Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/322

298 Terebratula caput-serpentis, Crenella decussata, Lasæa rubra, Saxicava rugosa, Puncturella Nouchinæ, and Embolus rostratus were already known to inhabit the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. No less than nine out of the fourteen species are coralline crag fossils. The author finds that the present series of shells tends to corroborate views that he had already expressed, namely, that certain species of Mollusca which are common to the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans might have originated in high northern latitudes, and have found their way to Japan on the one side and Europe on the other, by means of a bifurcation of the great Arctic current. Captain St. John's independent opinion and observations tend to strengthen this idea.

The Secretary read, for Capt. W. P. Armit, " Some Notes on the Presence of Tachyglossus (=Echidna) and Ornithorhynchus in Northern and North- Eastern Queensland." It is here shown that the Echidna occurs at Bellenden Plains, situated some thirty miles N.E. of Cardwell in about 18° S. lat., which appears to be the most northern limit yet recorded in the Australian continent. Captain Armit has met with the Ornithorhynchus 150 miles west of Georgetown on the road to Normanton. It also occurs on the Leichardt River, so that its northern limit would appear to be the same, i. e. about 18° S. lat.

Dr. J. Murie, in a note, called attention to the above-mentioned Echidna skull which had been forwarded for comparison. It agreed in all par- ticulars with that of Echidna histrix and that supposed to be specifically distinct, — to wit, E. setosa, — these forms now being genetically distin- guished as Tachyglossus. At a glance it could be seen to differ markedly from the new genus and species of Echidna (Acanthoglossus Brujinii, Peters and Doria) found in northern New Guiuea and lately described in detail by Professor Gervais.

The abstract of a paper, "On the Shell of the Bryzoa," by Arthur W. Waters was taken as read.

The main points of a paper, entitled " Observations on the White Whale (Beluga leucas) exhibited at the Westminster Aquarium "were given orally by Dr. J. Murie. These notes chiefly related to the times and manner of breathing, certain outward peculiarities, visual organ, and movements of body and tail in its progression round the tank, and other subsidiary- topics physiologically and functionally considered. Respiration in and out of the water are not quite identical, nor in either element is there perfect regularity in the intervals of respiration. A flow of blood, supposed by some to be of a menstrual character, was shown to have resulted from con- gestion of the right kidney. The fecal excrement presented peculiar cha- racters, possibly, however, dependent on the liver being out of order, and long fasting ; for the specimen in question does not seem to have partaken of food (or this only very slightly) after capture. A fungus (Saprolegnia