148 THE HON. PAUL A. METHUEN ON [Feb. 1. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. On a Collection of Freshwater Crustacea from the Trans- 

 vaal. By Paul A. Methuen, New College, Oxford *. 



[Received October 30, 1909.] 



(Plates VIII. -XVIII. t ; Text-figures 11 & 12.) 



Introduction. 



In the beginning of August 1908, I had the opportunity of 

 visiting the lake district of the Transvaal while out in that 

 country during the Oxford summer vacation. The lakes or 

 pans visited lie in the Carolina district due east of Pretoria 

 near the borders of Swaziland. My object was to study and 

 make as complete a collection of the Crustacean fauna as I could 

 in the time at my disposal. I made Chrissie my headquarters. 



Though not the highest point of the veldt, Lake Chrissie is 

 some 6000 feet above the sea-level, and is situated in a slight 

 hollow in the hills; in fact the word "pan" applied to these 

 pieces of water ideally expresses their chief feature, in that they 

 resemble shallow basins to be found in certain parts of the 

 undulating stretches of 'the veldt. The Ecca sandstone of the 

 Karroo formation characterises the geology of this district. At 

 the time I was there all the pans were very empty, some of 

 them had completely dried up. 



It was cold most of the time, especially during the nights. 



Lake Chrissie is about twelve miles in circumference ; on the 

 north side the lake is shallow and tends to deepen very gradually 

 towards the centre, where it was found to be five or six feet 

 deep ; approaching the southern margin, the tendency is to 

 deepen another foot or two and then to shallow rather rapidly. 

 Though there are no reeds, various weeds grow plentifully in 

 the shallows, especially in the northern parts. Many species 

 of wild-fowl frequent the western end of the lake where it has 

 of late years considerably receded, leaving mud flats behind. 

 Most conspicuous among the birds was the flamingo, whose 

 contrasting colours of black and crimson when . on the wing 

 were most striking towards sunset. The bottom of the lake is 

 composed of fine mud. The water was very discoloured, owing 

 to a great extent, I presume, to the activity of the large number 

 of birds on it, and savoured strongly of wild-fowl. 



It was in the shallow littoral water that I found the Ento- 

 mostraca described in this paper, the Ostracoda on the muddy 

 bottoms, the Cladocera and Copepoda a little farther out among 

 the weeds. A small species of Barbel (Barbus anophcs Max 



* Communicated by Prof. G. C. Bouene, D.Sc, F.Z.S. 

 f For explanation of the Plates see pp. 165 & 166. 



