1834 British Association. 



which overlie the fourth ventricle, &c, <Sec. Many of the peculiarities were to 

 be classed among the adaptive characters ; — and for some excellent remarks on this 

 subject iu reference to the osseous system in another tribe, to wit, the plagiostomous 

 fish, he would refer to Mr. Owen's ' Lectures,' vol. ii. The absence of respiration by 

 the surface, as in other Amphibia, might have an influence on the great developement 

 of the respiratory organs. In conclusion, although the Lepidosiren is the most fish- 

 like of the Amphibia, still he is forced to regard it as a true amphibian, and not as a 

 fish, and thus reverts to the determination of Bischoff. 



The Prince of Canino stated that although Oken had pointed out the nostril 

 with two openings as a character of the Reptilia, he had received a letter from that 

 naturalist, in which he declared his belief that the Lepidosiren was a fish and not a 

 reptile, and that the double opening of the nostril was apparent and not real. 



Prof. Owen thought the mere possession of a double nostril would not be sufficient 

 to place this animal with the reptiles. He, however, denied that this was the case. 

 The scales of the Lepidosiren were those of a fish. The breathing-organs he deemed 

 to have no more of the character of lungs than the organs possessed by many fishes 

 which occasionally lived on land. The circulation was not decidedly reptile, and ap- 

 proached in character that seen in some of the plagiostomous fishes and the young of 

 most fish. He did not think the size of blood-globules or the cells of the bone of suf- 

 ficient importance to decide the class of Lepidosiren. Neither could a better case be 

 made out for the heart or brain ; in the structure of both of which organs there was 

 an identical character with many fishes. The spiral character of intestine was certainly 

 a good distinction as far as existing Reptilia ; and he was not certain that the form of 

 the coprolites of the Ichthyosaurus depended on this structure. From the osteologi- 

 cal characters of the head he also concluded that the Lepidosiren was a fish and not a 

 reptile. 



A long and rather desultory discussion followed ; in which the Prince of Canino, 

 Prof. Milne-Edwards, Sir J. Richardson, Dr. Carpenter, Dr. Melville, and Mr. Hogg 

 took part. — Mr. Gijrson, from America, offered to send to England living specimens 

 of the American Lepidosiren. A wish was expressed that the naturalists present at 

 the Association should not part without an opportunity of examining the structure of 

 this animal ; and Dr. Carpenter and Dr. Melville offered their specimens for the pur- 

 pose. It was stated that Dr. Melville had been requested to draw up a report 

 on the structure and affinities of the Lepidosiren for the next meeting of the Asso- 

 ciation. 



Prof. Ac land exhibited a specimen of a living Proteus, which — having compared 

 with a specimen in the possession of Prof. Owen also placed on the table — he be- 

 lieved to be a new species. The two animals differed in colour, size, and the form of 

 the gills, as well as in their habits ; the one of Prof. Acland being much more active 

 than that of Prof. Owen. 



The President, in commencing the business of the section, drew attention to a 

 project for erecting a statue to the memory of Geoffroy St. Hilaire, the philosophical 

 anatomist of France, in his natal city of Etampes. 



The Rev. L. Jenyns exhibited some specimens of wood which had been attacked 

 by the larva of an insect called Callidium Bajulus. The external part presented 

 little or no indication of the mischief which had gone on in the interior. This decep- 

 tive appearance had nearly cost an individual his life, as it formed a part of the beam 

 of a church, and gave way on a workman setting his foot on it. The insect deposits 



