b. Caput pone oculos modice angustatum; elytra confuse punctata. 3. M. niger, niger vix subtiliter pubescens, thorace valde transverso, lateribus rectis, angulis rotundatis, elytris subtilius scabro-punctatis, antennis, abdominis apice, pedibusque piceo-testaceis. Lọng. ⚫15. Lake Superior; one male. The last superior joint of the abdomen is elongate, concave beneath, and has a short terminal appendage; the penis is exserted, and terminates in two large acute hooked lobes. 4. M. transversus, fuscus pubescens, thorace quadrato, angulis prominulis, lateribus rectis, obsolete punctulato, ad medium transversim impresso, elytris subtilissime punctulatis, antennarum basi testacea. Long. ·12. Niagara. 5. M. conca v us, fuscus pubescens, thorace rufescente quadrato, angulis prominulis, lateribus rectis, obsolete punctulato, subcanaliculato, ad angulos anticos excavato, elytris subtilissime punctulatis, antennarum basi testacea. Long. 13. New York. 6. M. exilis Mels. Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. 2, 305. Pennsylvania and Georgia. 7. M. fragilis, fuscus vix pubescens, thorace transverso, tenuiter marginato, lateribus rotundatis, disco ad medium transversim impresso, elytris vix subtiliter punctulatis, antennarum basi pedibusque pallidis. Long. ·I. S. Carolina and Lake Superior; differs from the preceding by the fuscous thorax, which is more rounded on the sides. 8. M. fusculus, fuscus vix pubescens, thorace transverso, tenuiter marginato, angulis vix rotundatis, lateribus rectis late impressis, elytris subtilissime scabris. Long. 12. One specimen, San Francisco. The antennæ and feet are entirely fuscous. 8. M. parvulus, fusco-pallidus, parce pubescens, capite nigro, thorace transverso lateribus rotundatis, non impresso, elytris vix punctulatis. Long. 08. New York and Lake Superior. In addition to the characters above, this species has much shorter antennæ than the others, and the terminal articula. tions are more rounded. TRYPHERUS. Antennæ tenues, articulo 2ndo vix breviore; palpi maxillares articulo 2ndo vix longiore, ultimo subtriangulari longiore; tarsi postici articulis gradatim brevioribus, articulo 4to valde bilobato; ungues simplices, paranychio lato rotundato, intermedio muniti; elytra abdomine multo breviora; caput pone oculos vix angustatum. The form of the palpi sufficiently distinguishes this genus from the preceding; it approaches much closer to Telephorus. The male has a small additional anal segment; the female has the penultimate joint of the abdomen deeply emarginate. In both sexes the superior segment is dilated, thickened at the edges and emarginate at apex, so that it projects on each side of the lower segment like a lateral appendage. Another genus with short elytra, from Panama, approaches very closely to this, but the second and third joints of the antennæ together are not longer than the fourth; the palpi are strongly securiform, and the last joint of the tarsi bas no appendage between the claws. 1. T. latipennis. Malthinus latipennis Germ. Ins. Nov. 72; Molor chus marginalis Say. Long Exped. to St. Peter's River 2, 192; Malthinus marginalis Say. Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. 1, 160. Common everywhere. Germar's description precedes Say's by several months. Say in the Bost. Journal misquotes himself, as there is no description of this species to be found in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences. TYTTHONYX. Antennæ elongatæ, compressæ, valde serratæ, articulo 2ndo sesqui minore; palpi articulo ultimo vix longiore, ovali acuto; tarsi postici articulo 1mo elongato, 2-4 brevibus, omnes crassiusculi, articulo ultimo brevi, ungues parvi integri; caput pone oculos non angustatum. 1. T. erythrocephalus. Lampyris erythrocephala Fabr. Syst. El. 2, 105; Malthinus serraticornis Mels. Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. 2, 305. Southern States. Species unknown to me. Lampyris ruficollis Say. J. Ac. Nat. Sc. 5, 161. Middle and Luciola maculicollis Laporte. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 2, 148. Cantharis jactata Say. Ibid 5, 167. Cantharis invalida Say. Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. 1, 158. Telephorus notatus Man. Bull. Mosc. 1843. California. Rhagonycha sericata Man. Bull. Mosc. 1846, p. 511. These and the next are from Sitkha. Rhagonycha binodula Man. Bull. Mosc. 1846, p. 512; an Podabrus lævicollis Lec.? Malthinus abdominalis Dej. Cat. My specimen of this species is too imperfect for a satisfactory reference to any of the genera described above. From the form of the thorax and elytra, I think that it belongs to the genus alluded to as found at Panama. The following diagnosis will enable the species to be recognised: Rufus, capite pone oculos nigro, thorace quadrato, lateribus rectis, basi rotundato, ad medium late transversim concavo, elytris fuscis, subtilissime scabris, pedibus fuscis. Long. 26. Georgia; rare. The Committee on Mr. Cassin's description of new species of Birds, reported in favor of publication. Descriptions of birds of the genera Laniarius, Dicrurus, Graucalus, Manacus and Picus, specimens of which are in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. BY JOHN CASSIN. 1. Laniarius carbonarius, nobis. Form. Strong and rather heavy, wings short with the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh quills longest and nearly equal, tail rather short, somewhat rounded and with all the feathers having a crimped appearance throughout their length. Plumage of the rump long and silky. About the size of Dryoscopus rufiventris, (Swainson.) Dimensions. Total length of skin from tip of bill to end of tail about 8 inches, wing 31, tail 3 inches. Colors. Entire plumage above and below brownish black, palest on the quills, feathers of the rump paler at their basis, bill black. Hab. Leone. Western Africa, discovered by Robert MacDowell, M. D., late of Sierra Obs. This species resembles no other with which I am acquainted. Its rather short wings and tail give it more the general appearance of a Thamnophilus than I have noticed in any other African species. It is peculiar, so far as I know, for the uniform color of its plumage, which is (rump included) black. 2. Dicrurus aculeatus, nobis. Form. Small, but rather larger than D. Ludwigii, A. Smith. Bill rather long, curved at the tip, toothed and sharply pointed; wings with the fourth quill slightly longest, but the third, fourth and fifth nearly equal; tail distinctly though not deeply forked. Dimensions. Total length of skin from tip of bill to end of tail about 7 inches, wing 41, tail 3 inches. Colors. Entire plumage black with a greenish lustre, inner webs and under surface of quills pale brownish, bill and feet black. Hab. Fazogloa, Eastern Africa. Obs. Resembles D. musicus, Vieill., but is smaller and has the bill longer and much stronger, comparatively; it is smaller also than D. canipennis, Swainson, which it somewhat resembles in having the light colored webs of the quills, but can easily be distinguished by its shorter wings and tail and stronger bill. It is larger than D. Ludwigii, A. Smith, and differs from all the species here mentioned in the relative lengths of the quills. Bonaparte is mistaken in making D. emarginatus (Licht.) a distinct species,-it is described by Lichtenstein in Verzeichniss, p. 52, and there expressly stated to be the bird figured by Le Vaillant, p. 167, (which is D. musicus, Vieill.) 3. Graucalus azureus, nobis. Form. Small, about the size of G. hypoleucus, Gould. Specimen now about to be described not in good plumage, ends of quills and tail feathers worn, wings rather long. Dimensions. Total length of skin from tip of bill to end of tail about 7 inches, wing 41, tail about 4 inches. Colors. Front, extending to each eye, quills and tail black, entire plumage of other parts light blue, tertiaries tipped with irregular lines of white and black. Hab. Western Africa, discovered by Robert MacDowell, M. D., late of Sierra Leone. Obs. This species which is remarkable for its color, appears to resemble the bird figured in Voyage au Pole Sud (Astrolabe & Zelèè) Ois. pl. 9, fig. 3, which is named in Bonaparte's Consp. Av. "Graucalus Boyeri," It is however, much smaller. I have seen only the specimen now described. 4. Manacus flaveolus, nobis. Form. Very similar to those of M. gutturosus, (Desm.) and M. Candei, (Parz.) Dimensions. Total length of skin from tip of bill to end of tail about 3 inches, wing 2, tail about 11 inches. Colors. Very similar to those of M. gutturosus, but with the parts which are white in that species, pale yellow in this. Top of the head, back, wings and tail, black; throat, breast, shoulders and broad collar around the back of the neck, pale yellow, running into cinereous on the abdomen. Hab. Bogota, New Grenada. Obs. Two specimens of this little bird are in the collection, labelled as coming from Bogota, and both presenting the singular variation in color, from the common M. gutturosus, on the strength of which I have considered it specifically distinct. In point of color it may be stated as intermediate between M. gutturosus and Candei. It is smaller than the latter. 5. Picus thyroideus, nobis. Form. Similar to that of P. varius, Linn., but rather larger and stouter, wings with the third quill longest, legs and toes rather slender, tail rather broad. Dimensions. Total length of skin from tip of bill to end of tail about 8} inches, wing 51, tail 3 inches. Colors. Breast with a large transverse patch or belt of black; middle of the abdomen pale yellow. Head and throat brownish buff, with obscure longitudinal stripes of black, back, wing coverts, sides of the body beneath and under tail coverts striped transversely with black and sordid yellowish white, rump and upper tail coverts white, the latter with black marks on their outer webs; quills, and tail black, more or less spotted with white. Hab. California, discovered by Mr. John G. Bell, of New York. Obs. Mr. Bell's two specimens are females, and are as yet unique. This species is a strict congener of Picus varius, Linn., but does not resemble it in colors, nor any other species which I have met with. The Committee on Dr. Leidy's paper entitled, "Contributions to Helminthology," reported in favor of publication in the Proceedings. Contributions to Helminthology. By JOSEPH LEIDY, M. D. MICROSTOMUM? Oersted. (Eustomum.) Body elongated, compressed cylindroid, vibrillated; increasing by transverse segmentation in pairs. Head continuous with the body, furnished upon each side with a respiratory fovea. Mouth antero-inferior; intestinal canal produced anterior to the mouth in the form of a coecum; œsophagus amphoraform, mus. cular, not protractile; anus at first (after segmentation) open, afterwards becoming closed. Ocelli none. Minute rhabdocæla inhabiting fresh water. This genus is the Microstomum of Oersted, if what I have observed to be lateral respiratory foveæ of the head are, according to him and other authors, ocelli destitute of pigment. In numerous individuals of what I have considered below to be of three distinct species of the genus, they were always observed to be in a state of division by pairs, and the primary pair of segments about their middle had already developed respiratory fovea, and were slightly indented preparatory to division before the first pair were separated. 1. MICROSTOMUM (Eustomum) PHILADELPHICUM, Leidy. Body linear, slightly attenuated posteriorly; head conoidal, with the apex surmounted by a small oval papilla; tail obtusely rounded. Respiratory fovea sub-hemispherical, placed at the base of the cone of the head. Mouth oval, protractile; œsophagus keg-shaped, intestine narrowed, cylindroid, dilated at the commencement. Colorless, translucent, vibrillated; increasing by transverse segmentation, always observed in the process of forming two segments. Length 2-5ths line, by 1-500th in. broad. Habitation. Found in the water of marshes and ditches in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. 2. MICROSTOMUM (Eustomum) VARIABILE, Leidy. Body broad, linear; anteriorly and posteriorly obtusely rounded. Respiratory fovea, longitudinally oval, lateral. Intestine very broad. Colorless, increasing by twos. Length from 1-80th to 1.24th of an inch by 1-800th to 1-400th in. broad. Habitation. With the preceding. 3. MICROSTOMUM (Eustomum) CAUDATUM, Leidy. Body long, narrow, linear; anteriorly obtusely rounded, posteriorly ending in a narrow, blunt, elevated tail 1-400th in. long from the position of the anus; increasing by twos, the tail of the anterior segments projecting above and its whole length posterior to the head of the succeeding segment. Length 3-4ths to 14 lines; breadth 1-300th to the 1-250th in. RHYNCHODEMUS SYLVATICUS, Leidy: Pr. A. N. S. v, 289. Error of reference. STYLARIA FOSSULARIS Leidy: ib. 287. A number of individuals in a state of segmentation, from which the species was first described, preserved alone in a glass vessel with some confervæ, upon the occurrence of cold weather passed into the perfect condition as follows: Body long, cylindroid, hyaline, permitting the ash-colored or yellowish intestine to be seen through the integument, divided into from 50 to 65 annulations, furnished with a distinct girdle posterior to the third annulus from the mouth, which extends the breadth of three annuli. Podal hooks in fasciculi of 10 to 12. Setæ commencing after the girdle, usually one often two upon each side of the annuli. Head obtusely rounded and prolonged into a cylindroid, very moveable, digitiform, transversely wrinkled proboscis. Caudal annulus terminating in two short lobes |