303 
G. French Angas during a recent visit to the island of Dominica. The 
number of species in this collection was 27, among them being a species of 
Nymphalinae apparently new; this the authors proposed to describe as Cyma- 
togramma dominicana. — Mr. Herbert Druce read a paper describing the 
Heterocera collected by Mr. Angas on the same island. — P. L. Sclater, 
Secretary. 
2. Linnean Society of London. 
1th May; 1884. — Mr. S. O. Ridley exhibited drawings of the spi- 
culation of Sponges collected and forwarded by Dr. W.C. Ondaatje F.L.S. 
of Ceylon, sections of which had been shown and remarks made upon them 
at a previous meeting of the Society. Mr. Ridley also exhibited highly 
finished coloured sketches of Ceylonese Actiniae drawn from life by Dr. On- 
daatje. — Prof. J. Bell afterwards pointed out the chief characteristics of 
a set of drawings of Comatulids taken from the living specimens as obtained 
by Dr. Ondaatje from the seas of Ceylon. — Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe read 
a paper von a Collection of Birds from the Bahr el Ghazal province and the 
Nyam-Nyam country in Equatorial Africac. The author noted the presence 
of many species in this Herr Bondorffs collection of birds hitherto believed 
by ornithologists to be limited to West Africa only. This applied to these 
shot in the Nyam-Nyam country; whereas those species from the Bahr Gha- 
zal and adjoining nilotic district were well known inhabitants of N. East 
Africa and the Senegambian area. From this Mr. Sharpe deduces that Herr 
Bondorff had crossed the boundary line of two faunas, and that the animals 
of the Nyam-Nyam region assimilate to those of the Gaboon and Congo 
territory rather than to the Lado district or that of Kordofan. This change 
in the fauna is attributed by Bondorff to the nature of the country from 
swamp and low lying grassy plains on the east to more hilly and drier forest- 
land on the West. Mr. Sharpe follows Hartlaub’s classification as adopted 
by the latter in his record of Emin Bey’s Collections from Equatorial Africa. 
Mr. Sharpe further gives descriptions of new species with remarks on little 
known birds over some 27 in all. Of new forms he cites Crateropus Bon- 
dorffi, Sigmodus griseimentalis, Mesopicus strictothorax, Ceuthmochares inter- 
medius, Pionias Bondorffi, Syrnium fervidum, Falco ruficollis and others as 
of considerable significance in relation to faunal distribution. — Mr. George 
Brook read a »Preliminary account of the development of the Weever fish 
(Trachinus vipera)«, in this mentioning that the eggs had been laid in his 
aquarium at Huddersfield, the fish themselves having been kept alive therein 
over two years. He drew attention to the fact of there being a vitelline 
membrane present in the eggs of this fish, as well as in those of the Herring: 
in contradistinction therefore to what is stated to be the case in osseous 
fishes generally. He also particularly referred to the persistent nature of the 
segmentation cavity, which is pushed round the yolk sac, concurrent with 
the development of the embryo from the blastoderm: and that it does not 
entirely disappear until the yolk is absorbed. The circulatory system, accor- 
ding to Mr. Brook’s researches, is very late in developing, no bloodvessels 
appearing until several days after hatching. In illustration of his paper the 
author exhibited under the microscope preparations showing the segmen- 
tation stage, the embryonic shield and commencement of keel, the early 
embryo 3° day before closure of the blastopore, and 4 day blastopore with 
