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Show 1886.] PROF. FLOWER ON A SPECIMEN OF ARMADILLO. 419 that the Museum of Copenhagen had received in 1878 a specimen of this mammal in spirit from Buitenzorg, Java, forwarded by the late Mr. Kobke, Danish Consul at Batavia, and that he has been informed by M r . H . Winge that several specimens of it from the same locality were in the Museo Civico of Genoa. A letter was read from Dr. A. B. Meyer, C.M.Z.S., communicating the following remarks by Mr. K. G. Henke on a specimen of a hybrid Grouse, in the Dresden Museum, referred to by Dr. Collett in a previous communication :- " Dr. Collett has declared (supra, p. 225, note) a hybrid which I have figured, ' Zeitschrift fur die gesammte Ornithologie,' 1885, p. 47, pi. iii.> ' to be clearly only a partial albino of Tetrao tetrix fern.,' but without giving his reasons for this opinion. '• I will not discuss the question now, whether Tetrao tetrix or Lagopus albus was the father of this specimen, as it is treated and refigured, not as a single example of its kind, but together with others, similar and varying, in Dr. Meyer's forthcoming work ' Unser Auer-,Birk- und Rackelwild,' which will be illustrated by 15 coloured folio plates. I only wish to remark here, that Dr. Collett's view of the said specimen does not appear to be correct, as supposing it really were a partial albino, a strong partial melanism would still be present, to account for the many black patches and markings, of which there is no trace in the female Tetrao tetrix - a coincidence which no one will admit, and which never has been observed. Besides, the albino of Tetrao tetrix, fern., has no such regular markings as the specimen in question. " I therefore cannot agree with Dr. Collett, but am convinced that he is mistaken in declaring the Dresden specimen to be a partial albino." Prof. Flower exhibited a specimen of an Armadillo, now belonging to the Museum of the Scarborough Philosophical Society, but the origin of which unfortunately appeared to be unknown. It was evidently a member of the genus Tatusia, and closely allied to the common T. novemcincta or T.peba, from which it differed mainly in having the whole of the carapace covered with a thick coating of light brown, fine, but rather stiff hair, about an inch and a half in length. The same kind of hair grew on the cheeks, the proximal portion of the limbs, and (though less abundantly and shorter) on the whole under surface of the body. The cephalic shield, the snout, the hands and feet, and the tail (except quite at the base) were bare. The covering of the hair of the back and sides was so thick as completely to conceal the carapace, except near the antero-inferior margin of the scapular region; but the usual scutes and bands were seen to be present on separating the hair, which only grew from the intervals between them. The length of the head was 3|, of the body 8|, and of the tail 8J inches. Unfortunately nearly the whole of the skull had been removed, but some of the anterior teeth which remained in the jaws were of very small size and appeared to indicate that the animal was young. |
