336 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— D. 



Equipment is a relatively simple affair. 



The general principles to be borne in mind in the arrangement of a course of 

 biology for school children from twelve to sixteen years of age, as suggested in a 

 recently published memorandum drawn up by a joint committee of teachers in 

 schools and universities, are brought before the meeting for discussion. 



Mr. H. N. Kidley. — Fifteen Years in a Tropical Zoological Garden. 



The menagerie of Singapore Botanic Gardens was based on a small nucleus of 

 animals which the author found there in 1888 when he took charge of the Gardens. 

 These were increased until at various times there was a collection of almost all the 

 most remarkable mammals, birds and reptiles of the Malay region. Not only 

 attractive to visitors, the collection gave an opportunity of observing the habits and 

 life-histories of many animals of which little was known ; accounts are given of observa- 

 tions on the most interesting ones. Among these are the Anthropoid Apes, the Mias 

 (Simla satyrus) and the Gibbon (Uylobates agilis) and its remarkable singing powers ; 

 the defence of the feeble Slow Loris (Nycticebus) by its poisonous bite ; the habits, 

 language and life-history of the smaller monkeys (ilacacus); the liquid blood require- 

 ments of the tiger, the cause of its ferocious attacks on human beings and cattle ; the 

 cryptic colouring of the tapir both in young and adult pelage, the feeding of this 

 animal and the rhinoceros and other forest ungulates as of importance in the dispersal 

 of tree-seeds in the forests ; and some account of the methods of capture of prey by the 

 larger serpents is also given. 



Tuesday, September 6. 



Dr. Kathleen E. Carpenter. — On the Survival of some Ice-age Relics 

 in the Freshwater Fauna of Cardiganshire. 

 The Turbellaria-Tricladida of the Aberystwyth area include three species of 

 particular interest : of these, Planaria albissima Vejd., hitherto known only from 

 Bohemia, is remarkably abundant in this area. Two others, Planaria alpina (Dana) 

 and Polycelis cornuta (Johnson), are well known on the European Continent as glacial 

 relicts, surviving on the high Alps and sporadically in the cold stenothermic waters 

 of mountain brooks in the Taunus, Harz, Eifel, &c. Both species occur in Cardigan- 

 shire streams as low as the tidal limit, and neither has been found on the high plateau 

 above 1,250 feet. These apparent anomalies are to be understood with reference 

 on the one hand to the geological history of the area, on the other to modifications 

 in physiology and habit whereby the life-cycle is adapted to withstand a temperate 

 clirdate. 



Mr. E. Percival and Mr. H. Whitehead. — Methods for the Quantitative 

 Examination of the Fauna of Some Types of Stream Bed. 



Nature of stream bed — stones without plants in rapid current, stones with moss 

 and with filamentous algae, beds with phanerogams, gravel. Definite areas sampled. 

 The material is sieved, genera and species determined where possible and individuals 

 counted. From the data obtained it is possible to determine the density of the 

 population, the actual and the relative occurrence of species and the constitution of 

 the fauna in each sample. It has been found that the density of the population 

 varies largely with the nature of the substratum. Greater numbers occur with plant 

 growth ; smallest numbers are found among stones liable to movement and among 

 bare stones. The presence of fine deposit on stones is correlated with an increase in 

 number and variety of population. 



Analyses of samples show the insect fauna in the regions examined generally to 

 constitute more than 50 per cent, of the total. Of these the Diptera, mainly Chirono- 

 niidse, are the most widely distributed and most abundant organisms. The Tri- 

 choptera and Ephemeroptera together equal the Diptera in number. Oligochaeta 

 come next in abundance to the insects, and the Mollusca follow. The main mass of 

 the bottom population is vegetarian. 



Mr. J. W. Taylor. — Upon the Geographical Range of the Mollusca and other 



Organisms and the Causes influencing their Dispersal. 



The dispersion of life over the globe is not an erratic and irregular process, or due 

 to chance, but is governed by laws which are applicable to every form of life. A 



