576 Miscellaneous. 
glad to learn from Mr. Farie the exact locality of his specimen. 
Epir. | 
Criona, REcENT AnD Fosstu.—The Clionais a burrowing sponge, 
found in sea-shells in all parts of the world, and in fossil shells of 
the Chalk and Tertiary formations. The species of Cliona may be 
distinguished by the form of the spicula, and in the earlier stages of 
growth, by the patterns of their burrows. The pattern is well seen 
in thin translucent shells, like the window-oyster (Placuna). Casts 
of the burrows of Cliona are common in cavities of flints (formed 
by the dissolution of the shells of Belemnites and Inoceramus from 
the chalk. The Cliona is very destructive to oyster banks, mining 
the shells until they fall in pieces.—S.P.W. 
Toe Eee or Dinornis.—Mr. J. C. Stevens (the well-known 
Natural History Agent) has lately received from New Zealand an 
almost perfect egg of the great extinct wingless bird, the ‘ Moa’ or 
Dinornis. 'The egg is about ten inches in length, and seven inches 
in breadth, the shell being of a dirty brownish colour, and about 
1-12th of an inch in thickness. According to the Wellington papers, 
the egg was discovered in digging the foundation of a house at Kai- 
Koras, enclosed in a small mound, supposed to be a native burying- 
place, as a human skeleton, buried in a sitting posture, was found 
within the grave holding the egg in its hands. It would have been 
more satisfactory, we think, if the skeleton—especially the skull— 
had been brought to this country with the egg. This interesting 
oological relic was offered for public sale on November 24th, by Mr. 
J. C. Stevens. <A bond fide bid of £115 was actually made, but it 
was bought in at £125. We fear our countrymen in New Zealand 
have somewhat over-estimated its market value. 
PRESENTATION OF THE Royat Society’s Gotp Mepat.—At the 
Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society on the 30th November, 
the President presented the gold medal of the Society to Joseph 
Prestwich, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. (Treasurer of the Geological Society 
of London), for his valuable researches in the Quaternary Deposits 
of France and England, the results of which have already appeared 
in the Philosophical Transactions, Part I. 1859, Part II. 1864.* It 
is in these ancient river-drifts and gravels that the earliest remains 
of Prehistoric Man have been found preserved. Mr. Prestwich’s 
labours in the exploration of these deposits have thrown much addi- 
tional light upon that most interesting question of our time—the 
Antiquity of the Human Race. 
OBITUARY. 
We regret to record the death of Mr. Lovell Reeve, on the 18th 
November, after thirteen months’ severe illness. Mr. Reeve was a 
Fellow of the Linnzan Society, and was well known, not only as a 
publisher, but also as an author of numerous and valuable contribu- 
tions to the Natural History of the Mollusca. 
* See Grorocican Macazine, January 1865, p. 19, 
