328° Miscellaneous. 
instantaneously, sticking to the fingers in a very disagreeable 
manner; it has a strong odour, resembling that of peaches, . 
and affects very disagreeably the mucous membrane of the 
nostrils, causing a strong itching. 
Phyllomedusa dacnicolor, Cope. 
The size of this species was believed to be that of Hyla 
arborea. Several specimens, brought home by Mr. Forrer, 
show that it attains to a very large size, viz. 83 millim. from 
snout to vent. The habits are those of Hyla cerulea, which 
this frog resembles in size, general porportions, and colour. 
The faculty of opposing the inner finger and toe is conspicu- 
ous, though less so than in the typical species of Phyllome- - 
dusa. The colour of the upper parts is normally bright 
green, but rapidly changes to olive or brown; white dots are 
scattered on the flanks; the lower parts are pure white; the 
two inner fingers, the three inner toes, the lower surface of 
the hands and feet, and the sides of the limbs are yellowish 
pink. The iris is black, vermiculated with gold; a golden 
line borders the vertical pupil. The nictitating lid is veined 
with gold, and the lower eyelid completely opaque, green. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
On the Seauality of the Common Oyster (Ostrea edulis) and that of 
the Portuguese Oyster (O. angulata). Artificial Fecundation of the 
Portuguese Oyster. By M. Boucnon-BranpEty. 
Twenty or twenty-five years ago the Portuguese oyster, which is 
indigenous to the Tagus, did not exist on the coasts of France. It 
has been acclimatized in our waters quite accidentally. A ship 
coming from Portugal, having suffered damage, had to discharge its 
cargo in order to undergo repair. The oysters which it carried were 
thrown into the Gironde, upon the old Banc de Richard. Meeting 
there with conditions favourable to their propagation, they multi- 
plied at such a rate that from Pointe de Grave to Richard, over an 
extent of from 25 to 30 kilometres, they now form a vast bed, the 
breadth of which will soon be limited only by the banks of the 
river. 
The sexuality of this oyster differs essentially from that of the 
other kinds of oysters common to our waters, of which the most 
wide-spread is Ostrea edulis: this is hermaphrodite, as Lacaze-Du- 
thiers, Coste, Davaine, Mobius, Eyton, Hart, and many others have 
proved. Is it a self-sufficing hermaphrodite? With respect to 
