60 



relation witli the lophophore of a Hippocrepian Polyzoon. As we 

 ascend to the Brachiopoda, we behold with interest the increasing 

 prominence and enlargement of the haemal valve, and at the same 

 time a more hmlted movement of the palpi, which, in the lower forms, 

 can be extended free of the cell ; but as we apjsroach Terebratula 

 through Lingula, we observe less mobihty of the haemal valve, and a 

 restricted movement of the brachial arms. Let us examine Lingula, 

 which is quite long, flat, and broad, and we find the mouth pointing 

 toward the open part of the valves, as in the Polyzoa, on each side of 

 which is coiled a brachial ai-m identical with the lophophore of Poly- 

 zoa in junction and position. We find the intestine also running 

 parallel with the sides of the body, at its posterior portion becoming 

 convoluted and terminating on the right side, the straight part pro- 

 ducing a curve arching toward the haemal valve and surmounted by a 

 heart as we witness in most Lamellibranchiata ; showing clearly in 

 this view alone its homological identity with the Lamellibranchiata. 

 In Terebratula the curvature of the intestine is still greater, as the 

 shell is made shorter and more inflated, and consequently the mouth 

 is forced back to admit room for the coiled brachial arms, and the 

 intestine is seen abruptly bent in an almost vertical plane, arching 

 toward the htemal valve, and apjoarently trending across the body 

 from one valve to another. 



The limits of this jJaper will not allow us to carry homologies from 

 this point to the other two classes of mollusca, and in fact it would be 

 hardly necessary to do so, as the path is rendered apparent and plain 

 through the medium of Lamellibranchiates. 



Mr. T. T, Bouve exhibited a poisonous snake, which had 

 been taken alive from a pile of wood brought from the west 

 coast of Africa more than a year ago. 



Mr. F. W. Putnam stated that it was a poisonous snake be- 

 longing to the genus Elaps. It was a representative of a 

 species that he had never seen before. It differed from the 

 Elaps fulvius of the Southern States by the greater num- 

 ber and smaller size of the black rings on the body. There 

 have been several species of the genus described from South 

 America. 



Mr. Putnam made a few remarks upon snakes in general, 

 saying that he had of late been Engaged in cataloguing the 

 Reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoology; and that 

 in the course of this work he had found it necessary to make 

 several changes in the classification of North American 

 snakes, as given by Messrs. Baird and Girard in their cata- 



