He trusted it was from one of the eggs hatched either by himself or by the Thames Angling Preservation Society. He collected the fishermen at Gravesend, and they said that for more than thirty-three years a salmon had not been caught there before. He was certain that if the cultivation of salmon in the Thames were attended to, in a few years this valuable fish would be restored to the river. Mr. Buckland then gave some details respecting the Exhibition of Fish-culture at Boulogne. He was happy to say that this congress did great good, commercially and intellectually, inasmuch as representatives of all nations-from Norway and Sweden in the north, to Spain in the south-met to interchange ideas, as well as to establish business correspondence. He had received one silver and two bronze medals from this Exhibition, as well as a silver medal from the Exhibition at Arcaclon for his labours in fish-culture. On Comatula rosacea, C. celtica, and other Marine Animals from the A few thoughts, Speculative and from Observation, on Colour and Chromula. By J. J. CLEATER. On the Entozoa of the Dog in relation to Public Health. In this extended communication the author gave an account of twenty-one different species of canine Entozoa. Amongst the most important forms were the Tania echinococcus and the Trichina spiralis. In regard to the latter he remarked that "it was probably not indigenous in the dog; but the ease with which the parasite was transmissible obliged us to class it as a canine parasite." He had frequently reared it in the dog. Except in an indirect manner the dog would not be likely to give the Trichna disease to man; nevertheless, if infested dog's flesh were eaten by us we should undoubtedly take the disease. At all events, there was danger in allowing trichinized dogs to roam at large, since the consumption of their flesh after death (by other animals) tended to propagate the disorder. especially would thus become liable to the disease. On the Teaching of Science at the Public Schools. By the Rev. F. W. FARRAR, M.A., F.R.S. Rats After alluding to the strangeness of the fact that science, to which the most characteristic progress of this epoch was due, should have been hitherto disregarded at our oldest seats of learning, the author proceeds to argue that the introduction of scientific instruction into the public-school system was necessary on three grounds: first, because it called into play a different order of faculties in boys who had studied language with success; secondly, because it evolved those faculties in boys who were naturally unsuited for classical training; and thirdly, because the schools had ceased to be solely preparatory for the Universities, and were therefore bound to give boys the opportunity of acquiring some knowledge which would be of direct practical use to them in their future professions. He next treated of the difficulties in the way of carrying out these views. Those difficulties did not in the least arise from the prejudice of public-school masters, the majority of whom had used their best efforts to introduce more or less of scientific teaching into the schools, but from the conflicting opinions of scientific men, from the absence of any definite and well-considered scheme, from the badness of many existing text-books, and from the immense amount of time already devoted to the teaching of the modern languages, mathematics, and classics, a term which now involved a very wide range of studies. The author suggested that many of these difficulties might be removed if a committee were appointed by the Association, partly composed of scientific men and partly of masters accustomed to the methods of public schools. He stated that at almost every school something was being done, but that the plans mainly adopted were three; viz., 1. Modern schools in which science was made a part of the course; 2. occasional and compulsory lectures, of which notes were taken by the boys; and 3. a voluntary system, by which boys were encouraged rather than compelled to make themselves acquainted with various sciences. Rugby is the only school at which science is now regularly and completely introduced; and the author therefore described the system there introduced, and the no less characteristic voluntary system which has been established with much care at Harrow, and which is working most advantageously. Finally, the author suggested his own scheme, which was a combination of the voluntary and compulsory systems, for which in the case of many boys ample time could be gained by a wise abandonment of the practice of Greek and Latin composition-an abandonment which (in the case of all but first-rate scholars) he warmly advocated as most desirable after a certain age. On the Power which some Rotifers have of attaching themselves by means of a Thread. By R. GARNER, F.L.S. In this short paper the author observed that Rotifers are not common in seawater, though one, Colurus uncinatus, may be found in any tank. That especially noticed, however, Synchata Baltica, is more choice in its habitat, though it may always be found in water from the mouth of the Mersey, from Rhyl, or Llandudno. The author has not noticed it to be luminous. It evidently has the power of forming a very fine thread from its posterior extremity, by which it attaches itself to other bodies; and when so attached it performs those remarkable circular movements described by Gosse; its ciliated side processes being powerful locomotive organs. During the performance of these movements the thread may be inferred to be present, from small particles adhering, and it may be made visible with the highest power of the usual microscope, inch: the Rotifer can snip it with its pincers at its pleasure, when it goes off with great velocity. Other Rotifers may have a similar power, as indeed is mentioned by Cohn in the common Hydatina. Variations in the Great Arterial Blood-vessels. By GEORGE DUNCAN Gibb, M.A., M.D., LL.D., F.G.S. Deviations in the origin of the great vessels from the aorta were seldom or never recognized during life; whether they exerted any liability or disposition to morbid action, the author thought improbable. In the first of his examples the aorta gave off four branches, instead of the usual three. These were the left carotid and subclavian, arising in the usual manner, and the right carotid and subclavian, each arising direct from the arch of the aorta by a distinct and separate trunk, there being an absence of the innominata. The two vessels on the right side were larger than the left; the left carotid was the smallest of the four. The course of these vessels was the usual one, but the laryngeal branch of the superior thyroid artery of the left side perforated the thyroid cartilage, instead of passing inwards through the thyro-hyoid membrane in the usual manner. Both femoral arteries, and the left great ischiatic nerve varied in their division; all the arteries of the extremities were calcified into hard unyielding cylinders. In the author's second instance, the main trunk or ascending portion of the arch of the aorta divided into two great branches, the first of which subdivided into the innominata and left carotid, the latter crossing the trachea obliquely upwards to the left side; the innominata divided into the two usual branches of right subclavian and carotid. The other subdivision of the arch was into the left subclavian and descending aorta, both vessels taking their usual course. If his interpretation of this peculiarity were correct, the author considered it a unique instance of division of the aorta into two branches which in their subdivision gave off the proper trunks. No similar example had been found, even in Mr. Quain's great work; and the inference was that it was unique. The division of the aorta in this second example was not unlike that of the abdominal aorta into the two iliacs. On the Miocene Flora of North Greenland. By Professor OSWALD HEER. On the Probable Cause of the Existence of a North European Flora in the West of Ireland, as referred to by the late Professor E. Forbes. By H. HENNESSY, F.R.S. On the Oyster Fisheries in Ireland. By JOHN Hoare. On the Ballast-Flora of the Coasts of Durham and Northumberland*, The author, in his remarks on the plants which have been introduced with ballast by ships on the coasts of Durham and Northumberland, limited himself to the sea-coasts, and chiefly to the banks of the rivers Tees, Wear, and Tyne. Of the latter are the great ballast-deposits at Port Clarence, and those at West Hartlepool and East Hartlepool, and the embankment of the railway to the north of the latter town; the mounds of ballast at Seaham, at Sunderland, and near Wearmouth; as well as those at South and North Shields, and others along the Tyne nearer to Newcastle. The lists of the numerous species were divided into two heads-viz., I. Exotics or plants foreign to our island; and II. the rarer indigenous or naturalized species of Great Britain, which were rarely seen in the before-named districts. The number of imported erotics in the first division amounts to 69 species; and that of plants comprised in the second division is 124. These numbers include the species which have been, during many years past, discovered by Messrs. Winch, Storey, Norman, and Lawson, as well as by the author. Yet The ballast of the localities specified is mostly chalk with flints, and therefore many plants which grow naturally in cretaceous formations, are there found. Mr. Hogg stated that several orders of plants are unrepresented; as, for example, there are no Orchidea, not even any of those species of Orchis, which flourish in calcareous soils; and no Saxifrage; one or two of the commonest Rosæ, Rubi, and Ranunculi only occur. It was noticed that after some years' observations, the more tender species, especially the exotics, flourish for two or three years, but that they perish either by the frost of the first hard winter, or by the severe east winds in the spring. Also several sorts of British plants, which were seldom if ever met with before the numerous railways were made, have been carried with shingle along the lines of railway, and so have now fully established themselves. They have not, however, as yet caused any great decrease in the more common plants of the district. It was further remarked that after the ballast had been deposited, Annuals mostly sprung up, but that in two or three seasons they gave way to a variety of Perennials, which succeeded to them. Mr. Hogg inserted in his paper several lists of plants, which he had carefully prepared. On the Asexual Reproduction and Anatomy of Chatogaster vermicularis (Müll.). By E. RAY LANKESTER, of Christ Church, Oxford. This species of Chatogaster is a minute chatopodous worm, one-eighth of an inch long, parasitic on the common water-snail. Its most remarkable peculiarities are, the presence of oral bristles differing from those of the body, the very small number of segments composing it, and the total absence of reproductive organs. The author described its anatomy minutely, and its mode of reproducing by budding. * This paper is published nearly in extenso in the 'Annals and Mag. of Natural History,' No. 109, for January 1867. On the Indians of Vancouver Island. By J. K. LORD. The author gave a description of the customs of the Indians, their weapons, domestic animals, together with other most most interesting peculiarities. He began by showing that the numbers of these Indians were steadily decreasing; he described their personal appearance as being strangely modified by the habit the coast tribes have of sitting continuously in their canoes and in their lodges. Especial reference was made to the curious fact that the teeth of most of the inland Indians are ground down to the gum by the sand which is drifted on to the salmon when exposed for drying in the sun; for it is upon this dried fish the savages subsist entirely during the winter months. The author exhibited an under jaw, in which the teeth were thus worn away. He pointed out the curious fashion the people have of altering the form of the skull during infancy, either making it flat or conical, by means of pressure. Engravings of these skulls, &c. are given in the author's Naturalist in Vancouver Island." The strange ideas relative to the disposal of the dead and the rites of burial were also mentioned. The author then gave many particulars relative to the native dogs, and the probability of a dog having been imported from Japan which had a long, silky coat; the natives used to shear these animals as we shear sheep, using the coat for the manufacture of rugs; but since the introduction of blankets by the Hudson's Bay Company, the dog has disappeared from want of protection, and become extinct. He showed that the art of weaving was known to these tribes at a very early period of their history. The religion of these people is very remarkable, and they entertain beliefs in sacred days and periods and sacrifices to the sun; they believe in witchcraft and in deities representing good and evil. Animals, plants which are eatable, fish and birds, were believed to have been at one time human. The remarkable custom of obtaining the "medicine," to guard them through life, called "tomanawax," was described. They measure the sequence of the seasons by the ripening of berries and opening of flowers, the arrival of the crane and wild goose, spawning of fish, &c. Copious vocabularies of the different languages, and the jargon called Chinook, as spoken by the different tribes west of the Rocky Mountains, were submitted to the Section. The names and words seemed to be harsh, and decidedly unmusical. He then explained a valuable collection of stone weapons dug by himself from the ancient river-gravels of the upper Columbia river; these were intermixed with stone beads, shells of the Ventaliodd, the parasitic barnacles found on the skin of the whale, buttons made from sea-shells, human skulls and bones. These relics were buried at a great depth, and no trade exists at present betwixt the Indians there resident at the present time with those dwelling on the sea-coast; the distance from the sea is nearly a thousand miles. The author drew new and important conclusions from these facts. Lastly, the lodges and canoes were described, and these, it appears, vary among the different tribes, each tribe to a great extent having a form of canoe peculiar to itself. A wonderful "medicine," called a "copper," was exhibited, from Fort Rupert, painted on its surface with brilliant colours, depicting quaint heraldic devices; also a large slate dish, most exquisitely and elaborately sculptured by the Haida Indians living on Queen Charlotte Island. Many other rare objects were exhibited and described. The author brought home a large collection of natural objects, to which frequent reference was made. These are now deposited in the British Museum. Results of the Cinchona cultivation in India. On a New Molluscoid Animal allied to Pelonaia (Forbes and Goodsir). By Dr, C. M'INTOSH. The specimen was found on the beach at St. Andrews, after a severe storm, in 1861, measuring 14 inch in length, in shape like an elongated Florence flask with the bottom a little produced and the neck much elongated. Its test is constructed like sand-paper, the particles forming essential constituents of the mass; and at the wide end there is a series of hairs formed by prolongations of the basis structure, with sand particles and mud attached. Witin this test lies a series of interlaced muscular fibres, which cross each other at right angles, and which muscular coat can be readily separated from the internal (and somewhat fibrous) surface of the test. The branchial sac is elongated, has its meshes of a square or slightly oblong form, ciliated at the edges, and is continued along the narrow part of the animal to the terminal apertures, the oral one of which has no tentacular fringes. Its structure, so far as the specimen was preserved, was detailed, and it was mentioned that its digestive system agreed in general with Pelonaia. In conclusion, the species differs from Pelneaia, as described by Forbes and Goodsir, in the extreme production of the portion sustaining the apertures; and in the structure of the test, which in P. glabra is thin and diaphanous, like parchment, and in P. corrugata thick, cartilaginous and transversely wrinkled, while here it is like sandpaper. The shelf or transverse ridge in the interior of the mantle, as shown in the figure of P. glabra, is absent. It differs also very characteristically from the Boltenia. The same author communicated some remarks on the Turbellaria and Annelida of North Uist, of which he had found about 110 species, including many rare and some new examples. He also exhibited numerous coloured drawings of new and rare marine animals recently got in the Hebrides and St. Andrews Bay. On a Rare Molluscoid Animal (Pelonaia corrugata). This was at first considered to be a new species, from the erroneous or imperfect descriptions previously published, especially that in the British Mollusca' of Messrs. Forbes and Hanley. A minute description was given of its appearance and anatomy;-its unyielding flask-shaped sheath of sand particles, covered with sandy hairs towards its bulbous portion, and to which sheath the muscular coat does not adhere closely; its elongated branchial cavity, curious digestive system, &c. Large coloured drawings of new and rare marine animals from the East and West coasts of Scotland were also exhibited. List of Turbellaria and Annelida of North Uist. The list of Annelida from North Uist consists of about 110 species, some of which have hitherto been procured only at rare intervals, either in Britain or on the Continent, while others are new to science. Amongst the rarer forms may be noticed Lineus albus, Stylus fasciatus, Serpentaria fragilis, Polynoë scolopendrina, Lepidonotus clava, Spinther oniscoides, Gattiola spectabilis, Eteone pusilla, Scalibregma inflatum, Ophelia acuminata, Travisia Forbesii, Terebella maculata, Terebellides stræmi, &c. The rare or new forms come under the genera Leptoplana, Borlasia, Ommatoplea, Lepidonotus, Lumbrinereis, Nerine, Trophonia, Phyllodoce, Clymene, Terebella, Aphlebina, and Dendrostomum. Attention was called to the fact that every specimen of Polynoë scolopendrina was found in the tube of a littoral Terebella. This habit of frequenting the tubes of other annelids is not uncommon in its allies. The P. scolopendrina was also phosphorescent. The author mentioned that Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S. had just placed in his hands a large collection of deep-water forms from the Hebrides, so that a considerable addition to the foregoing list might be expected. On the Zones of the Conifera from the Mediterranean to the Crest of the Maritime Alps. By W. MOGGRIDge. On the Occurrence of Lemna arrhiza in Epping Forest. By W. MOGGRIdge. On the Food and Economical Value of British Butterflies and Moths. |