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Show 2 MR. OLDFIELD THOMAS ON [Jan. 16, Deer illustrating the growth of the antlers, which had been pre-sented to the Society by Mr. Walter Winans, r .Z.8. Prof. E. A. Minchin, F.Z.S., exhibited a living specimen of a Lemur {Galago) which he had brought home with him from Entebbe, Uganda. Dr. F. G. D. Drewitt, F.Z.S., exhibited, and made remarks upon, a white variety of the Common Mole. Mr. Oldfield Thomas, F.R.S., exhibited the skull of a female Forest-Pig {Hylochcerus), which had been received from Mr. G. L. Bates, who had obtained it from natives of the Ja River, Cameroons, thus confirming the reports already published * as to the occurrence of Hylochcerus on the west side of Africa. It wras to be noticed, however, that the Ja River was not on the West Coast watershed, but rose some 150 miles inland and flowed eastwards to join the general Congo system by way of the Nyoko and Sanga tributaries; so that this place was the furthest westward point of the true Congo basin, slightly further west in lat. 3° N. than even the main mouth in 6° S. It was therefore quite likely to be the western limit of the genus Hylochcerus. On comparing the skull of the Ja pig with those from Central and East Africa already in the Museum, now numbering five of different ages and sexes f, Mr. Thomas had come to the conclusion that it could not be assigned to the same species, on account of its much smaller teeth, and therefore proposed to call it Hylochcerus rimator % (Thomas, Abstr. P. Z. S. No. 25, p. 1, Janr237T906). For while the general shape of the skull appeared to be similar, the teeth throughout were very markedly narrower, the difference being especially noticeable in the large posterior tooth, m3 (text-fig. 1, a). This tooth was not only narrower at its broadest, anterior, point, but tapered posteriorly much more strongly and ended in a point, while in the Eastern form the tooth was broad, tapered but slightly, and had a broadly rounded end. Throughout, the enamel of the teeth appeared to be much less heavily coated with cement, so that they had a markedly lighter and more delicate appearance. In the lower jaw the same characters were observable, m3 (text-fig. 1, b) being especially long and narrow, its length more than three times its greatest breadth, while in the allied forms the length was barely 2^ times the breadth. There was also a certain difference in the detailed structure of * P. Z. S. 1904, ii. p. 196. f The Museum was indebted to Mr. C. W . Haywood for one young skull and two skeletons, and to Col. Harrison for a fine pair of adult skulls. X [The complete account of the new species described in this communication appears here; but since the name and preliminary diagnosis were published in the 'Abstract,' the species is distinguished by the name being underlined.-EDITOR. ' |