SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 79 



In the absence of the author, Mr. A. Barclay, a paper was read by 

 Mr. B. D. Jackson on the life-history of a remarkable Uredine on Jasminum 

 grandifiora. A discussion followed in which Mr. A. W. Bennett and 

 Prof. Marshall Ward took part. 



This was followed by a paper from Mr. Edward E. Prince, " On certain 

 protective provisions in some larval British Teleosteans." 



Zoological Society of London. 



January 14, 1889. — Prof. A. Newton, F.R.S., Vice-President, in 

 the chair. 



The Secretary read a report on the additions that had been made to the 

 Society's Menagerie during the month of December, 1889. 



Mr. Sclater exhibited and made remarks on a specimen of a very singular 

 Duck from N.E. Asia, apparently referable to the genus Tadorna, sent to 

 him for determination by Dr. Lutken, of Copenhagen. After a careful 

 examination, Mr. Sclater was inclined to think that it was probably a hybrid 

 between Tadorna casarca and Querquedula falcata. 



Mr. Sclater exhibited and made remarks on a set of small birds' bones 

 obtained from beneath some deposits of nitrate in Southern Peru, trans- 

 mitted to the Society by Prof. W. Nation. 



Mr. David Wilson Barker exhibited and made remarks on some 

 specimens of Teredos taken from submarine telegraphic cables off the 

 Brazilian coast. 



Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell exhibited and made remarks on some living 

 specimens of Bipalium, transmitted to the Society by the Rev. G. H. R. 

 Fisk, of Capetown. 



A communication was read from Mr.R. Lydekker, containing an account 

 of a new species of extinct Otter from the Lower Pliocene of Eppelsheim. 

 The author described part of the lower jaw, which he had previously referred 

 to Lutra dubia, from the deposits indicated. Having, however, now seen a 

 cast of the type of the latter, he found that the present specimen indicated 

 a distinct species, for which the name L. hessica was proposed. 



A communication was read from Prof. Bertram C. A. Windle and 

 Mr. John Humphreys, on some cranial and dental characters of the 

 Domestic Dog. The paper was based on the results of the measurements 

 of a large number of dogs' skulls of various breeds. Its object was to 

 ascertain whether cranial and dental characteristics afforded sufficient 

 information to permit of a scientific classification of the breeds, or would 

 throw any light upon their origin. The conclusion so far arrived at was 

 that interbreeding had been so extensive and complicated as to make it 

 impossible to distinguish the various forms scientifically from the characters 

 examined. Several points with regard to the shape of head and palate and 

 the occasional occurrence of an extra molar were also touched upon. 



