In his "Report on Dredging amongst the Hebrides," Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys called attention to certain geological considerations of high theoretical interest, and which produced an animated discussion.

Dr. Le Neve Foster stated that the facts of the "Curious Lode or Mineral Vein in New Rosewarne Mine, Gwinear, Cornwall," led him to infer that the fissure which it occupied had been filled partly mechanically and partly chemically, and that the various deposits had been introduced at six different times. The vein, however, was chiefly remarkable on account of its containing rounded pebbles.

Dr. Beke gave a brief account of the island of St. John, in the Red Sea.

BIOLOGY. (Section D.)

The title "Biology" was this year adopted for Section D in place of the old one "Zoology and Botany," and it was recommended by the Council of the Association that two special departments should be added to it,-one of Physiology and another of Anthropology. Accordingly Section D had three places of meeting, in which papers were simultaneously read. A large number were thus disposed of, equal in amount to those of any three of the other Sections.

Professor Huxley presided over the Section, while Professor Humphry, of Cambridge, took charge of the Physiological, and Mr. Wallace, the traveller, of the Anthropological department.

On the second day of meeting of the Sections, the departments of Section D were summoned to meet in one room, in order to hear an address from Professor Huxley on the classification and scope of the Biological Sciences, with especial reference to the arrangements made with regard to the departments of Section D. The President commenced by observing that he was afraid some present would be disappointed, as he did not anticipate any controversy, nor any heresy. If any persons should be induced to leave the room in consequence of that statement, he should be very glad. He then proceeded to discuss the nature of Biological Science. All Biological inquiries resolved themselves into either the study of form simply, or the reason of that form's occurrence. The Embryologist studied a series of forms only, the Anatomist and Histologist studied form, Histology being assuredly nothing but the anatomy of minute parts. The Taxonomist arranged and classified animals with regard to the forms which they presented; the subject of distribution related to the position occupied by various forms of life at the present time on the surface of the

globe, and in past times, when it became an important aid to the geologist, as the Science Palæontology. All these studies had regard only to the form, and did not deal, strictly speaking, with the reason why these forms existed, or their functions in any way. Hence Development, Anatomy, Taxonomy, and Distribution were arranged under the great division Morphology. Physiology was the other great division of Biology; comprising the study of the functions of individuals and their organs, and that other branch of inquiry, of a far wider and more comprehensive nature, the reason of the existence of all forms of life, their mutual relations and the causes which affected their form and habit. This was almost a new study, and its foundations as a science had been laid by Mr.

Darwin.

With regard to the arrangements of Section D, it was impossible for one assembly to take interest in and discuss papers on all the branches of Biological Science. The reason of this was to be found in the utter neglect of Scientific education in our schools and the indifference of the Universities. The most philosophical division of the Section would doubtless be divided into two, a Morphological and a Physiological, but this would not be convenient, and it was doubtful if a strictly Physiological Section could be well maintained, since a thorough acquaintance with the Sciences of Physics and Chemistry was necessary for the pursuit of Physiology. The Council of the Association had recommended, purely as a matter of convenience, that a department should be allowed for that numerous body of persons who were pursuing the Science of Man; and that another should be arranged in order to facilitate the discussion of questions in which the medical men who attend the Association are interested, and which have not a general interest. This department would receive the title of Physiology, though the term was used of course in a limited sense.

In the discussion which followed, Dr. Humphry expressed great dissatisfaction with the subordinate position assigned to his department (Physiology). Dr. Hughes Bennett wished for equal sections of "Zoology and Botany" and "Physiology and Anatomy." Sir John Lubbock thought the present arrangement satisfactory, since it prevented the physiologists from taking papers on general anatomy. The President refrained from expressing any opinion; saying that what had been done was done by the Council for convenience.

In the brief notice of the papers read in this Section which we shall give, the papers bearing on systematic Zoology, Anatomy, Development, Distribution, Physiology, and Anthropology, will be taken in order of subjects. First, with regard to general anatomy, zoology, and botany (a vague term, but indicating very well the character of many papers), Professor Alfred Newton read the report

of the committee appointed to investigate the extinct birds of the Mascarene Islands. Almost immediately after the appointment of the committee last year, Mr. George Clarke, of Mauritius, had discovered a large deposit of bones of the Dodo in the swamp known as the "Marcaux Songes." By this now celebrated discovery the whole skeleton of the Dodo had been made known, excepting the end of its wing; whereas before the head and foot at Oxford, the skull at Copenhagen, the foot in London, and the beak at Prague, were all the specimens known of the bird. The committee intend to thoroughly search the marsh for the tip of the Dodo's wing; and also to complete their investigation of the bone-caves of Rodriguez and Bourbon.

Dr. Sclater read a paper on the American Prong-horn Antilocapra Americana, in which he pointed out that this animal had characters intermediate between those of the Bovine and Cervinæ. The prong-horn had a branching antler like a stag's, but this was covered with a horny sheath, like that of oxen in character. This horny sheath, however, unlike that of any Bovine animal, was periodically cast off, exposing a new horn beneath. This had been observed in the gardens of the Zoological Society in London. Dr. Sclater submitted a classification of the Ruminating Artio-dactyls to the Section, in which he separated the Antilocapra from the other Unguligrades. Professor Huxley elucidated Dr. Sclater's paper by some remarks on the nature of horns. He criticized the classification offered by Dr. Sclater, since he considered the Tragulidæ, or musk-deer, as very distinct from the other Ruminants.

Dr. Carmichael McIntosh read a paper "On a New Molluscoid Animal, a Tunicate," which he had obtained from the west of Scotland. It appeared to be closely allied to Pelonaia, of Forbes and Goodsir. The same gentleman covered the wall of the room with some beautifully coloured and highly-finished drawings of Turbellaria, Annelida, Nudibranchiata, &c., which he had obtained from North Uist, a list of which was submitted to the Section; many of the forms were new. He also exhibited some smaller drawings of great beauty, destined for the Ray Society's volume on British Annelids. Among the specimens shown was one of a deformed star-fish, having completely the form of a human figure. It is very remarkable that another similar specimen is in the national collection.

Mr. C. Stewart, of Plymouth, read a paper "On the Structure of the Echinoidea Regularia, with Special Reference to their Classification." The value of the minute structure of the "lantern" and of the spicules of the alimentary canal, as systematic characters, had been to a great extent overlooked. Mr. Stewart gave, in a condensed form, the result of much laborious investigation among

the Echinodermata, and showed that many minute details in the skeleton were valuable as differentiæ.

A letter from Dr. Carpenter was read with reference to the specimens of Comatula procured for him by Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys in the Hybrides. The number of dorsal cirrhi in the specimens of C. rosacea was much larger than he had elsewhere observed, whilst the specimens of C. celtica were exceedingly fine, almost leading to the belief that they were stunted forms of the splendid C. Eschrichtii of Iceland. The presence of very many attached Foraminifera and zoophytes on the Comatule confirmed Dr. Carpenter in his opinion expressed in his unpublished memoir, in the hands of the Royal Society, that the adult Comatula is essentially a stationary animal.

Mr. Ray Lankester described the anatomy and asexual reproduction of Chatogaster, a minute worm, one-eighth of an inch long, which clings by hooklets to the bodies of water-snails. He showed that the budding and giving off fresh worms by growth from behind (so that chains of from four to sixteen worms occur) was in this case the result of the tendency to produce three abdominal and one cephalic segment, which the fourth segment always possessed. The most remarkable points in the anatomy of the worm were the very small number of segments constituting an individual-the broad terminal mouth and oral bristles-and the absence of cilia in the whole organism. Professor Huxley said he had observed many of the points mentioned by Mr. Lankester himself, and could speak to his accuracy. He would suggest a comparison between Chatogaster and Sagitta; he was inclined to consider it as an immature form.

Mr. Henry Woodward, of the British Museum, brought forward an interesting classification of a branch of the Crustacea, in his paper "On the Structure of Limulus, Recent and Fossil." He associated the great Eurypterus and Pterygotus with the king-crabs of the present day, connecting them by the Limuloid crustaceans of the carboniferous strata, some forms of which he was the first to describe. He drew a parallel between the Decapodous crustaceans and this group. The Eurypteri represented the Macroura; the Limuloids and Hemiaspis, the Anomoura; while Limulus itself, first appearing as early as oolitic strata, represented the Brachyoura. Mr. Woodward had very carefully worked out the number and fusion of somites in the head, thorax, and abdomen of the Limulus itself, and those crustacea he wished to rank with it. Professor Huxley thought that the Eurypterida must be kept distinct from the other crustacea.

Dr. Ransom, of Nottingham, read a paper "On the Structure and Growth of the Ovarian Ovum in Gasterosteus Leiurus," the result of very careful study and observation. Dr. Ransom regards the

germinal spots, which are readily examined in very young ova, as consisting of a material resembling protoplasm only in its great instability and tendency to vacuolate. The action of water and other agents on the tissues of the ovum was carefully discussed. The observation of the dotted structure of the yelk sac has led Dr. Ransom to ascertain that it does not grow by the apposition of either internal or external layers, but by interstitial development. In studying such structures it is very necessary to use a suitable medium. Dr. Ransom recommends a mixture of glycerine and water, which can readily be brought to the right density.

Dr. W. Turner, of Edinburgh, described the very curious method of gestation in a new fish, belonging to the genus Arius, which he had received from Ceylon. The female fish deposits her eggs, which are then taken into the mouth of the male, who swims about with them until they hatch. Dr. Turner's correspondent had been very careful to avoid any mistake or imposition in the matter. The fish lived in stagnant pools in marshy ground, where they were caught in large numbers by the natives. Dr. Günther, of the British Museum, said it was very remarkable that in South America there was a fish almost exactly like that which Dr. Turner had described, and Agassiz had lately described several others from the Amazons possessing this curious method of gestation; none, however, had been observed in Africa. Fishes of the most distant regions were often most alike, as, for example, certain species found in Madeira and in Japan.

Dr. Cobbold read one of his horrifying papers "On the Entozoa of the Dog in Relation to Public Health," in which he showed that Trichina might be communicated by the dog to man.

Mr. Groom Napier brought forward papers "On the Food and Economic Value of British Butterflies and Moths," and "On the Causes of Variation in the Eggs of British Birds."

Mr. Frank Buckland amused the Section, as is his custom, by a jocose description of Salmon and Oyster fisheries.

In Human Anatomy there was but one paper, but that was of considerable interest, being "On Variations in the great Arterial Blood Vessels," by Dr. G. D. Gibb. The author illustrated the subject by two examples. In the first, the large vessel rising from the heart, called the aorta, gave four branches instead of the usual three, the right carotid and the subclavian, both rising by a distinct and separate trunk, there being necessarily an absence of the innominate artery. In this curious case there was an irregularity in the division of both femoral arteries and in the left sciatic nerve. In the second example, the aorta divided into two great branches; the first of which subdivided into the usual innominate and the left