Proceedings of the British Association. 359 



forming a distinct genus from Phoca, and described by him in the 

 year 1820. It had been previously recorded by Fabricius, under 

 the name o? Phoca gryphus. It is common in the Baltic and North 

 sea, and to be met with in Iceland, and attains a size of eight feet 

 in length. In Sweden it was emphatically termed the sea seal in 

 contradistinction to those which inhabited gulfs. He remarked that 

 the name of Phoca vitulina had been applied by Linnaeus, and sub- 

 sequent authors, to three distinct species, to which he had himself 

 given the names o^ barbata, variegata, and annellata. Of these he 

 had ascertained that a specimen captured in the Severn, and now in 

 the Bristol Institution, belonged to the annellata. — Dr. Scoular re- 

 marked that the species which Prof. Nilsson had identified as his 

 RaliochcErus griseus, predominated in Ireland over the Phoca vitu- 

 lina, though it had been hitherto neglected ; and that the great dif- 

 ference in the teeth of these species, justly entitled them to be con- 

 sidered as forming distinct genera. — Dr. Riley exhibited the stomach 

 of the specimen alluded to, as having been caught in the Severn, in 

 which he had found from thirty to forty pebbles, and states that other 

 instances had occurred of a similar nature ; and that it was a popular 

 notion that they assisted the seal in the way of ballast whilst catching 

 his prey, which it did by rising vertically upwards, and seizing it 

 from below. But Sir Francis Mackenzie then asserted that he had 

 repeatedly seen the seal chase salmon into the nets, and that it was 

 not usual for it to capture its prey in the way described. Neither 

 he nor Prof. Nilsson, nor Mr. Ball, had ever found stones In the 

 stomach of this animal. 



Dr. Hancock read a paper on a new species of Norantea, from 

 Guiana, termed by the natives Corocoromibi. 



Mr. Hope exhibited a remarkable specimen of the Lncanus came- 

 lus, Fabr., from North America, the right side of which had the 

 configuration of the male, and the left of the female sex. 



Mr. Hope read a communication, expressive of the probability 

 that some of the early notions of antiquity were derived from observ- 

 ations made on the habits of insects. 



Mr. P. Duncan offered a few remarks upon the subject of Mr. 

 Hope's speculations. 



Mr. G. Webb Hall commented on the effects of lime as vari- 

 ously applied to different soils. 



