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Show 1897.] MR. J. GRAHAM KERR ON LEPIDOSIREN. 921 Hospital on the 7th inst., when I was able to introduce without difficulty a no. 12 catheter, 5 | millim. in diameter, into the urethra of a male subject lying for post-mortem examination. The calibre of the fish being only 3 to 4 millim., no doubt can be raised as to its being able to enter the orifice of the urethra in the manner that has been described by various travellers in Brazil." A communication was read from Dr. E. A. Goeldi, C.M.Z.S., Director of the Para Museum, on his recent discovery of Lepidosiren (Lepidosiren paradoxa) on the Lower Amazon. From 1894 up to the date of his paper he had obtained five specimens, of which one had been found in the island of Marajo at the mouth of the river, one near Santarem, and the remaining three in the neighbourhood of Obydos. One of the specimens from Obydos was alive, and Dr. Goeldi had been able to keep it under observation for about four months. Of the five specimens, four were females, the fifth and male showing on its one remaining hind limb the peculiar papilla? described and figured by Prof. Lankester in the Society's ' Transactions.' Dr. Goeldi gave the dimensions of his specimens and alluded to the asymmetric position of the cloacal opening. As regards colour, amongst living animals, he believed, brown predominated, and he was of opinion that the great variation in the colour of preserved specimens was due to the action of alcohol. The limb-axis was found to be distinctly segmented. The lateral-line system was shortly described. On each side of the body were three lines, of which the middle and lower ones were fairly continuous, the dorsal one consisting, on the other hand, of a series of short vertical lines one behind the other. What the precise relations of these were to the general metamerism of the animal Dr. Goeldi was unable to say. In regard to the creature's habits, Dr. Goeldi stated that it was an inhabitant of submerged regions where the water was comparatively shallow. In the dry season it was found in small pools left by the retiring waters, and there it was fond of performing violent movements, lashing the water wdth its tail. In the dry season there was little doubt that the Lepidosiren remained hidden in the lower regions of the mud. The specimen in captivity had not been seen to feed, though offered a variety of food. It came to the surface at intervals to breathe in air, the intervals being shorter in a smaller and longer in a larger tank. The surface of the body gave off a gluey material, which formed whitish flakes in the water. In habits the creature was sluggish, unless disturbed, and then it performed elegant and varied evolutions in the water. Dr. Goekh's memoir will be publisheu in full in the Society's ' Transactions.' Mr. J. Graham Kerr, F.Z.S., gave a short account of his recent expedition to the Gran Cbaco of Paraguay with the object of investigating the development of Lepidosiren. H e was accompanied by Mr. J. S. Budgett, of Trinity College, Cambridge, and was assisted PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1897, No. LXI. 61 |
