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Show 634 PROF. FLOWER ON THE SKULL OF A CHIMPANZEE. [NOV. 14, The following letter, addressed to the Secretary by Mr. E. L. Layard, F.Z.S., was read :- " Noumea, Aug. 22, 1882. " SIR,-In a ' Note on the genera Schcenicola and Catriscus' (P. Z. S. 1882, pp. 919 & 920), Mr. Sharpe alludes to a skin in the British Museum of Schanicola platyura, obtained 'from Mr. Cuming, who received it doubtless from one of his correspondents, perhaps Mr. Thwaites or Mr. Layard.' " It will narrow the question if I state that Mr. Cuming never received a single specimen of any bird whatsoever from me. W e exchanged shells, but never had any communication respecting birds. If Mr. Cuming got the skin in question from Mr. Thwaites, the latter probably procured it in the mountainous regions of the central province (Kandy), where he lived. I have no recollection of the bird myself." Professor Jeffrey Bell exhibited some examples of Limnaus truncatulus, which had been given him by Mr. A. P. Thomas1, who has lately shown that that species is the chief host of the larva of the liver-fluke. Mr. H. E. Dresser exhibited the type specimens of Melittophagus boehmi, Reichenow (J. f. O. 1882, p. 233), and of Merops dresseri, Shelley (P. Z. S. 1882, p. 302), and showed that these birds are specifically identical. The type of Melittophagus boehmi lacked the central elongated rectrices, and was therefore placed in the genus Melittophagus, whereas, as would be seen by the more perfect specimen described by Capt. Shelley, this bird was a true Merops. Professor Flower exhibited the skull of a young Chimpanzee, which had been sent to him from the Soudan by Dr. Emin Bey! The exact locality in which the animal was taken was not given ; but it was stated to have lived for some weeks in Dr. Emin Bey's house at Lado. Prof. Flower made the following remarks on the skull: This skull has the ordinary milk-dentition complete, except that the lower canines are not fully exserted. The first true molars are altogether concealed within the alveoli. Although the lower part of the face, the base of the skull, and the teeth precisely resemble those of Chimpanzees of corresponding age from the west coast of Africa, the upper part of the cranium presents a most striking difference, as seen in the accompanying outline (p. 635). The frontal region, instead of receding at a gentle slope from the supraorbital ridge, rises far more vertically, continuing the line of the face upwards. From the occiput the hinder part of the cranium slopes up almost in a straight line towards the forehead, so that the upper contour, instead of forming a nearly even low arch with its highest part about the centre, or over the external auditory meatus 1 Journ. K. Agricult. Soc. xviii. p. 452 (1882). |