i8 9 4-l 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



247 



low order, no trace of sociality appears. None of the few known 

 species live other than solitary lives, but in the next group, the 

 Marsupials, of which the American opossums and the Australian 

 kangaroos are the best known representatives, some approximations to 

 sociality appear. In the early days of the Australian colonies, the plains 

 were inhabited by numerous herds of several species of kangaroos, 

 which have since been largely replaced by herbivorous animals more 

 profitable to man. The potoroos — animals closely allied to the true 

 kangaroos, and similar in size to our rabbits — like the latter, live in bur- 

 rows, of which a considerable number are usually found together ; as is 

 also the case with the bandicoots, which externally resemble large rats 

 and feed on insects and small animals. The squirrel Flying-Phalanger 

 (Belideus sciuveus), one of the fruit-eating Marsupials, also lives socially 

 in the forests of Australia, though with this, as with the previously 

 mentioned species, the social instincts are of a quite rudimentary 

 character, and we see rather collections of individuals due to special 

 suitability of locality or to plentifulness of food supply than properly 

 social groups. 



(To be continued.) 



A VISIT TO THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



BY GEO. SWAINSON, F.L.S. 



The ancient city of Oxford has done itself honour by giving a very 

 hearty reception to the British Association. Though the local members 

 joining have not been so numerous as was the case in the recent meet- 

 ings in Manchester and Birmingham, yet the attractions of this 

 venerable seat of learning are so potent that the numbers have certainly 

 been above the average, and I have been much struck with the large 

 contingent of lady members, who not only flocked to the receptions, 

 garden parties and excursions, but have even found their way to such 

 occult sections as the mathematical, the mechanical, and the economical, 

 in surprising numbers ; while in their favourite geographical and 

 anthropological sections they certainly formed the majority of the 

 audience. We see less of the antiquated blue stocking and more of the 

 refined features of England's daughters, while the bright young faces 

 seen on every hand prove that an outing to the British Association 

 meeting is now looked forward to by many as a time of pleasure, 

 to be preferred even to the breezes from the ocean at Southport 

 or Scarborough. The college gardens are now at their best, and 

 as the blue or green ticket of the Association is an "open sesame" 

 in every direction, they have been constantly visited. 



