38 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



other islands by Mr. H. H. Smith, under the direction of the joint Com- 

 mittee of the British Association and the Royal Society for the exploration 

 of the Lesser Antilles. 



A communication was read from M. E. Simon, containing the first 

 portion of an account of the Spiders of the island of St. Vincent, based on 

 specimens obtained under the direction of the same Committee. 



A communication was read from Mr. H. Nevill, urging the importance of 

 founding an experimental Zoological Station in the Tropics, and advocating 

 the claims of Trincomalee, in Ceylon, for such an institution. 



Dr. Johnson Symington read a paper on the nose, the organ of 

 Jacobson, and the dumbbell-shaped bone in the Ornithorhynchus. 



Mr. A. Smith-Woodward read a paper on a mammalian tooth from the 

 Wealden Formation of Hastings, being the first trace of a Cretaceous 

 Mammal discovered in Europe. This remarkable fossil the author was 

 inclined to refer provisionally to the genus Plagiaulax of the Purbeck Beds, 

 and to call Piagiaula daicsoni, after its discoverer. 



A communication was received from Mr. C. Davies Sherborne, giving 

 an exact account of the dates of issue of the parts, plates, and text of 

 Schreber's ' Saugethiere.' Great difficulties in synonymy had arisen from 

 previously imperfect knowledge of these dates. 



December 1. — Henry Seebohm, F.L.S., F.Z.S., in the chair. 



Mr. Sclater exhibited a specimen of a Shearwater obtained near Sydney, 

 and brought from Australia by Prof. Anderson Stuart. This specimeu had 

 been determined by Mr. Salvin to beloug to Pvffinus gavia, a New Zealand 

 species not hitherto known to occur in Australia. 



Mr. Seebohm exhibited and made remarks on specimens of several very 

 interesting birds recently obtained in Ireland. Amongst these was an 

 example of the Yellow- browed Warbler, Phylloscopus super ciliosus, obtained 

 on the Tearaght Rock, the most westerly station in Europe. [These were 

 recorded in 'The Zoologist,' 1891, p. 186.] 



Dr. E. Hamilton exhibited a specimen of the Red-breasted Snipe of 

 North America, Macrorhamphus griseus, obtained in Scotland. [Recorded 

 in 'The Zoologist,' 1891, p. 437.] 



Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier exhibited the heads of a cock Pheasant and two 

 Rooks, illustrative of the abnormal form of the bill in birds caused by 

 injuries to that organ during life. 



Mr. (i. A. Buulenger read some notes on specimens of Reptiles from 

 Transcasjiia recently received by the British Museum, and pointed out that 

 examples of several well-known Indian species occurred in this collection. 



A communication was read from Miss E. M. Sharpe, containing the 

 second portion of her descriptions of new Butterflies from British East 

 Africa, collected by Mr. F. J. Jackson during his recent expedition. 



