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Show 1885.] PROF, LANKESTER ON THE HEART OF APTERYX. 477 6. Note on Viverricula. By St. G. MIVART, F.R.S. [Received April 29, 1885.] In 1882 I stated before this Society (see P. Z. S. 1882, p. 149) Viverricula was distinguished from Viverra by having (amongst other characters) " a very small bald spot on the tibial side of the plantar pad." I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Blauford, F.R.S., for calling my attention to the fact that this spot is really the homologue of the hallucal pad of Viverra, and I am therefore anxious to rectify the above-cited assertion. There is indeed a striking difference between the feet of Viverra and Viverricula, as the much greater remoteness of this small hallucal spot from the large plantar pad causes the bald spot to be much more conspicuous in the latter genus, but its distinctness consists in its being more obvious and is not a distinctness of homology. 7. On the Right Cardiac Valve of the Specimens of Apteryx dissected by Sir Richard O w e n in 1841. By E. R A Y LANKESTER, M.A., F.R.S. [Received April 25, 1885.] In a former communication 1 I showed that it was highly probable that the heart figured and described by Sir R. Owen in 1842, in the 'Transactions ' of the Society, as the heart of an Apteryx was in reality the heart of an Ornithorhynchus. I based this opinion on the facts : - 1 . That the structure of the right cardiac valve as described and figured by Sir Richard more nearly resembled that of Ornithorhynchus than that of any other animal. 2. That in two hearts of Apteryx examined by Mr. Beddard and in one examined by myself, the structure of the right cardiac valve was precisely similar to that of an ordinary bird, and differed altogether from Sir Richard Owen's description and figure. 3. That in the College of Surgeons Museum there was a heart of Ornithorhynchus with the right cardiac valve displayed much as in Sir Richard Owen's figure of a supposed Apteryx-heart, and that on this preparation was painted the name Apteryx australis. 4. That this heart-actually of Ornithorhynchus but labelled "Apteryx"-was entered in the Catalogue as the heart ot* Apteryx australis, the entry having been made apparently at a date corresponding to the time when Sir Richard was Hunterian Curator. Sir Richard Owen has since communicated to the Society a note, in which he expresses himself as unable to accept the explanation which I have suggested of the fact that the right cardiac valve of Apteryx as described by him differs so completely from that structure as seen by Mr. Beddard2 and myself in other specimens. He 1 P. Z. S. 1885, p. 239. 2 Cf. P. Z. S. 1885, p. 188. |