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Show 340 REV. G. H. R. FISK ON THE DESTRUCTION OF SNAKES. [Apr. 5, CHONDRODACTYLUS WEIRI, sp. nov. Distinguished from its ally in the following points :-Tubercles on the supraorbital edge scarcely enlarged, separated from those on the other side by three series of tubercles in the middle; the width of the interorbital space equals quite one half of the vertical diameter of the orbit. Enlarged dorsal tubercles larger, more strongly keeled, subtrihedral. Ventral scales much larger; 6 or 7, on the middle of the belly, correspond to the horizontal diameter of the eye (instead of 11 or 12 in C. angulifer). Coloration very similar to that of the adult C. angulifer, i. e. with a blackish crescentic band, concavity forwards, extending from shoulder to shoulder, and pairs of round whitish spots on the back. The unique specimen measures 95 millim., in which the tail enters for 40. April 5, 1887. Prof. W. H. Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The Secretary read the following report on the additions to Society's Menagerie during the month of March 1887 :- The total number of registered additions to the Society's Menagerie during the month of March was 76. Of these 22 were by birth, 43 by presentation, 6 by purchase, 1 by exchange, and 4 were received on deposit. The total number of departures during the same period, by death and removals, was 94. The most noticeable additions during the month were :- 1. Two Long-tailed Grass-Finches (Poephila acuticauda), from Derby, King Sound, N.W. Australia, presented to the Collection by Mr. Walter Burton, F.Z.S., March 18. These are the first examples of this elegant little Grass-Finch which have been received by the Society. 2. A Fisk's Snake (Lamprophisfiskii) and a Narrow-headed Toad (Bufo angusticeps), from South Africa, presented to the Society by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, and received 24th March. Both of these are new to the Society's Collection, and Fisk's Snake, being new to science, has been named by Mr. Boulenger after its donor. I also wish to call attention to the fact that Sir Walter Buller has presented to the Society the female Huia-bird (Heteralocha gouldi) which he deposited in the Society's Gardens on the 22nd April last year, and that he hopes to be able to obtain for us a companion of the male sex. The female bird in the Gardens is now in good health and condition. Tbe following extracts were read from a letter addressed to Secretary by the Rev. Geo. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S., dated Capetown, March 9, 1887:- "The annexed anecdote of a Mouse1 and a Ringhals Snake (Sepedon 1 [In a subsequent letter Mr. Fisk states that the Mouse was believed to be a specimen of Dendromys melanotis.-P. L. S.] |