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Show 638 MR. P. L. SCLATER O.N THE GENUS CH.ETOCERCUS. [Dec. 20, Moreover, independently of the question whether such a change could be admitted, Gray's generic name Hipposideros has priority over Bonaparte's Phyllorhina as distinguished from Leach's. Peters and Dobson quote Hipposiderus us, dating from 1834. In the 'Proceedings ' of this Society for that year, p. 53, the name was mentioned without description and without any species being quoted as type, and would consequently have no validity ; but the generic term Hipposiderus was, in fact, first proposed three years earlier, in 1831, in Gray's ' Zoological Miscellany,' p. 37, with a description which, although clumsily worded, pointed out the characteristic distinctions of the nose-leaf, and with the following list of the species referred to the new genus :-H. speoris, H. elonyatus, H. dia-dema, H. larvatus, H. vulgaris (= larvatus), H. deformis ( = larvatus), and H. tridens. With the exception of H. elongatus, which I cannot trace, all these are species of the genus Phyllorhina oi Peters and other writers. It is quite contrary to the rules of nomenclature generally adopted to set aside a generic name a, properly defined in 1831, in favour of another name b, that in 181 6 had been proposed for a species belonging to a different genus and that was only applied some years later to the same genus as a had already been proposed for. I can see no escape from the conclusion that the name Hipposiderus must be adopted for the genus-a conclusion which I greatly regret, as Phyllorhina is preferable on the score both of euphony and of signification. December 20, 1887. Prof. W. H. Flower, C.B., LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The Secretary read the following report on the additions to the Society's Menagerie during the month of November 1887 :- The total number of registered additions to the Society's Menagerie during the month of November was 132, of which 100 were by presentation, 7 by birth, 8 were received in exchange, and 17 on deposit. The total number of departures during the same period, by death and removals, was 110. Mr. Sclater read the following description of a supposed new Humming-bird of the genus Chatocercus, contained in a letter received from Dr. H. Burmeister, F.M.Z.S. :- "The species is nearly allied in size, figure, and colour to Chatocercus bombus (Gould, Mon. Troch. Suppl. pl. 32), but differs entirely in its tail, which is of singular construction. "The bill is straight, entirely black, and as long as the head (1 cm.). The whole upper part of the body is of a dark green metallic colour, |