Portuguese Man-of- War. 



249 



VII. Specimens of various Marine Animals, sent by Dr E. W. Dubuc, 

 RN.,/rora Ceylon, &c, were exhibited by Mr James B. Davies. 



A small Physalia (Portuguese man-of-war) from the shore 

 at Kurrachee, Seinde. Specimens of a species of Pinna, both 

 dry, and dissected in spirit, from Trincomalee, Ceylon ; two 

 species of Pinnotheres (a small crab), one of which inhabits 

 the interior of the shell of Pinna, and the other the Placuna 

 placenta, also from Ceylon. 



Specimens of the Trepang, or edible Holotliuria, in spirit, 

 and dried, as for the Chinese market. Eegarding these, Dr 

 Dubuc supplies the following notes : — " Whilst at Trinco- 

 malee, in the summer of last year, in medical charge of the 

 hospital hulk Sapphire, my attention was drawn to a species 

 of Holotliuria, very abundant on the sandy bottom of the 

 inner harbour, at a depth of about two or three fathoms. 

 The animal is of a yellowish-brown colour, the skin over the 

 dorsal aspect being tough and coriaceous. The ventral sur- 

 face presents numerous ambulacra, and is of a pale colour, 

 and close to the anal orifice there is the retractile branchial 

 tuft. At Naples the Holotliuria tabulosa is employed as an 

 article of diet, and at the Marianne Islands the Holotliuria 

 guamensis ; whilst the Chinese prefer the Holotliuria edulis, 

 or Trepang, which is common in the Chinese seas, princi- 

 pally at the Anamba Islands, where the Malays fish for it 

 with hooks fastened to the ends of long bamboos. They 

 are then cut open, eviscerated, dipped in boiling water, and 

 dried in the sun. It was with some interest I learned 

 that they were prepared in the way mentioned above at 

 Trincomalee, for the Chinese market. The natives dive for 

 them, as they are not familiar with the use of the dredge." 



Wednesday, 27th February 1861.— James M'Bain, M.D., R.N., Pre- 

 sident, in the Chair. 



Thomas Robertson, Esq., Minto Street, was elected a member of the 

 Society. 



The following donations to the library were laid on the table, and 

 thanks were voted to the donors — 



1 . Description of the Plant which produces the Ordeal Bean of Calabar. 



