Miscellaneous. 307 



phibious carnivorous type. I conclude, therefore, that -the Dugong 

 and its congeners must either form a group apart, or be joined, as 

 in the classification of M. De Blainville, with the Pachyderms, with 

 which the herbivorous Cetacea have the nearest affinities, and to 

 which they seem to have been more immediately linked by the now 

 lost genus Deinotherium." 



Some prepared specimens belonging to the genera Siphunculus 

 and Asterias, collected by Mr. Harvey upon the Devonshire coast, 

 and presented to the Society, were upon the table, to which Mr. Owen 

 drew the attention of the Meeting. The Chairman read an extract 

 of a letter from the former gentleman, in which he stated that a con- 

 siderable number of the Red-band Fish (Cepola rubescens) had been 

 picked up on the beach near Teignmouth. One of these specimens 

 sent by Mr. Harvey was exhibited by Mr. Yarrell, who observed 

 that these fish are rarely captured, owing to their keeping very near 

 the bottom, and their shape allowing them to pass through the 

 meshes of the fishermen's nets. In severe storms, however, shoals 

 of this Cepola are sometimes killed by being driven against the bot- 

 tom, or dashed against the rocks, and are then thrown on shore dead. 

 Mr. Yarrell remarked that he had heard of two or three instances 

 of this kind recently occurring on the British coast. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



THE NEW HOLLAND GERBOA RAT (HAPALOTIS ALBIPES, LICHT.) BY 

 JOHN EDWARD GRAY, F.R.S., &C. 



The Trustees of the Museum have recently purchased of Dr. John 

 Lhotsky a perfect specimen of the Hapalotis albipes, described by 

 Professor Lichtenstein in 1827, ' Darstellung der Saugethiere,' t. 29, 

 from a specimen sent to Berlin in 1 824 by Dr. Sieber ; and a second 

 which was sent to Berlin by Dr. Lhotsky was put up for sale there 

 on the 6th of April 1837, and bought by the Royal Museum. 



Our specimen differs from that described by Prof. Lichtenstein in 

 having the tail as long as the body, and the tip of it, which was most 

 probably wanting in the Berlin specimen, is covered with long ex- 

 panding hairs ; the upper side of the tail is dark-brown, and the 

 under side and the pencil of long hairs at the tip is white. Dr. Licht- 

 enstein in his description says the tail is only one third the length 

 of the body, but in his figure represents it as half the length of the 

 body and head. The ears of our specimen are covered externally 

 with short appressed hairs, those of the front half being brown, and 



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