10 MR. J. S. BUDGETT ON THE [ Jan. 20, 
At Canissa, about 100 miles north of Gondokoro, I changed 
into the ‘ Kaibar,’ the post-boat to Khartoum; then, passing 
through the sud region in three days, we came to the mouth of 
the Sobat and the land of the Shelluks. 
On my arival at Khartoum, I set to work to get Arab fisher- 
men and servants, fishing-tackle, provisions, &c., and returned in 
a few days to Fashoda. 
Here I made my final attack on the Polypterus problem. I had 
three species of Polypterus to work with, while material was 
fairly abundant. However, after several weeks’ work, I finally 
packed up my things, and disconsolately returned to England ; 
having got a good deal of side-light on the life and habits of 
Polypterus, having seen something of the Fauna and Flora of 
the most wonderful river in the world, but having again failed in 
my principal object—namely, to obtain the early stages in the 
development of Polypterus. 
In conclusion, I should like to say that, throughout the journey, 
I received at the hands of the Uganda and Sudan officials the 
most courteous and liberal assistance on all occasions. 
The following papers were read :— 
1. Note on the Spiracles of Polypterus. 
By J. 8. Bupezrr, M.A., F.Z.8. 
[Received January 19, 1903. ] 
On seeing a letter in ‘The Field’ for November 8th, 1902, by 
Mr. Boulenger, in which he says that, after observing Polypterus 
in captivity for more than a year, he had not been able to 
learn anything concerning the use of the spiracles to Polypterus, 
I determined to go over my former observations concerning these 
structures and see whether I had by chance been mistaken as to 
their use. 
I have in captivity a pair of Polypterus senegalus kept in an 
aquarium at a temperature of 75° to 80° F. They are quite 
tame and regularly take food from a fork. 
On December 2nd I watched them for one hour after feeding. 
While eating, the spiracles were repeatedly rapidly opened and 
closed, though not widely. The movement was apparently inde- 
pendent of other masticatory movements. Within the hour each 
of the pair came to the surface three times at irregular intervals. 
1. Specimen A came to the surface and gulped air with the 
mouth ; immediately after leaving the surface, two large 
bubbles of air were discharged from under the opercula. 
During the descent to the bottom the two spiracles slightly 
opened and from each a minute bubble of air issued. 
2. Specimen B performed the same movement, but no air was 
seen to issue from the spiracles. 
