SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
489 
lection of a number of bones from Rodriguez. Professor Newton made 
some general remarks upon tbe specimens collected, and be especially dwelt 
on an unexpected confirmation of tbe testimony of Leguat, by tbe discovery 
of an extraordinary bony knob near tbe extremity of tbe wing. Leguat, 
whose account of tbe u Solitaire’s ” babits was tbe only one we possessed, 
mentioned a curious u ball,” as big as a u musket bullet,” wbicb the male 
birds possessed under their wing feathers. Now, the existence of this ball 
was proved by tbe bony knob exhibited, and thus tbe veracity of old Leguat 
— who was a Huguenot refugee — on this point, as on so many others, was 
confirmed. In conclusion, Professor Newton called attention to tbe fact that 
at present we only knew of the didine bird of tbe island of Reunion, that it 
was white. In tbe course of last year, Mr. Tegetmeier bad shown him an 
old watercolour painting of a white dodo, and this, be was inclined to be- 
lieve, might represent this lost species, of wbicb be trusted tbe French 
naturalists in that island would succeed in obtaining actual relics. 
The Shetland Dredging Committee. — Mr. J. G wyn Jeffreys read the prelimi- 
nary report of tbe Committee for tbe present year. From this it seems that 
tbe further investigation is carried on in tbe Shetland seas, tbe more deeply 
interesting does tbe study of tbe fauna of that portion of tbe country become. 
Dredging in tbe depths of those northern seas, in wbicb there is, almost in- 
variably, a heavy sea — at one time sweeping across tbe Atlantic, at another 
rolling away from Greenland, at another (as was tbe case for many weeks to- 
gether during tbe present summer) running for Spitzbergen and tbe ice-floes 
of tbe Arctic Oeean, accompanied by a keen cutting north-east wind — is not 
altogether pleasant work for tbe naturalist. Yet, trying and difficult though 
tbe dredging be, there is none to be compared with it in the British Islands, 
and every fresh summer tbe Dredging Committee have spent in investigat- 
ing tbe marine fauna of Shetland, they have returned home only tbe more 
convinced of tbe greatness of the field of research wbicb remains to be ex- 
plored. Every square mile of tbe sea seems to have treasures to give up 
unknown before, and tbe extent of tbe riches wbicb lie there — one, two, 
three, four hundred fathoms deep — will perhaps never be known in our day. 
Tbe extreme interest wbicb attaches to tbe Shetland sea is tbe circumstance 
that it is tbe trysting-place of tbe northern and southern faunas. Tbe wave 
influence of the Gulf Stream, infringing on tbe western coast, coaxes on 
many a species of sunnier climes to extend its migration northwards ; while 
tbe cold winds and waves wbicb issue from tbe Pole, and come drifting- 
round tbe West Cape, account for tbe many Arctic forms wbicb, stunted in 
size and numerically scarce, are yet able, in tbe equable temperature of tbe 
abyss of tbe Shetland waters, to bold out against those southern influences 
so detrimental to their constitutions. 
Development of the Dye in Fishes. — Herr Schenk lately sent in a paper to 
the Imperial Academy of Vienna, in wbicb be described tbe development of 
tbe eye of tbe trout. He stated that tbe lens is developed from tbe external 
germinal lamella, and that tbe retina is produced from tbe thick inner wall 
of tbe ocular vesicle, the thin inner wall contributing to tbe formation of tbe 
pigment layer of the choroid. 
Embryology of Pelobates fuscus. — The development of F.fuscus , a tailless 
amphibian, has been watched by M. Van Bambeke. Some of tbe author’s 
