Wellington Philosophical Society. 535 



3. " Note on a ciiriotis Duplication of Tnsks in the common wild Pig 

 (Sus scrofa),'" by A. Hamilton. 



My attention "was drawn the other day to a curious jaw, with double 

 tusks, of a pig that had been killed at the Waipapa Creek, near Mohaka. 

 As will be seen by the accompanying sketch the development has not been 

 symmetrical, the two tusks on the left side being of normal shape, and 

 measuring from tip to insertion, three inches, and total length seven and 

 three-quarter niches. 



On the right side the lower tusk is only two inches from point to 

 insertion, but the basal portion has been displaced and turned inwards by a 

 most peculiarly shaped tusk, which turns inwards and upwards till the 

 point is as far as the central line of jaw. The end has been worn down to 

 the shape of a finger nail by the roof of the mouth, and, judging by the 

 rounded surface of the incision, the animal must have been unable to close 

 its mouth properly. 



Unfortunately the upper jaw was not preserved ; it must have been 

 curious, as the lower molars are very irregular and worn entu'ely on the 

 inner side. 



There is a small supplementary tooth under the second incisor on the 

 right side. 



Dr. Newman thought more notice should be taken of such monstrosities. Evohition 

 taught us that such monstrosities were nearly all reversions to some old type, showed the 

 ancestry of the animal, e.g., children who breathed through their necks, branchial clefts, 

 like their amphibious ancestors. Everyone at a certain time of life had two sets of 

 teeth in his or her jaw, and one specimen in the Hunterian museum had three sets. 

 One odd, useless structure had never been explained, viz., the corn on the inside of a 

 horse's forelegs. 



Mr. T. Kirk pointed out that the monstrosity described by Mr. Hamilton was an 

 instance of duplication combined with distortion, and could hai-dly be explained by the 

 supposition that it was an instance of reversion to a remote ancestral type — a theory 

 which was now being pushed to extreme lengths. 



4. " On the Export of Fungus from New Zealand," by T. Kirk, F.L.S. 

 {Transactions, p. 454.) 



5. "Description of a new Species of Lycopodium,'' by T. Kirk, F.L.S. 

 {Transactions, p. 456.) 



6. " Description of a new Species of Hymenophyllum," by T. Kirk, F.L.S. 

 {Transactions, p. 457.) 



Specimens illustrating these papers were exhibited. 



7. "Note on Mr. Howard Saunders' Eeview of the Larincs or Gulls," 

 by W. L. Duller, C.M.G. {Transactions, p. 359.) 



8. " Notes on a new Species of Poniaderris (P. tainuij," by Dr. Hector. 

 {Transactions, p. 428.) 



