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Show 1894.] DR. H. E. SAUVAGE ON THE EARLIEST KNOWN SNAKE. 391 The collection, when shipped by Dr. Anderson at Alexandria on the 13th March last, contained 42 specimens representing in all 19 species. They were all beautifully packed, aud only one animal (a Hedgehog, Erinaceus cethiopicus) died during the voyage, while a single Gerbille was reported as missing. Besides the Long-legged Jackal, Canis variegatus, three other species of Canis belonging to the large-eared section of Fennecs are represented in the collection. There is also a beautiful Genet with a long black vertebral stripe, which I take to be Genetta senegalensis, and examples of two distinct species of Zorilla (Ictonyx). The Bodents of the genera Gerbillus, Dipodillus, Acomys, and Isomys I must leave Dr. Anderson to determine. There can be no doubt that this fine collection will be of great use to Dr. Anderson in the preparation of his proposed work on the Zoology of Egypt. Dr. Giinther exhibited the hollow trunk of a Tree-Euphorbia (Euphorbia grandidens) which a pair of Hornbills (Buceros melano-leucus) had selected for nidification. The trunk, with the female bird and eggs, had been obtained by Dr. Schonland in the neighbourhood of Grahamstown, Cape Colony, and transmitted by him to the British Museum. The female when taken was unable to fly and was simultaneously moulting all the wing- and tail-feathers, thus presenting the appearance of a half-fledged young bird. This specimen, therefore, confirmed the observation which had also been made on other species of the genus, viz. that the female Hornbills pass through a complete moult in the six or eight weeks during which they are imprisoned with their eggs and young. Mr. W . Bateson exhibited several hundred specimens and coloured drawings of Gonioctena variabilis, a Phytophagous Beetle, from Granada, Spain, in illustration of discontinuous variation in colour. These specimens, which were to form the subject of a future paper, were exhibited in the fresh state, as, after death, their colours faded rapidly. Dr. H . E. Sauvage (Director of the Station Aquicole, Boulogne-s.- Mer) exhibited a vertebra of what was believed to be the earliest known Snake yet discovered. It was from the Gault of Portugal. The following papers were read:- 26* |
