26 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Subbery, on the borders of Derbyshire, "probably 

 introduced to this locality." Also Crocus nudiflorns, 

 from a hilly pasture in the village of Walstanton, 

 Salop. "We have it from several localities this 

 season, in fact from all the neighbouring counties." 



Amongst the novelties which will be doubtless 

 highly valued by all our contributors are the fol- 

 lowing : — Ruppia spiralis : Bospham, Sussex. Coll. 

 Rev. F. H. Arnold. Mentha pubescens : by a rivulet, 

 Pra Sands, West Cornwall. Coll. W. Curnow. Tha- 

 lictrum flexiwsiim, Bernh. : cut from plants four to 

 five feet in height, growing in an exposed situation at 

 Bala Lake. Coll. C. Bailey, F.L.S. Seseli Libanotis : 

 Cuckmere, near Sleaford, Sussex. Coll. H. E. Wil- 

 kinson. Sarothamnus prostratus : Lizard Point, Corn- 

 wall. Coll. J. Cunnack. Trifolium Townsendi : St. 

 Martin's, Scilly Isles. Coll. W. Curnow. Zostera 

 nana : river Tamar, East Cornwall. Coll. W. Curnow. 

 Lavatera arborea : Tresco, Scilly Isles. Coll. W. 

 Curnow. Orobanche rubra, Sm. : Lizard Point. Coll. 

 W. Curnow. Orobanche amethysta : St. Mary's, Scilly 

 Isles. Coll. J. Cunnack. Orobanche amethysta: St. 

 Ouen's Bay, Jersey. Coll. J. Cosmo Melville, Esq. 

 Papaver somnifcrum $. glabrnm : Rosley, Cumberland. 

 Coll. Rev. R. Wood. Polygonum cognatiim : Wes- 

 terley Ware, Kew. Coll. T. R. Sim. Viola per mixta, 

 var. sepincola : Merstham, Surrey. Coll. W. H. Beeby. 

 Cyperus fuscus, Linn. : Pond-side, Shalford Common, 

 Surrey. Coll. W. H. Beeby. Potamogeton zosteri- 

 folins : Spondon, Derby. Coll. Rev. W. H. Painter. 

 CallitricJie obtnsangtila : Mitcham, Surrey. Coll. A. 

 Bennett, Esq. Rumex maritimns : Groby Pool, 

 Leicestershire. Coll. E. F. Cooper. Triticum acutum, 

 DC. : Leith, Edinburgh. Coll. D. Douglas. We 

 have sent out a large supply of this species for our 

 friends to compare with other herbaria specimens, 

 the name being somewhat doubtful ; many of the 

 examples closely resemble T. repens, Linn. 



We return our thanks to all members for the 

 excellent manner in which the specimens have been 

 got up. In some instances it is impossible by any 

 other means to secure so valuable a rarity, for 

 example, as the Cyperus mentioned above. Our best 

 thanks, and those of the members, are also due to 

 Mr. J. F. Robinson for acting as curator. 



"UNGKA," APE OF SUMATRA (SJMIA 

 SYNDACTYLA) ; THE ANATOMY OF ITS 

 LARYNX, etc. 



By Dr. George Bennett, F.L.S. &c. 



DURING a visit^to the Island of Singapore, on 

 the 13th of November, 1830, a male specimen 

 of this interesting animal was presented to me. The 

 animal had been recently brought by a Malay lad 

 from the Menangkabau country, in the interior of 

 Sumatra. The Malays at Singapore called this animal 



the "ungka"; by Sir Stamford Raffles it has been 

 stated as being called the siamang among the natives ; 

 and the ungka ape is described by F. Cuvier as the 

 onko, in his splendid work on the Mammalia. On 

 making inquiry among the Malays at Singapore, they 

 denied this animal being the siamang, at the same 

 time stating that the siamang resembled it in form, 

 but differed in having the eyebrows and hair around 

 the face of a white colour. 



The Simla synddctyla is described and figured in 

 Dr. Horsfield's " Zoology of Java ;" but the engrav- 

 ing does not give a correct idea of the animal. The 

 following sketches are taken from drawings made 

 by Charles Landseer, Esq., from the original. My 

 specimen was a young male. It is preserved in the 

 collection of the British Museum. 



I now proceed to relate the habits of the animal as 

 observed by me on board the ship " Sophia," during 

 the passage to England. The measurement of the 

 animal was as follows : — From the os calcis to the 

 vertex of the head, 2 ft. 4 in. ; span of the arms, 4 ft. ; 

 length of the arm, from the axilla to the termination 

 of the forefinger, 1 ft. ioi| in. ; length of the leg from 

 the groin to the os calcis, 1 1 in. ; length from the 

 xiphoid or ensiform cartilage to the crest of the pubis, 



7h in- 



The teeth are twelve in each jaw ; four incisors, 

 two canine, and six molars : in the upper jaw the 

 canine were placed widely apart from the last incisor, 

 giving an appearance as if a tooth was deficient : this 

 did not occur in the lower jaw. The teeth of the 

 animal were in very bad condition. The colour of 

 the animal is entirely black, being covered with stiff 

 hair of a beautiful jet black over the whole body ; the 

 face has no hair, except on the sides as whiskers, and 

 the hair stands forward from the forehead over the 

 eyes ; there is little beard. The skin of the face is 

 black ; the arms are very long, the radius and ulna 

 being of greater length than the os humeri ; the hair 

 on the arm runs in one direction, viz. downwards, 

 that on the forearm upwards ; the hands are long and 

 narrow, fingers long and tapering ; thumb short, not 

 reaching farther than the first joint of the forefinger ; 

 the palms of the hands and soles of the feet are bare 

 and black ; the legs are short in proportion to the 

 arms and body ; the feet are long, prehensile, and, 

 when the animal is in a sitting posture (fig. 29), are 

 turned inwards, and the toes are bent. The first and 

 second toes are united (except at the last joint) by a 

 membrane, from which circumstance he has derived 

 his specific name. He invariably walks in the erect 

 posture when on a level surface ; and then the arms 

 either hang down, enabling him sometimes to assist 

 himself with his knuckles ; or, what is more usual, he 

 keeps his arms uplifted in an erect position, with the 

 hands pendent (fig. 28), ready to seize a rope and 

 climb up on the approach of any danger, or on the 

 intrusion of strangers. He walks rather quickly in the 

 erect posture, but with a waddling gait, and is soon 



