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Show 1881.J THE SURVEY OF H.M.S. 'ALERT.' 3 tremity of the American continent, and transmitted to the British Museum by command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The collections arrived in two consignments-the first in September 1879, and the second in July 1880. With regard to the former, Dr. Coppinger writes:-" The specimens were obtained, with few exceptions, in the western portion of the Magellan region, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the Madre-de-Dios archipelago, off the west coast of Patagonia. They will he found duly labelled as to the localities in which they were obtained ; and I may add that all of the specimens which are not otherwise noted were found in the living state." The second consignment consisted of specimens partly collected in the same district, partly more northwards, as far as Coquimbo. It contained also some dredgings and pelagic animals from the Atlantic, which do not come within the scope of this Report; and a series of fossils from Sandy Point and Quinquina Island, which were delivered to the Department of Geology. Dr. Coppinger was fully aware of the special interest attached to the marine fauna of these coasts. Essentially antarctic in its character, it comprises a number of forms closely allied to, nay, even identical with, arctic animals, such as he himself had observed and assisted to collect during the voyage to the Polar Seas, under the command of Capt. Sir G. Nares. He directed his attention especially to the marine Invertebrata ; and consequently the majority of novelties will be found in those classes; yet also the series of marine Vertebrates, small as it is, contains forms of no small interest which had escaped the notice of his immediate predecessors the naturalists of H.M.SS. 'Nassau' and 'Challenger.' The best thanks of zoologists are due to the Lords of the Admiralty, from whom Dr. Coppinger has received every encouragement in making this valuable contribution to our knowledge of the Antarctic fauna. The various parts of the collection have been examined and described by the staff of the Zoological Department; and for the convenience of the student of this fauna it seems desirable to give the results of these examinations in a connected form and systematic order. I. MAMMALIA. By OLDFIELD THOMAS. The Mammalia collected by Dr. Coppinger are few in number; but they include specimens of a new and handsome species of Hesperomys, which I propose to name after the collector, and a series of skulls of some of the Magellan Seals. The species are as follows:- 1. LUTRA FELINA, Mol. Two skulls, a skeleton, and two skins from Magellan Straits and the west coast of Patagonia. 1* |
