of 

 such Phenomena by the Theory of Natural Selection.' 



6. Examples of Australian Fauna. By Thomas Steel, F.L.S. 



Mr. Steel exhibited and described a collection illustrative of Australian 

 zoology. It included a series of the Australian and South African Peripatus. 

 He showed an extensive series of land planariaus, having especial reference to 

 the variation in shape, coloration, and size amongst the difl'erent species. 



A complete series of embryos of Dasyurus was also shown, and among the 

 other niteresting objects were the mole-marsupial Notorocijtes typhlops and the 

 honey ant, Camjmnotus infatits. both from Central Australia, the ant showing 

 the condition of distension with honey under which the abdomen becomes so 

 inflated that the segments appear like plates attached to a balloon-like body. 



7. JVotes 071 a Specimen of the Pilot Whale (Globiocephalus melas). 

 By Professor R. J. Anderson, M.D. 



This whale, which has been examined by so many observers, is variously 

 described as regards dentition and colour. Murie in his classic figure gives the 

 prominent head as behind the level of the anterior pai-t of the muzzle. An 

 example of this creature drifted ashore at Eoshill, not far from the Round Tower, 

 Co. Qalway. The cause of the isolation became apparent on examination of the 

 carcass. An harpoon wound was seen near the tail root : this reached down to 

 the spinal column. The auimal escaped after being wounded and after a period 

 of wandering reached the west of Ireland and Galway Bay. The auimal remained 

 warm forty-eight hours after death. The length was 20 feet 6 inches. The 

 flippers are not so small proportionally as were those of some large specimens 

 described. Tlie dorsal tin is of the usual kind. The very prominent frontal 

 convexity reaches farther forwards than the muzzle, so that the mouth is below 

 a slight concavity overhung by a great convexity. 



The colour was whitish grey or dirty white. The leading whale has been 

 described as very dark in colour and a 'whole school as cream-coloured. The 

 presence of a fin distinguishes this animal from Beluga. A thin pellicle separated 

 soon from the rest of the epidermis, which was quite black beneath. 



Teeth twenty-eight, seven on each side, above, and below. Although this 



number seems large and unusual, Mr, Beddard fixes the limit at forty ^^~12, 



•^ 10—10 

 The peritoneum was expected to present some features of interest. The great 

 omentum reached far back, containing the small peritoneal cavity which com- 

 municates by a foramen of Winslow with the large peritoneal cavity. The 

 foramen of Winslow will admit the closed fist. A Globiocephalus examined by 

 myself some v ears ago showed no evident foramen of Winslow. It is evident 

 that a weighty peritoneal fold strengthened by a weighty blood-vessel or tube 

 might promote the formation of a foramen or even to the freeing of the tube, as 

 happens in some animals. Rathke noted the early absence of a mesentery in 

 some fishes, even at a very early age. The origin of the small sac was shown by 

 J. Miiller to be connected with the enlargement and turning over of the stomach. 

 It is possible that friction and the strong vascular cords may aid in producing this 



