TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 
71 
Querquedula circia 
-- Crecca 
Fuligula rujina . 
-- cristata 
Sterna Anglica 
India and Europe. 
' North coasts of Great Britain and 
Dukhun, 100 to 200 miles in¬ 
land, and 1800 feet above the 
sea, with similar changes of 
plumage from summer to win¬ 
ter. 
Besides the instances of identity above quoted from specimens in 
Colonel Sykes’s own cabinet, others are mentioned of such close ana¬ 
logy as to render their specific difference extremely dubious. Many 
species of birds of different natural groups and habits are thus proved 
to have an extensive geographical range, under considerable differ¬ 
ences of mean temperature. Deducting those species, which do 
or may be imagined to migrate from one region to another, there 
remains abundant evidence, derived from continually resident birds, 
that some birds live in India with a mean temp, of 77° to 82°, and 
in Britain with a mean temp, of 45 u to 50°. Connecting these facts 
with the instances of tigers living near the limits of perpetual snow, 
and elephants and Indian birds braving our winters, Colonel Sykes 
concludes that the power of acclimation possessed by many birds 
and other animals is very considerable, and capable of useful appli¬ 
cation to a question of practical importance, viz. the necessity of 
employing artificial heat generally in our vivariums, and to the cu¬ 
rious geological problem of the climate of the globe when elephants 
and tigers were inhabitants of the northern zones. 
[Captain James Ross, in corroboration of these views, stated that 
the Stonechat, Whitethroat, and Golden Plover were inhabitants of 
Hudson’s Bay, and that the Raven also occurs in the Arctic Circle, 
without being subject to change of plumage.] 
On the Infra - Orbital Cavities in Deers and Antelopes. By 
Dr. Jacob. 
[This paper having been drawn up in compliance with a recom¬ 
mendation of the Association, will be printed in the next volume 
of Transactions.] 
On a Mode of preserving Echinodermata. By the Rev. 
Charles Mayne. 
In the year 1828, being at the sea-side, Mr. Mayne collected many 
Echini for examination; and the house not being large enough to 
afford him a separate room, he used chloride of lime to prevent in¬ 
convenience to the family from the smell. He soon perceived that 
the Echini steeped in the solution did not lose their spines; he ac¬ 
cordingly tried to preserve them with all their spines on, and sue- 
