296 



served in healthy living birds of all the leading carinate forms, and pointed 

 out that there is a certain correlation between particular styles of imbrication 

 and various other characteristics connected with the pterylosis, the myology, 

 the visceral anatomy and osteology of the birds in question. The paper con- 

 cluded with some observations upon the origin of the features described. — 

 A. communication was read from Dr. Günther, F.R.S., containing some 

 further information on the melanotic variety of the South-African Leopard 

 which he had previously described. — P. L. Sclater, Secretary. 



2. Linnean Society of London. 



1 5th April 1886. Specimens of so called Madrepore Marble from Iowa (U.S.) 

 were shown for Mr. G. A. Treadwell, the abundance of Stromatopora 

 giving the specimens in question a peculiar character, — A paper was read 

 on New African Genera and Species of Curculionidae by Mr. Francis 

 P. Pas eoe. The author remarks that the localities from which the greater 

 part of the species described by him were derived are, so to say, new to 

 scientists. They are Momboia a missionary station north of Lake Nyassa, 

 Landana a new settlement on the Congo, and Mayotte one of the Comoro 

 islands of Madagascar. Mr. Pasco e admits that Entomological Littérature 

 is now so extensive that possibly some of his own supposed new species may 

 already be known ; but the difficulty on his part may be more openly due to 

 the inadequate descriptions without any reference to affinities or diagnostic 

 characters given by some Entomologists. He is inclined to think that precise 

 diagnosis and considerations of affinity are often of more importance than 

 the mere descriptions themselves. He states that there is probably no famuy 

 of insects in which greater diversity of appearance in the same genus is to 

 be found than in the Curculionidae. Species the most dissimilar are not to 

 be separated by any characters which are usually deemed to be of generic 

 value, and in extreme cases we have to fall back on secondary characters 

 which after all may be quite as natural. On the other hand species which 

 are very much alike in appearance are found to belong to widely difi'erent 

 groups ; while again the absence in many cases of any correlation between 

 the characters makes the classification difficult, and necessitates an undesirable 

 but unavoidable number of genera if anything like definiteness is to be 

 maintained, under the present conditions of insect nomenclature. — An 

 important Contribution tho the Natural History of the Roraima district, 

 British Guiana was read by E. J. im Thurn, the Vegetation, however, being 

 more largely dealt with. — J. M urie. 



IV. Personal -Notizen. 



Necrolog. 



Am 28. Februar starb bei Edinburgh Herr Charles William Peach, 

 ein um die Kenntnis der britischen Fauna der Jetztzeit und der Vorzeit 

 äußerst verdienter Mann, 86 Jahre alt. 



Am 28. Februar starb in Löwen Prof. Charl. J. Éd. Morren, der be- 

 währte Botaniker, dessen Untersuchungen über Lumbriciden ihm aber auch 

 eine ehrenvolle Stellung unter den Zoologen sichern. 



Druck von Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig. 



