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Show 814 MR. LYDEKKER ON A SKIN OF URSUS PRUINOSUS. [Nov. 16, nest. On the 18th of August one young was hatched, which the parent bird immediately proceeded to eat. The other egg (exhibited herewith) was addled. The period of incubation was exactly 28 days. The only observable difference between tbe male and female Cariama is that the female is rather the largest." In reference to their communication on the Dentition of the Manatee 1, Messrs. Thomas and Lydekker desired to draw attention to a memoir on the same subject by Dr. Clemens Hartlaub, published in 18862. This paper, mainly on account of its title, had been overlooked, the references in the ' Zoological Becord' being so worded as to make it appear that it referred chiefly or entirely to the distinction and geographical distribution of the species, rather than to any more general question. So far as the number of teeth in the Manatee was concerned, Dr. Hartlaub bad come to very much the same conclusions as Messrs. Thomas and Lydekker, and on nearly similar grounds, but he had ventured to go even further in the estimate of the number of molars which it might be possible for the animal to develop in the course of its life. Since this part of Dr. Hartlaub's admirable paper had, at least in England, by no means attracted the attention it deserved, the present authors, while regretting the omission of reference and credit to Dr. Hartlaub, felt at the same time it was no disadvantage to science that the wonderful dentition of the Manatee had been described afresh in a publication so widely read and quoted as the Society's 'Proceedings.' They would likewise take the opportunity of expressing their gratification that the conclusions reached by themselves, startling and improbable as these at first sight seemed, had been independently attained by so competent a judge as Dr. Hartlaub. Some of the palaeontological points advanced by the present authors, and the bearing that a knowledge of the Manatee's dentition would have on the homologies of other Mammalian teeth, had not been discussed in Dr. Hartlaub's paper. Mr. Lydekker exhibited on behalf of the Hon. A. E. Gathorne- Hardy aflat skin of Ursus prulnosus, collected by Mr. Ned Malcolm in Tibet. Although differing considerably in coloration from the specimen figured in plate xxvii. of the present volume (P. Z. S. 1897, p. 412) of the Society's 'Proceedings,' there could be no doubt that the new specimen belonged to the same species-tins being especially shown by the bases of all the hairs being black. Much less white on the head and shoulders was exhibited by the new specimen, in which the ears were black instead of white. There was also a rufous band down the middle of the back, not observable in 1 Above, p. 595. 2 Zool. Jahrb. i. p. 1 (1886). |