[E] In his paper "On the Structure of Whales" (Phil. Trans. 1787), Hunter remarks that the organ of smell "is peculiar to the large and small Whalebone Whales." He further remarks, that, "in those that have olfactory nerves, the lateral ventricles are not continued into them as in many quadrupeds;" and he notices "the want of the olfactory nerves in the genus of the Porpoise."—'Anim. Economy,' Palmer's edit. pp. 372, 373, 376.
[F] See Memoirs in the 'Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh' for 1832.
Extract of a Letter from Dr. Baikie to Sir John Richardson, M.D., C.B., F.R. & L.S., dated 29th October, 1857, Rabba, on the Qworra.
[Read January 21st, 1858.]
"In natural history my collection is advancing, especially in skins and skeletons of birds. I am collecting skulls of all the domesticated animals, and skeletons of the sheep and goats. I have got a few fish, including a prettily-marked Diodon or Tetraodon, probably new, and a Myletes which I did not meet with formerly. The Siluridæ are the most abundant fishes; and one species closely resembles the Hypophthalmus, figured by Rüppell in his 'Fishes of the Nile and Red Sea.' I have not met with another Polypterus. I shall get a Lepidosiren in the river, and have heard of an electrical fish, I believe a Malopteruris, such as I formerly found. I enclose two scales of a fish which is said to grow to the length of 5 feet, but of which I have specimens half that size only,—also a sketch of a curious fish 2½ feet, which I put into spirits; it has neither ventral nor anal fins, a very peculiar caudal, and a slender head, while the dorsal extends along the whole back; eyes very small; teeth numerous and hard, but not sharp." He adds, in a postscript, that he had got the Lepidosiren. He had collected 700 species of plants, and numerous fine fruits, which he says "will rejoice Sir William Hooker's heart."
Dr. Baikie's postscript, however, mentions that his vessel had been wrecked about twelve miles above Lagos, and that she sunk in a few minutes after she struck. He does not say what was the fate of his collections, but states that all the party had fever from fatigue and sleeping in swamps after the wreck.—J. R.
Catalogue of the Dipterous Insects collected in the Aru Islands by Mr. A. R. Wallace, with Descriptions of New Species. By Francis Walker.
Aru Island.