and not merely distinctive of an immature fish, it seems to occupy a middle position between the GENUS Urogymnus of Gray-"Tail without a spine;" and the GENUS Trygon--"Tail with one or more serrated spines;" as having "Tail with spine bordered and tipped with membrane;" otherwise I am inclined to place this fish under the GENUS Hemitrygon of Müller and Henle, which is distinguished by having a "tail with a hem-like fin on the under side only." In the British Museum Catalogue of 1851 there are only two species given under this genus, one from the Chinese Seas, and the other from the Adriatic; so that this large species may possibly not have been previously described; and I would accordingly, while waiting for more information on the subject, give it the provisional name of Hemitrygon Ukpam. I have presented one of the specimens of this fish to the Natural History Museum of the University. Sir William Jardine said, the account given by the natives of the young fish entering the maternal organs was very interesting; the RAYS were considered the analogues of the MARSUPIATA among animals, and it would be very curious indeed. should a peculiarity of this kind be common to both. The thanks of the Society were voted to Mr Archibald Hewan, Old Calabar, for his kindness in forwarding to this country the specimens of the Ukpam. (2) Notice of the Passer montanus, the Tree Sparrow, shot near Dunbar. By JOHN ALEXANDER SMITH, M.D. The Passer montanus, the Tree Sparrow (exhibited), was shot at Pitcox, near Dunbar, by Dr C. Nelson, and was the first specimen he had seen killed in Scotland. It is distinguished from the common sparrow by its smaller size, by the chestnut colour of the top of the head, which is also more divided from the colours of the back, by the sides of the neck being white, by a distinctly-defined black spot on each cheek, and by two white stripes on the wing, there being only one in the common sparrow. Our books on ornithology state generally that this bird has never been observed in Scotland. From its considerable resemblance, however, to the common. sparrow, it might be easily overlooked. Mr Keddie, assistant to Mr Sanderson of George Street, informed me he had seen specimens of this bird, some five or six years ago, frequenting several large Scots firs near Mitchells, a hamlet not far from Leuchars, in Fife. The following extract from Dr Nelson's letter gives some interesting details : "The first time I saw this species alive was in Lancashire, about 10 years ago, when waiting for hawks, &c., at dusk, in a small plantation more than a mile from any house. For several nights I had observed eight or ten birds take up their abode under an old magpie's nest, and their call being something new to me, I sent some dust-shot at the nest, and down came three of this lively little finch-the first I had ever seen in the flesh. I saw nothing more of the species till about four years ago, when I killed a pair at my brother's at Castleton, near to Tantallon Castle. I expected to find them nesting in the ivy which "braves the blast" on several points of that old ruin; but although I looked anxiously for them dozens of times, I never saw any but the common species. The specimen sent I killed with an air-cane about two months since. A colony of about a dozen has taken up their habitat in a wood about a hundred yards from my house, and for many weeks have come to feed under my windows, in company with the chaffinch and greenfinch. While I am writing this, my little favourites are within four yards of the window; and I can count as many as five-all males-one evidently an old cock, from his bright plumage. In and about my farm steading, which is not far from the house, the common species, Passer domesticus, is in hundreds; but I have never once seen P. montanus mixing with them. It would seem that he looked upon his plebeian brother with contempt, preferring the company of the bright liveried spink and the spring-tinted chloris. The food seems to be the seeds of several of our common weeds, and they will battle, and successfully, too, with the more robust greenfinch, should he trespass on their feeding-ground." Wednesday, February 23, 1859.-ANDREW MURRAY, Esq., President, in the Chair. The following Donations to the Library were laid on the table :1. Ruminantia (from the Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology.) By T. Spencer Cobbold, M.D. 2. Observations on Entozoa, with notices of several new species. &c. By T. Spencer Cobbold, M.D-From the Author. 1. Physikalske Meddelelser af Dr Christopher Hansteen. Christiania, 1858. 2. Inversio Vesica Urinariæ og Luxationes femorum congenita. Af Lektor Voss. Christiania, 1857. 3. Forhandlinger ved de Skandinaviske Naturforskeres, Christiania. 2 vols. 1847-1857.From the Royal University of Christiania. Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, No. 12., 1857-1858.- From the Society. The Canadian Journal of Industry, Science, and Art, new series, No. 18. November 1858.-From the Canadian Institute, Toronto. Transactions of the Botanical Society, vol. vi, part i., 18571858-From the Botanical Society, Edinburgh. The following communications were read : I. On some Fossil Bovine remains found in Britain. By Wм. Turner, M.B., London; Demonstrator of Anatomy, University of Edinburgh. The Fossil remains which I am about to bring before the notice of the Society this evening belong to the Bovine Family of the order Ruminantia. They have been collected from various localities, and have been placed at my disposal for purposes cf description by several friends to whose care their preservation is due, and to whom I must confess my acknowledgments for permission to make use of them on this occasion. The largest and most characteristic of these Fossil Bones are from the Anatomical Museum of the University of Edinburgh, where they have formed a part of the osseus collection for upwards of forty years. No description of them has ever been put on record. I have, through the kindness of Professor Goodsir, an opportunity of describing them to the Society this evening. These bones consist of two crania, a femur, scapula, humerus, the second cervical vertebræ, a rib, and the left horn-core with a small portion of the frontal bone. Unfortunately no account either of the locality in which they were obtained, or of the deposit in which they were found lying, has been preserved; and, from the length of time which has elapsed since they were discovered, it is almost hopeless to expect that any accurate information respecting these important and interesting particulars will ever be obtained. If one might form an opinion, however, respecting the nature of the deposit in which they had been imbedded, by the deep brown colour of the outer surface of all these bones, with the exception of the larger cranium, one would be led to suppose that they had reposed for a lengthened series of years either in close contact with a peaty soil, or in water deeply impregnated with organic matter. * The two crania present all the characters which belong to that great fossil ox which has been described by Bojanus and Owen by the name of Bos primigenius. These are especially the great length and peculiar curvature of the horn-cores, their origin, from the extremities of the ridge which separates the frontal from the occipital portions of the cranium, and the slightly concave forehead with which the plane of the occiput forms an acute angle; characters which were first specifically laid down by Cuvier, and which enable the anatomist to distinguish the cranium of the Bos from that of the Aurochs, with which, at the first glance, it might be confounded. Both the crania have evidently belonged to fully formed animals, probably, indeed, advanced in years; for the sutures are almost without exception obliterated by ossification, and the two last posterior molars which remain on the left side of the upper maxilla of the best preserved skull are very much worn. These are the only teeth which have been preserved; portions of the fangs of one of the other molars are still present, however, in their sockets. In this skull, all the bones of the cranium, as well as those of the face, with the exception of the lower jaw, are in an almost perfect condition. The other cranium is not in so good a state, for all the facial bones have been broken away, and the base of the skull is very much. injured; the ends of the horn-cores have also been broken off, so that their original length cannot be ascertained. In both crania the horn-cores are tuberculated at the base, and marked with long grooves on the surface. These characters are also seen in the single detached horn-core. Both crania exhibit corresponding dimensions in their several parts, so far as they are present in the two specimens, so that one must suppose that the animals to which they belonged were of equal size in most particulars. I subjoin some of the principal measurements, contrasting them at the same time with those of "the * Menagerie du Museum d'Hist. Nat. Art. du Zebu; Ossimens Fossiles, t. iv. p. 109. magnificient specimen of an entire skull from near Athol, Perthshire, now in the British Museum."* Whilst the skulls agree pretty closely in several of their measurements, there appears to be a considerable difference between them as regards their length. Professor Owen does not state what were the extreme points between which he measured. In the most perfect of the two crania in the Edinburgh University Museum, the length of which is above given, the line was drawn from the frontal ridge between the horncores to the tip of the intermaxillary bone. If the line be extended backwards, however, as far as the occipital foramen, the measurement is increased to 33 inches. The span between the tips of the horn-cores is thirty inches, and the circumference of the cores at the base 15 inches; between the orbits the skull measures 12 inches. If, as may very reasonably be conjectured, these crania were found in Scotland, they add another to the many previously existing examples of the existence of this large Bos in this country. In addition to the instance already quoted from Professor Owen's work, Dr Fleming† has recorded instances of the existence of large bovine crania in the marl-pits of Scotland, "exhibiting dimensions superior to those of the largest domesticated breed." These, however, he refers to the Bos taurus. I have had an opportunity of seeing the cranium particularly referred to by Dr Fleming. It is a remarkably fine example of the Bos primigenius, the teeth, especially, being well preserved. It is now in the Museum of the Free Church College. In the Museum of the College of Surgeons in this city is a well-marked specimen of the cranium of this animal. In the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries there are three crania, two of which are in very good condition, they were * Owen-"History of British Fossil Mammals and Birds," p. 501. VOL. II. K |