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peranco and Morality," in 1819 ; a Poem on "the Spirit of 

 Free Masonry'' in 1831 ; a Poem, on the occasion of the 

 the Centennial Celebration in Danvers, on the 16th of June, 

 1852 ; &c. ; — also several articles on medical subjects, which 

 have appeared in the different medical journals. 



May the memory of these gentlemen be long preserved ; — 

 and may the remembrance of their virtues, their enthusiasm 

 and their zeal for science, serve to stimulate us to renewed 

 exertions in the cause in which we are now engaged. 



Mr. F. W. Putnam read a communication from Dr. David 

 F. Weinland, of Cambridge, Mass.,;'on the Egg-Tooth of 

 the Snakes and Lizards,|as follows: 



In the year 1853, I had an opportunity of studying the 

 embryology of the European Ring Snake, ( Tropidonotus 

 natrix, Kuhl.) having found, in the beginning of August, some 

 four or five dozen of her eggs. I watched the development of the 

 embryos, opening the eggs from day to day. On the 26th of Aug. 

 while looking over the eggs, I was surprised to find, in many of 

 them, a long sharp slit through their thick leathery shell, not 

 at all torn by the pressing of the embryo from within, as one 

 would suppose, but, as I saw clearly enough, cut as if by a 

 sharp knife. I took out the embryo and sought for a tubercle 

 on the top of the snout, remembering the horny wart of the 

 young chicken for the same purpose ; but there was nothing to 

 be found. While I was holding the little snake in my hand, it 

 scratched my finger, and thus disclosed its cutting instrument 

 — a single, very sharp and rather broad tooth, protruding a 

 little way, nearly horizontally from the upper jaw (Fig. 1. b.) 

 This tooth was about one millimeter (about 4-100 of an inch) 

 lono;, and half as broad, fixed in a socket in the middle of the 

 intermaxillary bone, which bears no other tooth. This two 

 edged shovel -like knife projected a quarter, sometimes a half of 

 a millimeter from the upper jaw, as the diamond of the glazier 

 does from its handle. To a shovel it bears the additional 

 resemblance of being concave above, convex below. The lower 

 convex part is swelled up about the middle, resembling a bowl, 

 which makes the odd profile view of the tooth (Fig. 5.) The 

 two lower corners of it are generally rounded. Below and on 

 the sides, the margin is sharp, cutting and transparent, while 

 the thicker centre, containing the pulp of the tooth, is yellowish 

 and dark. I have made a microscopical preparation of the egg 



