391 



Wednesday, 23d April 1862.— James M'Bain, M.D., President, 

 in the Chair. 



The following gentlemen were elected members of the Society : — 



Peter Waddell, Esq., Claremont Park, Leith ; James Crichton Browne, 

 M.D., Dumfries. 



Committees were appointed for special investigation during the sum- 

 mer. 



The following Donations to the Library were laid on the table, and 

 thanks voted to the donors : — 



1. Bibliographia Librorum Entomologicorum in America Boreali edi- 

 torum. Auctore Guil. Sharswood. — From the Author. 2. Jahrbuch 

 der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Geologischen Reichsanstalt I860. XI. Jahr- 

 gang, Nro. 2. April-December. Wein. — From the Imperial Geo- 

 logical Society of Vienna. 3. Report of the Commissioner of Patents 

 for the year 1858. Agriculture. Washington, 1859. 4. Report of 

 the Commissioner of Patents for the year 1857. Agriculture. Wash- 

 ington, 1858.— From United States Patent Office. 



The Communications read were the following : — 



I. Observations on the Phocidse of the Greenland Seas. By John Wal- 

 lace, M.D. Edin. (Communicated by Robert Brown, Esq.) 



In this memoir, Dr Wallace described minutely the cha- 

 racters of the four species of seals which form the source of 

 the fisheries in the Arctic seas, and entered at length into 

 an account of their habits and history — a subject regarding 

 which little or nothing is known, and that (from the remote 

 and almost inaccessible regions which the animals frequent) 

 in a very contradictory and confused state. He prefaced 

 his observations on the species with some general remarks 

 on the anatomy and physiology of the group. The length 

 of the intestine, according to his measurement, varies be- 

 tween fifty and sixty feet. The livers have no poisonous 

 properties, as has been alleged regarding those of Nova 

 Zembla and the Southern seas. (Anson.) 



In the young seals the lymphatics of the neck are subject 

 to a disease, which appears to be analogous to, if not indeed 

 true scrofula. 



Many theories have been adduced to account for their 

 capability of remaining so long below the surface of the 

 water with impunity, though that of Buffon and the physio- 



VOL. II. 3 E 



