SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
115 
( Ailurus fulgens), as deduced from a specimen of this animal which had 
been presented to the Society by Dr. Simpson, in May 1869, and had lived 
for some time in the Society’s gardens. After an elaborate examination of 
every part of this animal, Professor Flower came to the conclusion that it 
belonged to the Arctoidean group of the carnivores, and was most nearly 
allied to the racoons and other members of the family Procyonidcc. 
Notes on Tortoises . — Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., with an energy which we 
fancy few of our younger naturalists possess, read, at the Zoological Society 
on Nov. 1, no less than six communications on various points connected 
with the natural history of the Testudinata. The first of these contained 
notes on three tortoises living in the Society’s gardens, one of which was 
believed to be new to science, and was proposed to be called TestucJo chilensis. 
The second contained descriptions of two new species of Indian tortoises in 
the collection of Mr. T. C. Jerdon. The third related to the family Der- 
matemjidce, and embraced the description of a species of this group living in 
the Society’s gardens. The fourth contained notes on a West African 
river tortoise ( Cyclanosteus senegalensis), also living in the Society’s gardens. 
The fifth contained notes on Bartlettia, a proposed new genus of fresh-water 
tortoises, belonging to the family Peltocephalidce , and the sixth notes on the 
species of Bhmoclemmys, in the British Museum. 
Anatomical Characters, of Limpets. — In the “ American Naturalist ” for 
November Mr. Dali gave an account of the anatomical characters of the 
conical univalve mollusks generally known as limpets. These have been 
divided by Gray and other naturalists into two orders, according as the 
animal possessed one plume-shaped gill over the back of the neck, or a 
cordon of lamellar gills all around the body. His recent investigation of 
the anatomy of many species, principally from the American coasts, had 
shown that the value of these distinctions was less than had been here- 
tofore supposed. Some of the limpets were shown to be entirely without 
special gills ; others possessed a cervical plume-like gill, and also a cordon 
of accessory gills, greatly varying in extent in the different genera. For 
this reason he proposed to include them all in one order (named Docoglossa 
by Dr. Troschel), subdividing it into two sections characterised by the total 
absence, or by the presence, of gills. These sub-orders would respectively 
bear the names of Abrancliiata and Proteo-brancliiata. 
The Development of Discina . — This subject has been well studied by 
Professor Edward S. Morse. Referring to his former papers in the early 
stages of Terebratulina, and the evidence then adduced of the proofs of the 
close relations existing between the Brachiopoda and the Polyzoa, he said 
that an examination of the early stages of Discina showed the same simple 
lophophore, sustaining a few cirri, the stomach hanging below, and other 
features in which a resemblance was seen. The perivisceral wall is made 
up of two layers of muscular fibres which cross each other, giving it a reti- 
culated appearance. While the young shell i3 oval in shape there is marked 
out a perfectly circular area, indicating that at the outset the embryo pos- 
sesses a circular plate above and below. The muscles were very large, and 
occupied most of the perivisceral cavity. The setae fringing the mantle 
were very long, those from the anterior margin being nearly three times 
the length of the shell. The mantle margin, the blood lacunae, and the 
nds of muscles to move the setae, were all described. 
