335 



interesting spesies had been procured, which were either new to science or 

 to the fauna of the island. Among the former, which numbered 11, were, 

 mentioned a splendid Silver Pheasant, a remarkable Night-Heron, and a 

 peculiar brown-and-white Jay of the genus Urocissa. The paper contained 

 a complete account of the avifauua of Hainan as known at the present 

 time. — Mr. Philip Crowley, F.Z.S., read a paper on the Rhopalocera 

 collected by the late Mr. John Whitehead on the Five-Finger Mountains in 

 the interior of Hainan. Specimens of 108 species were contained in the 

 collection, of which 8 were described as new, and many others were recorded 

 from that island for the first time. — Mr. J. S. Budgett, F.Z.S. , read a 

 ■paper entitled "Some Points in the Anatomy of Polypterus", as deduced 

 from an examination of specimens lately procured by the author in the 

 River Gambia. The urinogenital organs of the male and female Polypterus 

 were described in detail; those of the male, it was believed, for the first time, 

 while the description now given of the genital ducts in the female did not 

 entirely agree with those of previous writers. The later stages in the for- 

 mation of these organs were also described, and it was shown that the con- 

 dition found in the Ganoid Lepidosleus, where the products of the testis are 

 carried away by the tubules of the kidney, was not primitive. Some new 

 points of interest in the vascular system were communicated, and reasons 

 were given for not regarding the external gill of Polypterus as homologous 

 with the hyoidean pseudobranch of Acipenser, but rather with the external 

 gill of the Dipnoi and the Amphibia. The formation of the abdominal pores 

 of Polypterus was also described, and the use of the enlarged anal fin of the 

 male in the breeding-season was discussed. — Mr. G. A. B oui enger gave 

 a list of the Fishes collected by Mr. J. S. Budgett, F.Z.S. , during his recent 

 expedition to the Gambia. Among these were examples of two new species, 

 which were proposed to be named Clarius Budgelti and Synodontis ocellifer. 

 Altogether specimens of 42 species of Fishes were obtained by Mr. Budgett 

 from the river. — P. L. Sclater, Secretary. 



2. Linnean Society of New South Wales. 



March 28th, 1900. — 1) Descriptions of new Australian Lepidoptera 

 By Oswald B. Lower. Thirty-nine species, referable to the families Syn- 

 tomididœ, Caradrinidœ , Ocneridœ, Selidosemidœ , Psychidee, Zeuzeridœ, Œco- 

 j)horidœ, Gelechiadce, and Plutellidce are described. — 2) Descriptions of two- 

 new Lepidoptera (Rhopalocera) from New South Wales. By G. A. Water- 

 house. A species of Ogyris from Como, near Sydney, and one of Hesp ertila, 

 from Mount Kembla, are described. The sexes of the former correspond in 

 the same way as do those of 0. abrota. The second insect is allied to 

 H. pietà, Leach. — 3) Botanical. — 4) On the Skeleton of the Snout and 

 Os carunculae of the Mammary Foetus of Monotremes. By Professor 

 J. T. Wilson, M.B., Ch.M. For the research three specimens were utili- 

 sed. One was the fcetal Ornithohynchus, whose external characters were 

 described by the writer in a previous paper before the Society. Another 

 was a more advanced specimen of Ornithorhynchus, whilst the third was an 

 Echidna of about the same stage as the earlier of Professor W. N. Parker's 

 specimens. All the stages were more advanced than those of Echidna lately 

 investigated by Seydel. Wax-plate reconstructions of the anterior snout 



