37 



Mr. Hall remarked that he had had an opportunity of 

 examining Mr. Sabine's varieties, and thought they were very 

 similar to the variety now exhibited. Mr. Tutt said he 

 thought the specimen referred to was simply a very local 

 form of corydon. 



Mr. Kelsall, as a visitor, exhibited a living example of 

 the black rat {Mus rattus), captured in RatclifTe Highway, 

 and stated that he understood the black rat was now very 

 scarce in London, having been deposed by the Norwegian rat. 



From the remarks of several members, it appeared that 

 specimens of the black rat had been met with recently in 

 several parts of London. 



Mr. Cooper stated he had just received a specimen of the 

 Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus, Tunstall), which 'had been 

 shot at Brandon, in Suffolk. 



Mr. Cockerell exhibited specimens of the following 

 Mollusca : — Succinea pfeifferi, Rossm., and CocJdicopa lubrica, 

 Mull., from St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada ; and remarked that 

 these species were also to be found very abundantly about 

 London, and were distributed throughout the whole of 

 Europe. 



Mr. John T. Carrington communicated a paper on " Hiber- 

 nation and Estivation," in the course of which he said that 

 before passing in review some of the orders most commonly 

 known to hibernate, he would first call attention to the cause 

 of this phenomenon. Experiments and observations proved 

 that the torpid condition of hibernation was to be accounted 

 for by the fact that respiration of the animals affected was 

 regulated by the state of the activity of the muscular fibre. 

 This activity was at rest in ordinary sleep, and when more 

 "deadened " by cold or other influence, the respiration which 

 would support actual vitality was brought to a minimum ; 

 hence the long winter's sleep known as hibernation. The period 

 of this torpid condition was regulated by the susceptibility of the 

 muscular tissue of various animals, and some which were looked 

 upon as higher in organisation than others seemed more 

 susceptible than those which were more frail when anatomi- 



