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than in Europe, but the diurnal range much greater ; the maximum 

 mean temperature occurring in April and May, and gradually de- 

 clining until December and January ; and the observed mean tempe- 

 rature of places on the continent of India being much higher than 

 the calculated mean temperature according to Meyer's formula. 

 8. The mean annual dew-point being higher at half-past nine o'clock 

 than either at sunrise or at four in the afternoon ; the dew-point 

 being highest during the monsoons, and lowest during the cold months, 

 and varying considerably within very short distances ; being, for ex- 

 ample, remarkably contrasted in Bombay and Dukhun ; and the fre- 

 quent occurrence of dew quite locally and under anomalous circum- 

 stances. 9. The amount of rain in Dukhun being only 20 per cent, 

 of that falling in Bombay, 90 or 100 miles to the westward. 10. The 

 wind being principally from the west and east, and rarely from the 

 opposite quarters. 1 1. The great abundance of electricity under cer- 

 tain circumstances. 12. The rare occurrence of fogs. 13. The great 

 amount of solar radiation ; and lastly, the singular opacity of the 

 atmosphere during hot weather, giving rise occasionally to the mirage. 

 A variety of tables containing the records of meteorological obser- 

 vations, with instruments, accompany the paper. 



10. e< On the Ova of the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus" By Richard 

 Owen, Esq. Communicated by W. Clift, Esq., F.R.S. 



The author, in this paper, has prosecuted more immediately and 

 more minutely than in his former communication, the inquiry into the 

 structure of the ovary of the Ornithorhynchus, with a view to determine 

 its exact relations with that of the normal Mammalia, and of the ovi- 

 parous Vertebrata. He has obtained from this investigation the full 

 confirmation of the truth of the opinion he had previously formed, that 

 lactation might coexist with a mode of generation essentially similar 

 to that of the Viper and Salamander ; and this fact has been further 

 established by the subsequent examination which he has made of the 

 uterine foetus of the Kangaroo. 



The author traces the regular gradation which obtains in different 

 orders of Mammalia in which true viviparous or placental generation 

 takes place, towards the ovo-viviparous or oviparous modes, in which 

 the exterior covering of the ovum never becomes vascular, and shows 

 that the Ornithorhynchus constitutes a connecting link in this chain. 



Drawings illustrative of the anatomical descriptions of the parts 

 examined by the author accompany the paper. 



11. " Observations with the Horizontal and Dipping Needles, made 

 during a Voyage from England to New South Wales." By James 

 Dunlop, Esq. Communicated by Capt. Beaufort, R.N., F.R.S. 



This paper contains a very numerous and uninterrupted series of 

 magnetical observations, made in the circumstances stated in the title, 

 and extending about 180 degrees in longitude and 100 degrees in 

 latitude. The apparatus, of which a detailed description is given, was 

 suspended from the roof of the cabin, and no alteration was made in 

 its suspension from the beginning to the end of the voyage. 



