224 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
placing Serpentarius and Cariama with the Otididte, the Cypselidae with 
the Trochilidse, and the Musophagidse among the Galliformes. 
The Anatomy and Varieties vf Myxine. — At a recent meeting of the Boston 
Society of Natural History (U.S.A.), Mr. F. W. Putnam read a paper on 
Myxine , a low genus of fishes, known to fishermen as hays, giving an 
account of its anatomy, which was illustrated by a series of specimens 
exhibited. The several species described by various authors must be 
reduced to one, having a wide geographical distribution, being found on both 
sides of the Northern Atlantic, and also on the southern coast of South 
America. Mr. Putnam showed that the variations in the number of 
lingual teeth, which are from eight to eleven in each row in specimens 
from the North Atlantic and from the Straits of Magellan, could not be 
considered as of specific importance. The different varieties of this species 
he considered as follows : — Var. septentrionalis , the short and thick form, 
from the North Atlantic, var. limosa, the long and slender variety, also 
from the North Atlantic ; while the southern variety may be called australis, 
the name under which Jennyns described it as a true species. 
The New York Aquarium . — We are informed that this splendid institution 
is progressing as rapidly as can be expected. It is to be erected in the Central 
Park, New York, where the magnificent Free Museum and Menagerie have 
already a place. We believe that the credit of starting this enterprise is 
due to the Messrs. Appleton, the proprietors of the well-known “ Appleton’s 
Journal.” These gentlemen have communicated with Mr. W. S. Kent, 
F.L.S., who has left the Brighton Museum, and we believe that with his 
assistance as scientific adviser they cannot fail to establish an institution 
which will be in every way creditable to zoological science. We trust they 
may soon have secured ample funds to realize the undertaking ; and we have 
no doubt that, with Mr. Kent’s assistance, experienced as he is not only as 
a naturalist, but also, and especially, as an aquarian naturalist, they will 
eventually attain most complete success. 
A Swarm of Ephemerids . — At a meeting of the Philadelphia Academy of 
Science late last year, Mr. Gentry communicated a notice of a great swarm 
of ephemerids which passed through the town of Lewisburg, on the Susque- 
hanna river one afternoon. The swarm was estimated to be about a mile 
in length by nearly a half mile in width, and was so dense as even to obscure 
passers-by on the opposite side of the street. 
