COUNCIL FOR 1848 . 
11 
the Tertiary Siwalic range. A selection of these is temporarily 
displayed in the room appropriated to British Ornithology. In 
exchange for some duplicates from this collection, Mr. Brown, 
of Stanway, near Colchester, has given a specimen of the Nau¬ 
tilus imperialis, from the London Clay of Essex, and the branch 
of a tree, perforated by Teredo, from the same formation at 
Bognor. To the liberality of the Boyal College of Surgeons, 
the Society is indebted for a series of casts of the bones of 
gigantic birds, which, though now totally extinct, appear to 
have inhabited, in immense numbers, at no very remote epoch, 
the Islands of New Zealand. They have been placed in the 
case containing the recent skeletons of Struthious Birds. The 
Bev. William Vernon Harcourt has presented an interesting 
selection of Tertiary Fossils, and specimens of igneous rocks, 
illustrative of the geology of Madeira, and a large series of 
rock specimens has also been received through the same gentle¬ 
man, from Signor Pastor, of Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, to whom a 
collection of duplicate British Minerals and Fossils has been 
sent in return. Mr. Pease, of Hessle, has presented to the 
Society a series of teeth of the Ptychodus decurrens” of 
Agassiz, found in the chalk quarries of that district, being the 
first recorded occurrence of this remarkable fossil fish in the 
chalk of Yorkshire. 
The Ornithological department has received an important 
acquisition in a specimen of the Apteryx, brought from New 
Zealand by Major Wilmot, and purchased from Mr. Graham 
for the Society by a subscription amongst the Members. Mr. 
Meynell has undertaken the re-arrangement of the general Orni¬ 
thological Collection. The labels for this collection are printed 
from the carefully digested catalogue prepared by Mr. Gould, 
and the Secretary has introduced all the known habitats of the 
birds which this catalogue includes. When the arrangement 
is completed, the Ornithological collection will combine beauty 
of display with facility of reference for scientific purposes.* 
Miss E. Backhouse, of York, has permitted the Keeper of the 
Museum to select from the extensive series of Shells, brought 
* The Secretary has pleasure in acknowledging the effective assistance which he 
has received from the Suh-coi’ator, Mr. Baines, in the perfonnance of this duty. 
