and extraordinary occurrence induced me to examine the spur of the animal; and on pressing it down on the leg the fluid squirted through the tube: but for what purpose Nature has so armed these animals is as yet unknown to me. The female is oviparous, and lives in burrows in the ground, so that it is seldom seen either on shore or in the water. The males are seen in numbers throughout our winter months only, floating and diving in all our large rivers ; but they cannot continue long under water. I had one drowned by having been left during the night in a large tub of water. I have found no other substance in their stomachs than small fish and fry. They are very shy, and avoid the shot by diving and afterwards rising at a considerable distance."
Jan. 20, 1818.
Mr. Lambert, V.P. communicated to the Society an Extract of a Letter from Don Jose Pavon of Madrid, one of the authors of the Flora Peruviana, stating that he and his companions Ruiz and Dombey had found the potatoe {Solanum tuberosum) growing wild in the environs of Lima, and fourteen leagues from thence on the coast of Peru, as well as in Chili; and that it is cultivated very abundantly in those countries by the Indians, who call it Papas.
Dr. Maton, V. P. communicated a Letter from the Rev. Revett Sheppard, F.L.S., stating that on the first of this month he shot a fine specimen of the common heron {Ardea major), and that its feathers were covered with a powder of a light blue colour; but in what manner this powder is secreted, or whether it occurs in the winter season only, he has not been able to ascertain.
Feb. 17. The Secretary stated, that Mr. Robert Gee has communicated to the President a specimen of Salix cinerea, {Flor. Brit. 1063, Eng. Bot. 1897,) with androgynous {{hws|cat|catkins}
