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Societies and Academies

1884; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 30; Issue: 781 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/030603a0

1476-4687

M. R. Dobie, Mr Harmer,

Political Science Research and Education

SYDNEY Linnean Society of New South Wales, July 30.—DrJames C. Cox, F.L.S., Vice-President, in the chair.—The following papers were read:—Revision of the Lamellibranchiata of New Zealand, by Capt. F. W. Hulton, F.G.S. This is a carefully revised list of all the Lamellibranchiate mollusks of New Zealand, with the corrected synonyms and localities of each species. A list is also given of the names of each genus which had been wrongly included by previous authorities in the New Zealand fauna.—List of some New South Wales Zoophytes identified by Dr. Kirchenpauer, hy Baron Sir F. von Mueller, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., &c. The list contains the exact localities of six species of Hydroida and fifteen of Bryozoa collected by Miss Bate on the south-east coast, and Miss Hodgkinson at the Richmond River. They were all detached from sea-weeds, and identified by Dr. Kirchenpauer, Burgomeister of Hamburg.—New Fishes in the Queensland Museum, part iii., by Charles W. De Vis, M.A. Mr. De Vis in this paper goes through the families Berycidce, Sciœnidœ, Carangidœ;, Scombridœ, Trachin-idœ, and Triflidœ:, describing in all twenty-three new species, mostly from the coasts of Northern Queensland.-Census of Australian snakes, with descriptions of two new species, by William Macleay, F. L. S. The two new species are named Dlpsas boydii and Diemenia. atra, both from the Herbert River District, Queensland. The census gives the names, references, and localities of 108 species of snakes, thirty-five of these being innocuous, and seventy-three venomous. The paper concludes with some remarks on the immunity from snake-bite enjoyed by Australia, as compared with India.-On a new species of kangaroo (Dorcopsis chalmersii) from the south-east end of New Guinea, by N. de Miklouho-Maclay. A young kangaroo obtained by N. d.e Miklouho-Maclay in New Guinea, in 1880, has proved to be (on account of the great size of the præmolars, the general shape of the skull, and the direction of the hair on the neck) a new specles of Dorcopsis, which he describes as Dorcopsis chalmersü, Mol. The specific name, Charmersü, is given in honour of the well-known and distinguished missionary of the south coast of New Guinea. The paper contains a full description of the animal and its dentition.—On a complete debouchement of the sulcus Rolando into the fissura Sylvii in some brains of Australian aboriginals, by N. de Miklouho-Maclay. A complete junction of the sulcus Rolando-with the fissura Sylvii, which is very rare in brains of our race (a single case only having been described by Prof. Turner), has been found by the author in two out of four brains of Australian aboriginals. The junctions of the sulcus Rolando with other sulci are, according to Dr. Maclay, also not uncommon in brains of men of dark races, and occur more frequently than in the brains of men of the white race.-The Australian Hydromedusse, part v. (conclusion), by R. von Lendenfeld, Ph.D. In thk paper the monograph on the Australian HydromedusES is brought to a close. All known Australian species are enumerated, with the necessary references, and thirty new species discovered and described by the author are added. The total number of speciesis 231. The most interesting of the new species are illustrated. The classificatory system established by the author is used.—Muscular tissue of Hydroid Polyps, by R. von Lendenfeld, Ph.D. A Hyroid Polyp discovered by the author in Port Phillip possesses a singular apparatus for escaping its enemies. This animal was investigated by Dr. R. von Lendenfeld, and a remarkable muscular structure was discovered. The histological structure of this is described, and some general conclusions drawn from the observations on muscular tissue, by O. and R. Hertwig, Glaus, and the author.—;Notes on the fibres of certain Australian Hircinidse, by R. von Lendenfeld, Ph.D. The author discusses the origin of the “filaments,” and describes some new and interesting peculiarities of the Australian Hircinidne.—On the Myrtaccx of Australia, by the Rev. W. Woolls, Ph.D., F.L. S. In this paper the author gives tabular statements of the distribution of this large order throughout the globe, but with special reference to its development in Australia. From an examination of these tables, as well as from other considerations, it is clear that West Australia must be regarded as the metropolis of the essentially Australian flora, the plants of the eastern portion of the continent bearing evident relation to Asiatic and Oceanic forms, while those of the west find their nearest, though still very distant, kindred in the yet more distant continent of South Africa.—On marine Annelids of the order Serpulea: observations on their anatomy, with descriptions of the Australian species, by William A. Haswcll, M.A., B.Sc. The points treated of are the pseudoluismal system, the segmental organs, the tubiparous glands, budding and hermaphroditism, and the characteristics of the Australian representatives of the order. The arrangement of the vessels in several of the genera is described. Segmental organs of a simple type are shown to exist in addition to tubiparous glands which had been previously regarded as representing the segmen tal sacs of other Polychieta. Details are given of the structure of the tubiparous glands in a variety of genera.—;On a new Crustacea found inhabiting the tubes of Vermitia, by William A. Haswell, M.A., B.Sc. Tn the tube of a Port Jackson Serpulid the author found several specimens of a remarkable Isopod, each with a brood of young. It proved to be a form differing in various points from any of the known families, but most nearly related to the Anthuridae. The young were free in the cavity of the tube, sheltered, however, by fasciculi of hairs fringing the pereion of the parent. Like the “normal“ Isopoda, and unlike the Anthuridje, the embryos are flexed in the egg towards the dorsal side; there is a pair of jointed larval appendages connected with the second larval cuticle.-'Note on Pristiopfiorus cirralus, by William A. Haswell, M.A., B.Sc. This remarkable genus of sharks was shown to be viviparous, and to possess a rudimentary shell thrown off in the uterus as in Mustelus, Carcharias, Galeus, and Sphyrna.