1867.] Biology. 581 



of birds and the sitting over the eggs. There are some exceptions 

 to this generalisation, but they can be easily explained, for these are 

 generally protective colours. Mr. Wallace considered that Darwin's 

 principle of natural selection most aptly explained this connection 

 of colour and nests. 



Mr. E. Eay Lankester drew attention to the " Boring of Lime- 

 stone by Annelids "in a brief paper. He stated that, in the dis- 

 cussions concerning the boring of Molluscs, no reference had been 

 made to the boring of Annelids — indeed, they seemed to be quite 

 unknown — and brought forward two cases, one by a worm called 

 Leucodore, the other by a Sabella. Leucodore is very abundant 

 on some shores, where boulders and pebbles may be found worm- 

 eaten and riddled by them. Only stones composed of carbonate of 

 lime are bored by them. On coasts where such stones are rare, 

 they are selected and all others are left. The worms are quite soft, 

 and armed only with horny bristles. How, then, do they bore ? 

 Mr. Lankester maintained that it was by the carbonic acid and 

 other acid excretions of their bodies, aided by the mechanical action 

 of the bristles. The selection of a material soluble in these acids 

 is most noticeable, since the softest chalk and the hardest lime- 

 stone are bored with the same facility. This can only be by 

 chemical action. 



Dr. M'Intosh described a series of " Experiments with Poisons, 

 &c, on young Salmon," in which he detailed the action on the 

 heart, &c, of Aconite, Digitalis, Chlorine, and other poisons. 



Dr. Ogilvie described the " Adaptation of the Structure of the 

 Shell of the Bird's Egg to Eespiration." He pointed out, in dia- 

 grams of various egg-shells, the existence of pores similar to the 

 stomata of the leaf of a floating water-plant, the resemblance be- 

 tween which structure and an egg-shell is very remarkable. 



Dr. B. W. Kichardson had three papers, — one, his "Keport 

 on Methyl Compounds," in which he described the physiological 

 action of several bodies allied to Chloroform, and recommended the 

 Bichloride of Ethylene as a substitute for that anaesthetic. In 

 another, " On the Coagulation of the Blood," he renounced the 

 Ammonia theory, which he put forward some years since, and for 

 his essay on which he gained the Astley Cooper prize medal. He 

 now substitutes another hypothesis connected with some peculiar 

 notions of his own on heat. In a third paper, he described some 

 " Effects produced by applying extreme Cold to certain Parts of 

 the Nervous System." By means of his Ether-spray apparatus he 

 froze his arm and produced anaesthesia ; he also produced torpor in 

 a frog by freezing the brain ;. and he described experiments in 

 which he had frozen various parts of the brain in birds — the freez- 

 ing acting as effectually as excision, or even more so. The Ether- 



