localities. In conclusion Mr. Maw put forth some hypotheses as to the period when the degradation of the older formations (the materials of which compose the drift) took place, the manner in which the drift was deposited, the extent of the submergence of England and Wales during the period of its deposition, and the influence of glaciers and glacier action in its production.

February 3rd.

The following communication was read:-" On the Permian Rocks of the North-west of England, and their Extension into Scotland." By Sir R. I. Murchison, K.C.B., F.R.S., F.G.S., and Professor R. Harkness, F.R.S., F.G.S. In this paper the authors propounded a new view of the composition of the Permian Group in the northwest of England. By the rearrangement of the rocks involved in this change in classification, they were enabled to place the Permian strata of Great Britain in direct correlation with those of the continent of Europe. This new feature in British classification is the assignment of a large amount of red sandstone in the north-western counties to the Permian period, and its removal from the New Red Sandstone, or Trias-formation, to which it has hitherto been assigned in all geological maps. The authors showed that these red sandstones are closely and conformably united with the Magnesian Limestone or its equivalent, and form the natural upper limit of the Paleozoic deposits. They thus affirmed that a tripartite arrangement of the Permian rocks holds good in Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Lancashire, and that the three subdivisions are correlative with those formerly shown by Sir R. I. Murchison to exist in the Permian deposits of Germany and Russia; thus proving the inapplicability of the term Dyas to this group of rocks. The difference in lithological details of the Permian rocks of the north-west of England from those on the opposite flank of the Pennine chain was next adverted to; and it was observed that, with so vast a dissimilarity in their lithological development in England, we need not be surprised at finding still greater diversities in these protean deposits when followed into Germany and Russia. The discovery, by Professor Harkness, in the central member of this siliceous group in Westmoreland of numerous fossil plants identical with the species of the Kupfer-schiefer in Germany, and in the Marl-slate of the Magnesian Limestone of Durham, was given as a strong proof of the correctness of the authors' conclusions. The comparative

scarcity of igneous rocks, and the influence of powerful chemical action in the Permian strata of Britain, are contrasted with their abundance in deposits of that age in Germany; but proofs are nevertheless brought forward to show that the hæmatite of Cumberland and Lancashire was formed in the early accumulation of the Permian deposits. In describing in detail the different members of the Permian group in the north-west of England, the authors define the downward and upward limit of the strata which have undergone dolomitization; for, whilst certain bands of calcareous breccia (the "brockrum" of the natives), which occur in the central portion of the series, contain much magnesia, the lower breccias, composed of the same mountain-limestone fragments, have no trace of it; nor is it to be detected in the Upper Member, or St. Bee's Sandstone.

February 19th.

At the Annual General Meeting, held this day, Professor A. C. Ramsay, F.R.S., President, in the chair, the Secretary read the reports of the Council, of the Museum and Library Committee, and of the Auditors. The unexampled increase in the numbers of the Society and the state of the Society's finances were considered to be extremely satisfactory.-The President announced the award of the Wallaston Gold Medal to Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, K.C.B., &c., for his many distinguished services to Palæozoic Geology, especially (1) for his great work entitled the "Silurian System;" (2) for his important work on the geology of Russia; and (3) for his remarkable discovery of the true relations of all the rocks beneath the Old Red Sandstone that form the Highlands of Scotland; and, in handing the medal to the eminent recipient, he took occasion to review briefly the influence of these various labours on the progress of geological science. Sir Roderick Murchison, on receiving the medal, expressed his deep sense of the honour which had been done him by the Society.--The President then stated that the balance of the proceeds of the Wollaston Donation-fund had been awarded to M. Deshayes, to assist him in his work on the Mollusca of the Paris Basin, and in testimony of the high esteem in which the Geological Society held those labours, and placed it, together with a diploma to that effect, in the hands of the Foreign Secretary, for transmission to M. Deshayes.-Professor Ramsay then read his Anniversary Address, prefacing it with biographical notices of lately deceased Fellows of the Society-namely, Lucas Barrett, Esq., the Marquis of Lans

downe, John Taylor, Esq., Prof. E. Mitscherlich, and S. P. Pratt, Esq.; he also gave a sketch of the chief labours of the late Rev. Stephen Hislop. In the Address the President discussed the breaks in succession of the British Mesozoic Strata, thus endeavouring to discover how far and in what manner the same kind of reasoning as that employed in the last Address was applicable to secondary formations. First, however, he examined the numerical relations which different classes of animals bore to one another in Palæozoic times, comparing them with their development in secondary epochs. The general conclusion arrived at was that a long interval of time, often stratigraphically unrepresented, is an invariable accompaniment of a break in the succession of species; and the more special inference was that, in cases of superposition, in proportion as the species are more or less continuous-that is to say, as the break in life is partial or complete, first in the species, but more importantly in the loss of old and the appearance of new genera-so was the interval of time shorter or longer that elapsed between the close of the lower and the commencement of the upper formation.

3. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, (11, Hanover Square).

January 12th.

A communication was read from Mr. J. H. Gurney containing a list of birds collected by Mr. Andersson during his recent journey in Damara Land.-Mr. Buckland exhibited and made remarks on some specimens of oysters from Prince Edward's Island, alluding especially to the probable advantage of introducing the American species Ostrea virginica into this country.-Dr. P. L. Sclater read a list of a small collection of birds from Huaheine, one of the Society Islands. The specimens in question had been procured for Mr. J. H. Gurney by Mr. James H. Wodehouse, H.B.M. Consul at Raiatea.— Dr. J. E. Gray read a notice of a new species of squirrel from Natal, proposed to be called Sciurus ornatus; also some notes on certain species of tortoises from the Asiatic Islands, procured by Dr. P. Bleeker, among which was one which appeared to be the type of a new genus of these reptiles.--Mr. Leadbeater exhibited a young specimen of Owen's Apteryx (Apteryx owenii) from New Zealand.— Mr. Henry J. B. Hancock gave notice of his intention to try some experiments on the supposed electricity of Octopus in the Society's Gardens.

January 26th.

A communication was read from Dr. Krefft of Sydney on a new Australian serpent of the family Boide, from Port Denison, N.E. Australia, proposed to be called Aspidiotes melanocephalus.-Mr. W. H. Flower read a paper on the brain of the Echidna hystrix, referring in particular to the form of the corpora quadrigemina, which, contrary to what had been usually stated, he considered did not materially differ in this monotreme from the ordinary structure of this part of the brain in other mammals.—Mr. G. R. Gray communicated the description of a new Goliath beetle obtained by Dr. Kirk on the Zambesi, proposed to be called Goliathus kirkianus, from its discoverer.-A paper was read by Dr. J. C. Cox of Sydney, New South Wales, on a new Australian species of mollusk of the genus Helix, from Port Denison, North Eastern Australia, proposed to be called Helix forbesii.-Dr. A. Günther read a list of a collection of thirty-one fishes, obtained by Captain I. M. Dow, Corresponding Member, in Central America, among which were many new species, and several others of great interest.-A paper was read, by Messrs. Adam and Angas, containing descriptions of new species of shells, chiefly from Australia, in the collection of Mr. Angas.-Dr. J. E. Gray communicated some notes on certain seals, including the description of a new form proposed to be called Halocyon richardii, from the west coast of North America.

February 9th.

Dr. J. E. Gray communicated the description of a new Mustela from Quito, which he proposed to call M. aureiventris; also some notes on new lizards obtained by Dr. Kirk in Eastern Africa during the Zambesi expedition, with descriptions of several new species. Dr. Gray likewise communicated some notes on some specimens of mammalia recently received by the British Museum, with the description of a new species of the genus Golunda.-Mr. G. F. Angas read some observations on the geographical distribution of the species of Voluta and Cymbium in the Australian seas.-Papers were read by Mr. G. R. Gray on a new species of Megapodius from the island of Nuia Fou, about half-way between the Feejee and Samoan Islands, which he proposed to call M. pritchardi, and on a new species of Prionops obtained during the recent Zambesi expedition, proposed to be called Prionops bicolor. Mr. Gray also gave a

notice of a new species of Turacus, obtained during the same expedition, which he proposed to call Turacus livingstonii.-Mr. Gould pointed out the characters of a new species of gull of the genus Chroicocephalus from Thibet.-Dr. E. Crisp read a paper on the visceral anatomy of the giraffe, as observed in three specimens of that animal that had died in the Society's gardens.-Dr. A. Günther read a paper entitled "Third Contribution to our Knowledge of the Australian Batrachians," in which were contained descriptions of five new species of these animals from various parts of Australia, one of which appeared to constitute the type of a new genus.—Mr. Tegetmier exhibited a new method of pinioning wild birds, so as to prevent them from injuring their plumage when captured.

February 23rd.

Mr. W. K. Parker read a paper on the Osteology of the Kagu Rhinochetus jubatus, in which the structure of this singular bird and its relationship to Brachypteryx, Nycticorax, and Eurypyga, and other genera of Rallidæ, Gruidæ, and Ardeida, were discussed. —Dr. P. L. Sclater pointed out the characters of a new Screamer of the genus Chauna, a specimen of which was living in the Society's Gardens. The species, which had been obtained by Mr. Greey on the Dekke River, in New Granada, was proposed to be called Chauna nigricollis. Dr. Sclater also reported two additions to the list of species of Falkland Island birds in continuation of former communications on the same subject.--Mr. F. F. Buckland made some observations on the habits of Spawning Trout, and on the results obtained in the course of experiments he had made with eggs taken from dead fishes. -Dr. E. Crisp exhibited some drawings of the eggs and young of an Anaconda (Eunectes).—Mr. E. D. Cope communicated a sketch of a new arrangement of the higher groups Batrachia Anura, deduced from osteological characters.-Papers were read by Dr. J. E. Gray on a new species of Zorilla, proposed to be called Z. albinucha; and on a rearrangement of the Tortoises of the family Trionychida.-Mr. Gould exhibited and described a new species of Cuckoo of the genus Chrysococcyx from Siam, proposed to be called C. schomburgkii.— An extract was read from a letter, addressed by Mr. S. Archer to Mr. S. P. Woodward, relative to the distribution of certain terrestrial and freshwater Mollusks in the Himalayas.