THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Peripatus has, then, been found in Gippsland, and also by Mr, 

 Ollifif in New South Wales. 



Mr. Caldwell has published the first part of his researches on 

 the embryology of our marsupials and monotremes in the pro- 

 ceedings of the Royal Society of London. He secured material 

 in Australia, which has enabled him to trace the growth of the 

 egg-membranes in these low types of mammals, and to institute 

 comparisons between these envelopes in the different classes of 

 vertebrates. It is curious that the shell-membrane of the 

 . platypus contains carbonate of lime, while that of the echidna 

 apparently does not. The segmentation in both monotremes 

 and marsupials is partial and telolecithal, thus connecting the 

 .group with the sauropsida. Further details and conclusions will 

 be awaited with much interest. 



An unexpected discovery has been recently made by Mr. K. 

 B Poulton It is also recorded in the Royal Society's proceed- 

 ings. He found true mammalian teeth, agreeing in disposition, 

 in histological details, and in development with those of higher 

 mammalia in the young platypus, beneath the site of the horny 

 plates, which subserve mastication in the adult animal. These 

 rudimentary teeth indica.te that the platypus is a degenerate 

 form of a higher type, and the presence of the functionally use- 

 less "marsupial bones," taken in conjunction with Mr. Cald- 

 well's results above alluded to, indicates that that higher form 

 was marsupial. It seems probable that a similar investigation of 

 the jaws of the young echidna would be rewarded with a like 

 ■discovery. 



The year has, then, been no barren one. Our knowledge is 

 growing, and the number of workers is increasing. An Asso- 

 ciation was formed, a few months ago, in Sydney, to undertake 

 for New South Wales the work which this Club has now 

 been engaged in for eight years in Victoria. We wish it 

 all success. The life-forms of Australia are but rarely 

 confined to any one colony, and union amongst workers 

 in all parts of the continent is essential if we are to obtain 



•comprehensive views of the affinities and distribution of 

 our peculiar groups of indigenous plants and animals. I 

 will conclude, therefore, by expressing my satisfaction — the 

 satisfaction, I think, of all of us — that in 1888 will be held the 

 first meeting of the Australian Association for the advancement 

 of Natural Science, and that henceforth there will be an 

 annual opportunity for our naturalists and men of science to ba 



-cheered and strengthened by intercourse with fellow-workers in 



-our sister colonies. 



D. M'Alpine, Esq., F.C.S,, delivered a lecturette on "The 

 -Movements of the Edible Mussel and its Various Parts," illus- 



