183 Miscellanies. 



16. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History. Com- 

 piled from the Records of the Society, by Jeffries Wyman, M. D., 

 Recording- Secretary. 



Jan. 8, 1840. — Geo. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 



The President mentioned the fact that the brown rat had been found 

 at a distance from any habitation on Nantasket beach, burrowing in 

 the sand, and subsisting on clams ; the brown rat in these regions is 

 not generally known to make its habitat at a distance from that of 

 man. 



Mr. BouvE stated that he had met with the nest of the brown rat in 

 similar situations. 



Jan. 15, 1840. — Geo. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 



Mr. J. E. Teschemacher made a report on Dr. Jackson's Report 

 on the Geology of Maine. He alluded particularly to Dr. Jackson's 

 observations on the deflection of the diluvial current from its usual 

 N. and S. direction, as indicated by the scratches on the rocks ; these 

 deflections were attributed by Dr. J. to the influence of the surround- 

 ing elevations. There are instances in Dorchester, Mass., in which 

 the direction of the current was nearly E. and W. 



Dr. J. Wyman exhibited specimens of the Otion Cuvierii, Leach, 

 taken from the bottom of a ship recently returned from India ; they 

 were found in vast numbers, and measured from three to three and a 

 half inches in length. Dissections were also exhibited illustrating 

 the anatomy of the organs of digestion, generation^ and of the ner- 

 vous system ; the latter consists of a double nervous cord, extend- 

 ing the whole length of the animal, and on which may be seen 

 seven ganglia ; the two cords separate and form a ring around the 

 oesophagus, and at the point of union form a ganglion or brain, from 

 which are derived the nerves supplying the mouth and appendages. 

 The Otion and other Cirrhopoda, are arranged by Cuvier among the 

 Mollusks, but their nervous system approximates them to the Articu- 

 lata. 



Jan. 22, 1840. — Geo. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 



Dr. D. H. Storer read a letter from Mr. J. G. Anthony, of Cin- 

 cinnati, in which he states that the localities in and about Cincinnati 

 are unusually rich in species of shells. Within the circuit of ten 

 miles around that city, there are no less than seventy species of Unio, 

 five of Alasmodonta, six of Anodonta, thirty two of Helix, seven of 



