319 



the name of Felis pardus tulliana. — A third communication from Mr. R. 

 Lydekker related to the former existence of a Sirenian of some kind in St. 

 Helena, which had been noticed by former observers in that island, but to 

 which no reference had been made by recent authors. — Mr. F. E. Beddar d, 

 F.R.S., read a paper on the brain of the Capybara [Hydro'hoerus capyhara) 

 based on examination of specimens in the Society s Gardens. — Mr. Beddard 

 also read a paper, prepared by himself and Miss Sophie M. Fedarb, contain- 

 ing notes on the anatomy of the Worms Perichaeta hiserialis and its variations 

 and Trichochaeia /lesperidum. — Dr. Woods Hutchinson read a paper on 

 the Zoological Distribution of tuberculosis from observations made mainly 

 in the Societys Gardens. Of 215 autopsies made in the Prosector's Room 

 during the past six months, 49 presented the lesions of tuberculosis, i.e. 

 25,3 per cent, of the Mammals and Birds. This mortality fell most heavily 

 upon the Ruminants and Gallinae , and least so upon the Carnivores and 

 Raptors. Race or family appeared to exert little influence upon susceptibi- 

 lity, mode of housing only a small amount, and food and food-habits much 

 more. A close correspondence appeared to exist between immunity and the 

 relative size of the heart in both Birds and Mammals. — A communication 

 was read from Dr. A. G. Butler containing an account of a small collection 

 — consisting of 19 specimens — of Butterflies sent home from Muscat by 

 Lt.-Col. A. S. G. Jayakar. — Dr. J. W. Gregory, F.Z.S., read a paper con- 

 taining an account of the West-Indian species of Corals of the genus Madre- 

 pora. — A communication was read from Marquis Ivera on the Black Roe- 

 deer of Hanover. — P. L. Sclater, Secretary. 



2. Linnean Society of New South Wales. 



May 31st, 1SS9. — 1) Revision of the Australian C?/rc?Jion?V/ae belonging 

 to the Subfamily Cryptorhynchides. Part iii. By Arthur M. Lea. A natural 

 group of genera associated with Melanierius are dealt with in this paper. 

 Eight genera and fifty-five species are described, of which four genera and 

 forty-one species are new. Three genera and six species belonging to the 

 group are unknown to the writer. — 2) Anthropological. — 3) Description of 

 a supposed new Pardalote, its Nest and Eggs. By Robert Hall. (Commu- 

 nicated by the Secretary.) The bird described as P. gracilis turns out to be 

 P. assimilis^ Ramsay, not previously recorded from Victoria, and with less 

 white on the primaries than might be expected from Sharpes remarks in 

 Cat. Brit. Mus. Birds X. Also no detailed description of P. assimilis has yet 

 been published, and moreover it varies in the amount of white on the pri- 

 maries. I wish therefore to prevent the name P. gracilis from going any 

 further. The matter will be referred to in the next abstract. — Mr. Percy 

 E. Williams exhibited the stalked and ribbed cocoon of Lewin's Case-Moth 

 [ClaniaLeioinii, Westw., fam. Psychidae] found on an Angophora, to the ribbed 

 capsules of which the cocoon bears in many respects a striking resemblance. 

 — Mr. Rainbow exhibited a small quantity of silk spun by spiders of the 

 genus Nephila, Leach, and drew attention to its great strength. Native birds, 

 like Zosterops^ are often caught in the webs of these spiders, and hang there 

 until the wind and weather have reduced them to absolute skeletons. — Mr. 

 Edgar R. Wait e communicated Notes on the reported occurrence of Croco- 

 dilus porosns in Fiji, and of the lizard Brachylophus in the Friendly Islands. 



