580 Meeting of the British Association. [Oct.. 



in the " Anatomy of the Limpet ; M which he had been investigating 

 with Professor Ptolleston, of Ox::: L 



Professor Turner, of Edinburgh, read a B Contribution to the 

 Anatomy of the Pilot Whale/' He described the anatomy of the 

 stomach, the distribution of the great arteries which arise from the 

 arch of the aorta, and some features in the cervical vertebra? of a 

 specimen which he had dissected during the spring and summer of 

 this year. The stomach of the pilot-whale was compared with 

 that of the porpoise, and it was pointed out that in the former a 

 greater number of compartments existed than in the latter. 



Sir Duncan Gibb read a paper " On the Influence of Pendency 

 of the Epiglottis upon Mankind at large.'"' He had found that 

 about eleven per cent, of Europeans had the epiglottis hanging 

 down over the windpipe instead of erect; and he believed that 

 such a condition prevented clearness in singing and speaking, and 

 also produced a sluggishness of disposition, in consequence of 

 retardation of respiration. Of 280 Asiatics (male and female) 

 examined by him. all had a more or less pendent epiglottis, which 

 was a very startling fact ; and was probably connected with their 

 incapacity for fine singing. 



Professor Allen Thomson exhibited some ■ Microscopical Pre- 

 parations of the Cochlea, of the Retina, and of Teeth of F 

 Fishes." He made a very important suggestion at the same time. 

 Members of Section D had often found the inconvenience of ex- 

 hibiting their microscopical specimens on the platform of the 

 meeting room, where proper attention could not be paid to them, 

 nor discussions entered upon in a satisfactory way. He proposed 

 that at the next meeting of the Association a room should be 

 apart for microscopes, where members could examine specimens at 

 their leisure, and confer with one another concerning them ; other 

 specimens of microscopic anatomy were exhibited by Profe 

 Cieland, Professor Turner, and Dr. M. Pc s 



We come now to the third head under which we arrange the 

 papers read, viz. Physiology, the reason why structures and ape 

 exist, and how they exist. 



Mr. Wallace had a most interesting paper " On the Pielation 

 between Sexual Differences of Colour and the Mode of Xiditication 

 in Birds." He ran over in detail the principal species of birds, 

 having the female as beautiful and brilliant, or as conspicuous as the 

 male. In cases where the female has this conspicuous appearance, 

 the nest always conceals the female, and in cases where the female is 

 of a dull colour, the nest exposes a considerable portion of the sitting 

 bird. When the male bird is less brilliant than the female, it is 

 found that the male performs the duties of incubation. There thus 

 seems to be a connection between the colour of the different sexes 



