(Ailurus fulgens), as deduced from a specimen of this animal which had been presented to the Society by Dr. Simpson, in May 1869, and had lived for some time in the Society's gardens. After an elaborate examination of every part of this animal, Professor Flower came to the conclusion that it belonged to the Arctoidean group of the carnivores, and was most nearly allied to the racoons and other members of the family Procyonida.

Notes on Tortoises.-Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., with an energy which we fancy few of our younger naturalists possess, read, at the Zoological Society on Nov. 1, no less than six communications on various points connected with the natural history of the Testudinata. The first of these contained notes on three tortoises living in the Society's gardens, one of which was believed to be new to science, and was proposed to be called Testudo chilensis. The second contained descriptions of two new species of Indian tortoises in the collection of Mr. T. C. Jerdon. The third related to the family Dermatemydæ, and embraced the description of a species of this group living in the Society's gardens. The fourth contained notes on a West African river tortoise (Cyclanosteus senegalensis), also living in the Society's gardens. The fifth contained notes on Bartlettia, a proposed new genus of fresh-water tortoises, belonging to the family Peltocephalidæ, and the sixth notes on the species of Rhinoclemmys, in the British Museum.

Anatomical Characters of Limpets.-In the "American Naturalist" for November Mr. Dall gave an account of the anatomical characters of the conical univalve mollusks generally known as limpets. These have been divided by Gray and other naturalists into two orders, according as the animal possessed one plume-shaped gill over the back of the neck, or a cordon of lamellar gills all around the body. His recent investigation of the anatomy of many species, principally from the American coasts, had shown that the value of these distinctions was less than had been heretofore supposed. Some of the limpets were shown to be entirely without special gills; others possessed a cervical plume-like gill, and also a cordon of accessory gills, greatly varying in extent in the different genera. For this reason he proposed to include them all in one order (named Docoglossa by Dr. Troschel), subdividing it into two sections characterised by the total absence, or by the presence, of gills. These sub-orders would respectively bear the names of Abranchiata and Proteo-branchiata.

The Development of Discina.-This subject has been well studied by Professor Edward S. Morse. Referring to his former papers in the early stages of Terebratulina, and the evidence then adduced of the proofs of the close relations existing between the Brachiopoda and the Polyzoa, he said that an examination of the early stages of Discina showed the same simple lophophore, sustaining a few cirri, the stomach hanging below, and other features in which a resemblance was seen. The perivisceral wall is made up of two layers of muscular fibres which cross each other, giving it a reticulated appearance. While the young shell is oval in shape there is marked out a perfectly circular area, indicating that at the outset the embryo possesses a circular plate above and below. The muscles were very large, and occupied most of the perivisceral cavity. The setæ fringing the mantle were very long, those from the anterior margin being nearly three times the length of the shell. The mantle margin, the blood lacunæ, and the bands of muscles to move the setæ, were all described.

Salmon in Japan.--The "Society of Arts Journal" says that Mr. Troup, acting-consul at Niagata, in a report this year to Sir II. Parkes, states that great quantities of salmon are caught in all the rivers of that province. Besides in the Shinano-gawa, it is found in the Aga-no-kawa, the Arakawa, and the Miomote-gawa, or Murakami rivers to the north-east. Might it not be possible to introduce the spawn into Tasmania and New Zealand from Japan more successfully than has yet been done from England?

Collection of Venezuelan Birds.—On November 15 a paper was read before the Zoological Society by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin on the recent collections of Venezuelan birds made by Mr. A. Goering in the vicinity of Merida. The present collection was stated to embrace examples of 105 species, nine of which were considered to be new to science. Amongst the latter were two new parrots, proposed to be called Urochroma dilectissima and Conurus rhodocephalus.

The Relations of Brachiopods and Worms.-It seems unlikely that the Brachiopods should be classed with the Annulosa, yet they have been; and we are glad to see that an American naturalist, Mr. Dall, places the Brachiopods once more among the Mollusca. In doing so he referred to several special points of structure, especially the peduncle of Lingula, demonstrating its construction to be analogous to that of the siphons of bivalve mollusks, such as the common clam, Mya arenaria. He then described the bristles of Lingula, showing that they were quite different in construction from those of the worms, and also that the Chitons were (in some genera) provided with true follicular setæ, proceeding from the mantle. Hence these characters cannot be held to afford satisfactory evidences of affinities with Annelids. Mr. Dall then proceeded to discuss the theory of Mr. Morse, that the Brachiopods were a subdivision of the Annelids. Mr. Dall took the opposite view, and, says the "American Naturalist," while admitting all the facts brought forward by Mr. Morse, and fully appreciating the careful and thorough nature of his researches, contended on the other hand that these facts were susceptible of quite another interpretation. Mr. Dall then went on to take up, one by one, the circulatory, nervous, muscular, and digestive systems of the Brachiopods, and to compare each with the same organs in the Annelids and the Mollusks, and came to the conclusion that the weight of structural characters was essentially of a Molluscan nature. The Mollusks were an individualised type, while the Annelids, and even most of the Articulates, were typified by their repetition of similar organs. No such repetition obtains among the Brachiopods. Mr. Dall was of the opinion that the Molluscoidea should rank as one of two great primary divisions of the Mollusca-one, the true Mollusks, typified by the Gasteropoda, and second the Molluscoidea, typified by the Brachiopoda. The second division would include the Polyzoa, Tunicata, and Brachiopoda; and Mr. Dall was of the opinion that these groups were essentially related to one another, and cannot be separated without violence to their affinities.

The Cranium in Reptiles, Batrachia, and Fishes.-Professor E. D. Cope read a long paper before the American Association on this subject. It is reproduced, with the woodcuts, in the "American Naturalist" for October. It is a lengthy and important paper, and we do not do more than refer to it here, for it would be impossible to give any abstract of it whatsoever.

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