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Show 1870.] THE SECRETARY ON ADDITIONS TO THE MENAGERIE. 797 quite agree with the skull of Felis warwickii, which is that of a very old individual, being rather shorter (total length from end of praemaxilla to occipital foramen 3'7 inches instead of 4 inches) and considerably narrower in proportion (being only 2*6 inches in extreme width of the zygomata instead of 3*1 inches). But I believe there is considerable variation in the skulls of most species of the genus Felis. Felis geoffroii seems to be nearly allied to the Ocelot (Felis pardalis) ; and I cannot understand what claims it has to be regarded as forming a distinct genus. Dr. Gray refers to his "Pardalina warwickiV Sir William Jar-dine's figure of Felis himalayanus in the 'Naturalist's Library' (vol. xvi. pl. 24*), stating that the figure in question was taken "from the specimen in the Surrey Zoological Gardens." But Sir William Jardine expressly says that his figure of "Felis himalayanus" is a copy of a drawing by Mr. Lear, taken from a " skin received from the Himalayan district of India;" and there can be no doubt, I think, that it represents the Viverrine Cat (Felis viverrina, Bennett) of India, of which it is, indeed, a very fair representation. 3. Two Spider Monkeys, purchased October 14th, and stated to have been brought from Nicaragua. One of these belongs to the species called in the Catalogue of Vertebrates (ed. iv. p. 8) Ateles frontatus, Grayf, which we have more than once received from the same locality J. The second Spider Monkey, which has since died, and of which I now exhibit the stuffed skin, is apparently of a different species, and unknown to me. There is, however, a similar example in the British Museum, which is, as I am informed by Mr. Gerrard, the type of a proposed new species of Dr. Gray (Ateles ornatus), to be described in a forthcoming Catalogue of the Quadrumana. The total number of registered additions to the Society's Menagerie during the month of November was 32, of which 1 was by birth, 16 by presentation, 7 by exchange, and 8 were animals received on deposit. The total number of departures during the same period, by death and removals, was 118. Amongst the acquisitions the only animal worth remark was a female of the Antarctic Wolf (Canis antarcticus), received November 8th. Mr. H. Byng, tbe acting colonial secretary of this colony, kindly forwarded a pair of these animals as a present to the Society's Menagerie; but one only survived to reach the Society's Gardens. Mr. Byng states that, as Mr. Darwin (Zool. Voy. Beagle, ii. p. 10) prophesied would probably be the case, this animal, formerly so common, has now become almost extinct in the Falklands, the depredations it commits upon the Sheep having rendered its extirpation necessary. The only previous specimen of this animal, as far as I know, was that brought home by Lecomte in 1868 (see P. Z. S. 1868, p. 529). t Brachyteles frontatus, Gray, Voy. Sulphur, Mamm. p. 9, pl. 1. + See P. Z. S. 1862, p. 186. " |
