SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 31 



fragments of an uncertain nature appear between them. In Phorus a 

 strong cement only could hold on those large and heavy substances, — 

 shells, stones, &c, — completely covering the shell, as in P. agglutinans. 

 I have not seen any account of their modus operandi, but, as the 

 animals have a long proboscis, it is possible that that may be the organ 

 employed ; but it is difficult to believe that it would be able to lift any 

 arge substance, or that it could reach the top of the shell. Another 

 difficulty is that they must cast off, from|time to time as they grow, 

 the smaller substances to replace them by larger ones. There is one 

 Phorus, however — P. calyculatus — in which small shells imbed them- 

 selves at short intervals along the whorls, leaving the greater part of 

 the shell uncovered ; these little cup-shaped depressions are marked 

 inside, as far as the mouth of the shell will permit them to be seen, 

 by corresponding protuberances. This would seem to indicate a certain 

 softening of the shell at one time or other. I do not see where pro- 

 tection comes in in any of these cases. — Francis P. Pascoe. 



SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



Linnean Society of London. 



Nov. 21, 1889. — Mr. W. Carruthers, F.R.S., President, in the chair. 



Mr. Edward E. Prince was admitted, and Col. J. H. Bowker was elected 

 a Fellow of the Society. 



Prof. Duncan exhibited and made remarks on a stem of Hyalonema 

 Sieboldii, dredged between Aden and Bombay, a remarkable position, 

 inasmuch as this glass sponge had not previously been met with in any 

 waters west of the Indian Peninsula. Prof. Stewart criticised the occur- 

 rence, and referred to a parasite on the sponge which h»d been found to be 

 idenical with one from the Japanese Seas. 



Mr. James Groves exhibited, and gave some account of, a new British 

 Chara, Nitella batrachiosperma, which had been collected in the island 

 of Harris. 



Mr. Thomas Christy exhibited some bark of Quillaia saponaria, from 

 Chile, which has the property of producing a great lather, and is extensively 

 used for washing silk and wool. It is now found to solidify hydrocarbon 

 oils and benzoline, and thereby to ensure their safe transport on long 

 voyages ; a small infusion of citric acid rendering them again liquid. 



Dr. F. Walker exhibited and made remarks on some plants collected by 

 him in Iceland. 



