PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
91 
from purple to white, from the loss of a peculiar ammoniacal principle, was first 
alluded to ; 2. Clmium ; S. a plant analogous to Sago, having a farinaceous pulp, 
which is commonly employed by the natives as an article of food, and is known 
by the name of “Quanglang f 4. which grows only upon insects.'—Some 
instances were then adduced, showing the ardour which actuates the labouring 
classes, in various parts of the country, in the study of Botany. 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
March 14.—-Mr, W. Sells read a paper on the Vultur aura^ a species inhab-^ 
iting Jamaica, where it is known by the name of “ John Crow.” It feeds on 
carrion; and its services in clearing the country of putrid substances are so highly 
valued by the legislature, that for every individual destroyed, a fine of £5 is 
imposed. Some recent dissections, by Mr. Owen, led to several interesting com¬ 
parative observations on this bird and the Goose and Turkey; the difference 
consisting in the distribution of the olfactory nerves, and the superior size of the 
true olfactory in F. aura^ the latter arising from two oval ganglions, which is not 
the case in the Common Turkey.—Mr. Reid gave a description of a new species 
belonging to the order Rodentia^ nearly allied to the genus Ctenomys^ but differ¬ 
ing in the great breadth of its incisors.—Mr. Darwin read a paper on the Rhea 
Americana^ and the newly described species. Its progress through the water is 
slow, only a small portion of the body appearing above the surface, and the neck 
being extended forward. The males are said to perform the office of incubation, 
and rear the offspring. Several females lay in one nest, the number of eggs 
deposited by each amounting, according to Azara, to sixty or seventy. He then 
alluded to the Avestris petise^ which is very common about south of the Rio 
Negro. Rhea Americana inhabits La Plata, as far as a little south of the Rio 
Negro, lat. 41, Avestris petise taking its place in South Patagonia.—Mr. Gould 
described a species of Rhea from Patagonia, brought over by Mr. Darwin, dis¬ 
tinguished from jR. Americana by being one-fifth smaller, by the bill being 
shorter than the head, the tarsi reticulated in front, instead of being protected, 
as in the Common Ostrich, by large transverse plates, and by being feathered below 
the knee. The wings, moreover, are more thickly plumed, and the feathers mar¬ 
gined with white. 
March 28.—Dr. Bostock in the chair.^—-Mr. Bennett read part of a paper 
On the Natural History and Habits of the Spermaceti Whale.”—A communi¬ 
cation, from the Rev. Mr. Lowe, on the fishes found in Madeira, was read, 
accompanied with a copious synonymy .-—Also a paper from Mr. Jones, relative 
to the close branchial fissure, or external gills, of the Tadpole. 
