294 PEESIDENT*S ABDEESS. 



The discovery of cellulose in the test by Earl Schmidt has 

 destroyed one of the points of diagnosis between plants and ani- 

 mals that was formerly much relied upon. The cellulose is 

 chiefly contained in the outer tunic. The inner tunic is com- 

 posed essentially of connective and muscular tissue. 



The Challenger Expedition obtained simple Ascidians in all of 

 the seven great areas into which the seas of the globe have been 

 divided, and further, it ascertained that they were much more 

 abundant in the Southern Pacific Ocean, including the Australian 

 region, than elsewhere. 



The Report (Vol. YII.) on the Spheniscidse, or Penguins, by 

 the late Dr. Morrison Watson, is very interesting. The Penguins 

 have received a considerable amount of attention at the hands of 

 naturalists. Cuvier, Meckel, and Owen have each given good 

 descriptions of their osteology. Eeid, Coves, and Grervais have 

 published monographs upon one or more species, but none of 

 these compare in fulness to the present memoir. The vertebral 

 column in the dorsal region is remarkable for the resemblance of 

 the vertebrae to those of reptiles in being opisthocselous, that is 

 in the anterior surface of the bodies being globular and rounded, 

 whilst the posterior are deeply concave, so that the convexity of 

 each vertebra is received into the concavity of the vertebra next 

 preceding. 



Dr. "Watson finds this peculiarity confined in birds to the 

 Auks and Penguins. The scapula is of relatively larger size 

 than in any other group of birds. He notices that the character- 

 istic feature of the wing of the Penguin as a whole is to be found 

 . in the great amount of compression exhibited by all the bones of 

 which it is composed, a flattening that is probably due to the 

 alteration of its functions, for in these birds the power of flight 

 is lost, but the wing is converted into a paddle, which serves the 

 purpose of propelling the bird through the water. 



The Eeport (Vol. IX.) on the Poraminifera), by Henry Bowman 

 Brady, Esq., F.R.S., a former President of our Club, is very 

 complete. It will be universally acknowledged that the task 

 could not have been intrusted to abler hands. 



Prom Mr. Brady's large acquaintance with the multifarious 



