On the Specific Distinctions of Uria troile and Uria lacrymans. The author showed that in the Uria lacrymans the eye is larger than in the Uria troile, and this, in addition to the permanent white streak from which the bird derives its name in the Latin, French and English languages, and the darker colour of old birds, he considered to establish the species distinct. He pointed out the Corvus corone as only distinguishable from Corvus cornix in a portion of the plumage; and though the birds were different in habits, so were the young and the old birds of one and the same species, Larus marinus, the former being gregarious and the other not. On the whole, he concluded that neither in the shape or size of the bill or feet was there any but accidental or temporary differences between individuals of the two species, as imagined by Macgillivray and others, but the distinctions he had pointed out, existing as they did "semper, ubique, et in omnibus," were permanent specific characteristics, and marked the individuality of the species. On the Dispersion of Domestic Animals in connexion with the Primary Ethnological Divisions of the Human Race. By W. OGILBY, F.L.S. The author commenced by observing that the present memoir was the complement of a paper read at the Belfast Meeting of the Association, “On the Geographical Distribution of Animals adapted to Domestication, in relation to the progressive Development of Human Civilization." The extent of the subject, and the limited time at his disposal, compelled him to confine his attention to the domestic sheep; but the same phenomena were exhibited by the Ox, Dog, Goat, &c. The leading facts of Mr. Ogilby's communication may be comprised under the following heads : 1. That the Ovis Brachyura, proper to the northern parts of Europe and Asia, is the characteristic variety of the Tschudic or Ugrian races of mankind. The conquests and encroachments of the Indo-Germanic races have circumscribed the boundaries, and in some places interpolated their own proper variety (the O. dolichura) into the original habitat of the short-tailed sheep; but even where the aboriginal natives have been long extirpated or amalgamated with the conquering race, as in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, &c., this variety still retains its ground; whilst it is the only breed found north of the river Occa among the scattered remains of the Ugrian nations. 2. That the Ovis dolichura has been from time immemorial the appropriate breed of the Indo-Germanic nations, the Celts, Germans, Greeks, Romans, &c. The conquests and migrations of this widely-spread race probably introduced it into Western and Southern Europe long anterior to the historic era, as they have more recently done into North-western India, America, Australia, and partially into Northern Africa. 3. That the Ovis platyura was originally, as it still continues to be, the characteristic variety of the Semitic nations. It is frequently mentioned in the Bible, and has been extended by the conquests and commerce of the Arabs into Central Asia, Persia, Barbary, and along the whole East coast of Africa, as far as the Cape of Good Hope. It is this variety which furnishes the beautiful lamb-skins of Bokhara and the Crimea. 4. That the Ovis steatopyga was the original breed of the Mongolic nations, who still continue to cultivate it exclusively on the elevated plains of Central and Northeastern Asia and China. At a very remote period it was introduced by the conquests of these hordes into South-western Asia, and is unmistakeably mentioned by Moses in three or four texts of the Sacred Volume; but it seems never to have obtained much favour among the Semitic nations, and was not spread abroad, like the O. platyura, by the conquests of the Arabs. 5. That the Ovis longicaudata was the original, as it still continues to be the appropriate breed of the dark-skinned races of mankind both in Asia and Africa, the Ethiopians of classical writers. It is exclusively found in the Central and Western parts of Africa, from Mount Atlas to the country of the Great Damarras; and still lingers along the Southern coasts of Arabia and Persia, in both Indian Peninsulas, and the interior of some of the great islands of the Indian Archipelago. Mr. R. PATTERSON read the following note of the quantity of periwinkles (Littorina littorea) shipped at Belfast during the years 1853, 1854, 1855, and 1856. It had been kindly furnished to him by Edmund Getty, Esq., Secretary to the Harbour Commissioners of that port: 1853. 1854. 1855. 1856. : Bushels. . 7878 2358 Such of these as are not got in the Bay of Belfast, are principally collected on the coasts of the County Down; but the " banks" from which they have been derived are becoming exhausted, and no longer capable of supplying the demand. The quantity of periwinkles deficient is now imported from Stranraer to Belfast, and thence re-shipped for London. The local term in the north of Ireland for the periwinkle is "whelk." The "whelk" (Buccinum undatum) is known as the "buckie." On a Method of applying the Compound Microscope to the sides or top of Aquaria less than two feet in height. By Professor REDFERN, M.D. The arrangement consists of a vertical stem, supported by a heavy foot. On the stem a short transverse tube slides vertically and rotates on the axis of the stem, as well as on an axis at right angles to the direction of the stem. This transverse tube carries a long sliding arm, made use of as a lever, with arms of very unequal length. The short arm of the lever terminates in the cup of a ball-and-socket joint. A short stem attaches a tube to the ball, and this tube allows that which carries the objective and ocular to slide through it in coarse adjustment; whilst a fine adjustment is made by acting on the long arm of the lever. The body of the microscope may thus be placed either vertically or horizontally, and placed either over an aquarium or applied to its side with equal ease in the use of the 2 inch, 1-inch, and the -inch objectives. For the purpose of illumination, the author employs a small mirror, which is let down into the fluid, and is capable of being moved in any direction by a simple arrangement of brass wires shown to the Section. On Flustrella hispida. By Professor REDFERN, M.D. The author pointed out numerous inaccuracies in the existing descriptions of Flustrella hispida, under the names of Flustra hispida and Flustra carnosa, referring especially to the facts that no spines are ever to be found on that side of the aperture of the cell next its base; and that whilst in specimens gathered in Kincardineshire the spines are placed on the septa all round the cells, in those gathered in Dublin Bay the spines for the most part form a semicircle over the aperture, two or three only being found on the sides of the cell in rare instances. The author then described the structure of the polypide after its removal from the cell and its development by gemmation, describing its various stages from day to day, as it grew from a mere projection on the wall of the original cell, up to a complete cell with its spines and fully protruded polypide. The various characters of the perfectly formed zoophyte, with its cells set with spines, the most prominent features of its anatomical structure, and the growth of the new being from day to day, were illustrated by a series of coloured drawings made by the author with the camera lucida. Microscopical preparations were also exhibited to the Section showing the characters of the cell, and of the polypide after its removal. Notes on some of the Animals of Tibet and India. The existence of the Yak, or Tibetan Ox (Bos grunniens), in a wild state has been repeatedly doubted, but we frequently found wild yaks. The chief localities where we met with them were both sides of the range which separates the Indus from the Sutlej, near the origin of the Indus, and near the environs of Gartok; but the greatest number of them was at the northern foot of the high Karakorum range, as well as to the south of the Kuenluen, in Turkistan. In Western Tibet, particularly in Ladak, there are no more yaks in a wild state at present, though I have no doubt that they have formerly existed there. They seem to have been extirpated here, the population being, though very thin, a little more numerous than in Tibet in general. As Ladak has been occasionally more visited by travellers than any other part of Tibet, the want of the yak here has probably given rise to the idea that they are no more to be found in a wild state at all. Amongst all quadruped animals the yak is found at the greatest height: it stands best the cold of the Snowy Mountains, and is least affected by the rarefied air. But at the same time the range of temperature in which a yak can live is very limited; the real yak can scarcely exist in summer in heights of 8000 feet. We often found large herds of wild yaks, from thirty to forty, in heights of 18,600 to 18,900 English feet; and on one occasion we traced them even as high as 19,300 feet,—a remarkable elevation, as it is very considerably above the limits of vegetation, and even more than 1000 feet above the snow-line. The hybrid between the yak and the Indian cow is called Chooboo, and it is very remarkable that the chooboos are fertile. The chooboos, which are most useful domestic animals to the inhabitants of the Himalayas, are brought down to lower places, where yaks do not exist, and where consequently they cannot mix either with yaks or with the Indian cow. We had occasion to see and examine the offspring of chooboos as far as to the seventh generation, and in all these cases we found the later generations neither much altered nor deteriorated; and we were moreover informed that there was never found any limit as to the number of generations. The Kiang, or wild horse (Equus hemionus), has been often confounded with the Gorkhar, or wild ass, though they differ considerably in appearance, and inhabit countries with very dissimilar climates. The kiang exists in the high cold regions and mountains of Tibet, the ass in the heated sandy plains of Sindh and Beloochistan. The kiang is found in great numbers nearly in the same localities as the yak; he does not, however, go up the mountains so high as the yak, but the range of his distribution is greater than that of the yak. The greatest elevation where we found kiangs was 18,600 English feet, whilst we traced yaks as high up as 19,300 feet. The region where the yak and the kiang are found are, in a zoological point of view, among the most remarkable and interesting of our globe. The highest absolute elevation coincides here, it is true, with the greatest height of the snow-line, or rather it causes the snow-line to be higher. But those large, high plateaus and regions, though free from snow and ice in summer, remain a desert throughout the year. The amount of vegetation on them is less than it is in the Desert between Suez and Cairo, in Egypt. Nevertheless these high, sterile regions are inhabited by numerous herds of large quadrupeds; and besides those already mentioned, numerous species of wild sheep, antelopes, and a few canine animals, chiefly wolves, as well as hares, are abundant. The herbivorous animals find here their food only by travelling daily over vast tracts of land, as there are only a few fertile spots, the greater part being completely barren. The great scarcity of vegetation, particularly the entire absence of mosses and lichens, has a very different effect, though an indirect one, on the occurrence of birds. Those small plants are the chief abode of insects: the want of mosses and lichens, coinciding with a total absence of humus, limits, therefore, to its minimum the occurrence of insects, the exclusive food of small birds in all extremely elevated parts of the globe, where grains are no more found. We indeed met, travelling twenty consecutive days between heights of 14,000 to 18,200 feet, only with three individuals belonging to a species of Fringilla, but occasionally a few large carnivorous birds, as vultures, were met with. The Gorkhar, or wild ass (Asinus onager), an animal which, as I mentioned before, has been often confounded with the Kiang, or wild horse, inhabits chiefly the rather hilly districts of Beloochistan, part of the sandy plains of Sindh; and a similar animal is to be found, if I am not mistaken, to the westward of Beloochistan, in Persia, which is called Koolan (Equus hemippus). Dr. Barth lately told me, that, according to the description I gave him, he thinks the asses he saw in Africa identical with the Gorkhars, or wild asses, of Sindh and Beloochistan. I will now try to give an explanation about the fabulous Unicorn, or animal which is said to have one horn only. This animal has been described by Messrs. Huc and Gabet, the famous travellers in Eastern Tibet, according to information they received, as a species of antelope with one horn placed unsymmetrically on his head. When my brother Hermann was in Nepaul, he procured specimens of horns of a wild sheep (not of an antelope) of very curious appearance. At first sight it seemed to be but one horn placed on the centre of the head; but on closer examination, and after having made a horizontal section of the horn, it was found to consist of two distinct parts, which were included in a horny envelope, not unlike to two fingers put in one finger of a glove. The animal when young has two separate horns, which are however placed so close to each other, that the interior borders begin very soon to touch each other; later, by a slight consequent irritation, the horny matter forms one uninterrupted mass, and the two horns are surrounded by this horny substance, so that they appear at first sight to be but one. In conclusion, allow me to say a few words about migratory birds. There are no migratory birds in the Himalayas; we nowhere and at no season found flocks crossing the Himalayas, as many birds of Europe cross the Alps, between Italy and Germany. The Himalayan birds do not change their abodes on a large scale; the different various heights themselves afford them the opportunity to select the climate they require in different seasons. In the plains of India, however, chiefly in Bengal, a large number of birds disappear during the breeding time; they do not, however, leave India altogether, but select their abodes in the lower, impenetrable jungles of the delta of the Ganges and Brahmapootra, called the Sunderbunds, where they were found by my brother Hermann in large quantities, whilst at the same time they had entirely disappeared in Bengal Proper. On the Reproductive Zooids of Comatula rosacea. By Professor WYVILLE THOMPSON. On Dredging in Weymouth Bay. By W. THOMPSON. The results of a day's dredging in Weymouth Bay, by Mr. Thompson, were read, by which it appeared that he had obtained thirteen species of Conchiferous Mollusks; two of fish; eight of Crustacea; two Nudibranchiate Mollusks; four Tunicated Mollusks; four Actiniada; one Cirrhipede; one Medusa (floating); three Sponges; three Radiata; and nine Annelides. Mr. Thompson also drew attention to the gregarious habit of Doris bilamellata in early spring, when they approach the shore for the purpose of depositing their coils of ova. He also drew attention to the constancy with which certain parasites in the different families of nature are always found in the same species, and he instanced Adamsia palliatia as always found on Pagurus Prideauxii; Sagartia parasitica on Pagurus Bernhardus; Halichondria suberea on Pagurus Forbesii, and very seldom on Pagurus lævis; Hydractinia echinata on Pagurus Bernhardus. Pecten opercularis, when young, is always attached by a byssus, and Pecten varius is attached throughout its existence. The dredging ground was on a rough shingle and coralline bottom in 10 fathoms water, in Weymouth Bay, about four miles from the shore. Notes of a Visit to Mitchelstown Caves. By Dr. E. PERCIVAL WRIGHT, Director of the Dublin University Museum. The author stated, that in company with Mr. Halliday, he, in the early part of August 1857, explored the extensive limestone caverns situated in the valley of Mitchelstown, between the Galtee and the Knockmildown ranges of mountains; the object of the visit being to examine whether any of the curious blind animals, so well known as inhabiting the Carniola and other caves, could be found in Ireland. He gave a brief sketch of the geology of the district, of the various blind insects found on the continent and described by Schiodte, and of the Mitchelstown Cave, of which a ground-plan was exhibited; and then stated that in the interior of the cave, and near some small pools of water formed by the dropping from the roof, specimens of a small white Lipura were discovered. This insect comes very near to the species figured by Schiodte, found in Adellesburg Cave; but on a very careful examination by Mr. Halliday, many differences were detected, more particularly the total absence of ocelli, fourteen of which are figured by Schiodte on each side of the head of his Lipura; but not a trace of ocelli was found in the Mitchelstown Cave specimens. Mr. Halliday observed that there were some other points, in which Schiodte's observations, or at least his interpretation of them, were at variance with what is known of the common structure of this family. Hence he was led to hesitate as to the importance to be attached to the differences noted. His Lipura, as well as another species of the family (certainly blind), Tritomurus scutellatus, had both been ascertained to have an extensive range in the caves of the Austrian territory, and it did not seem so improbable that they should occur in similar situations even in these islands. The other species found in the Mitchelstown caves having distinct eyes, and the structure of the anal fork agreeing with Macrotoma, could not be confounded with the last-named insect. The list of the proper subterranean Fauna of the European caves (independent of the immigrant animals which occur on the outer world also) had been largely added to since Mr. A. Murray's paper "On Blind Insects and Blind Vision" was written. Mr. Halliday submitted a list which, in its turn, would doubtless soon be antiquated by the fresh investigations so diligently pursued by the Austrian naturalists. The present list comprises :-Vertebrata, 1; Insecta, 31; Arachnida, 7; Myriapoda, 1; Crustacea, 5; Annelida, 1; Mollusca, 17. PHYSIOLOGY. The PRESIDENT of the Physiological Sub-Section said that it would be in the recollection of several persons present, that in the year 1835, when the British Association met first in Dublin, a Physiological or Medical Section had been formed and had worked with great success, and that many important additions to science had emanated from its labours. Since that period, however, at the meetings of the Association which took place in the principal towns throughout the empire, no Physiological Section existed, nor indeed had it been originally intended in the arrangements for the present meeting in Dublin to establish any such Section as a distinct one. It had been found, however, that many distinguished scientific medical men had assembled in the city, representing not merely England and Scotland, but several of the Continental countries, and even America, and it was determined, even at the present late hour, to organize a Sub-section, in which the labours of these eminent medical men could be made available for the promotion of science, and he (Professor Harrison) was happy to congratulate the meeting on the distinguished array of gentlemen now assembled in this room. On certain a priori Principles of Biology. By Professor ALISON, M.D. The writer stated that there were certain principles which should be admitted as ultimate facts, as stated, very accurately, by Cuvier, because exceptions to the laws of inorganic matter; and that they formed the same basis for physiological science as the principles of Gravity, the Inertia of Matter, or the Laws of Chemistry, for the sciences of dead matter, and as certain inductive principles to the science of morals. It might be said that the object of the paper was to apply the logic of the Scotch school of metaphysics to physiological science; but on account of the recent illness of the distinguished author, the communication was incomplete*. * Dr. Gairdner, of Edinburgh, as a pupil of Professor Alison, explained the nature and object of his distinguished preceptor's views, which he said were chiefly directed to oppose the modern tendency of medical investigation, which he regarded as likely to degrade the science to that of a subordinate department of chemistry on the one hand, and of mechanical science on the other, omitting the one consideration of that indispensable though less intelligible class of phenomena which were known to be vital. |