592 
fear, and are said to be rapidly exterminating this interesting relic, so that 
on the mainland it is becoming very scarce. — Professor Stephens also 
exhibited two specimens of Pennatulidae from Burrard’s Inlet, Victoria, Bri- 
tish Columbia. ‘These were brought to Sydney by Captain Barnes, of the 
»Pacific Slope«, who had obtained them from the natives. They are said to 
bear their polypiferous heads just at the surface of the water. One of the 
specimens was 71/5, the other 5 feet in length, but as they consisted of 
little more than the slender and cylindrical rachis, curiously like a dry osier 
twig peeled ready for the basket-maker, it is not possible to identify them 
with any described form. This exhibit was due to the kindness of A.A. 
Smith, Esq. — Mr. H. Rawes W hittell exhibited some specimens of 
Tacsonia Exonensis, showing the manner in which the honey is extracted by 
the Spine-billed Honey-eater — <Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris Lath. He sta- 
ted that W.S. Cambpell, Esq., of Gladesville, to whose kindness he was 
indebted for this exhibit, informed him that he had often seen this bird en- 
gaged in the operation of extracting the honey. He had also frequently seen 
it devouring large numbers. of the common white ant. The flower is a hy- 
brid raised in England, and first imported to this colony by Mr. Camp- 
bell. — The President [C. S. Wilkinson, Government Geologist] exhi- 
hited some specimens of fossil insects found in the tin-bearing tertiary deep 
leads near Vegetable Creek, New England. This is the second discovery of 
fossil insects in Australia, and the specimens show the impressions of larvae 
and pupae of Ephemera or »May fly. — A fossil coral (Cyathophyllum sp.), 
from the carboniferous rocks, near Jervis Bay, was exhibited on behalf of 
the Hon. Jas. Norton. 
2. Notiz. 
Herr Dr. A. Ziegler in Freiburg i. B. hat mit der meisterhaften 
Geschicklichkeit, welche alle von ihm gefertigten Wachsmodelle 
auszeichnet, neuerdings eine vortrefflich gelungene Serie von Modellen 
hergestellt, welche die wichtigsten Stadien in der Entwicklung der 
Asterina gibbosa (im AnschluB an meine Abhandlung in der Zeitschr. 
f. wiss. Zool. 36. Bd.) zum Gegenstande haben. Die Serie umfaBt im 
Ganzen 11 Modelle, welche mit Ausnahme eines einzigen, paarweise 
in der Art zusammengehören, daß das eine Modell die äußere Gestalt, 
das andere die wichtigsten anatomischen Verhältnisse des betreffenden 
Stadiums wiedergibt. Das Verständnis derselben wird durch die ver- 
schiedenen Farbentône der einzelnen Organe wesentlich gefordert. 
Obschon die Serie bereits auf der letzten Naturforscher-Versammlung 
in Freiburg i. B. von Herrn Dr. Ernst Ziegler demonstrirt worden 
ist, möchte ich auch noch an dieser Stelle auf dieses ausgezeichnete 
Unterrichtsmittel aufmerksam machen. 
GieBen, 22. October 1883. i 
Prof. H. Ludwig. 
Druck von Breitkopf & Hartel in Leipzig. 
