94. Letter from Richard Owen, Esq. 



edged by several rows of small granular scales, their inner margin by a sin- 

 gle row. Collar formed of 9 scales; femoral pores 11 or 12; abdominal 

 plates in 14 longitudinal rows. Colour above, blueish green, with 5 longi- 

 tudinal black lines, the central one very narrow, and bifid at its anterior 

 extremity, the lateral ones slightly broken, and the one on each side next 

 to the central one, inclosing white spots ; tail above, and on the sides, of a 

 light brown tint, under parts whitish. Length about 8 inches. Inhabits 

 the arid districts of Cape Colony. 



Genus ALGYRA, Cuv. 



A. Capensis. Colour above, reddish yellow, with two or three irregular 

 rows of black spots or stripes, many of the spots being encircled, or partial- 

 ly margined by white; along each side one, and sometimes two rows of white 

 spots, or continuous white lines, the lowermost, when two exist, extends a- 

 cross the temples, as far as the eye ; tail above, towards the base, marked 

 with black spots ; under parts yellowish white. Plates on upper surface of 

 head, rough and furrowed, frontal plate concave towards its anterior extre* 

 mity, and from the latter a deep groove extends to the apex of nose. Fe- 

 moral pores from 10 to 13. Abdominal plates imbricate, and disposed in 

 about 10 rows. Length from 7 to 9 inches. Inhabits the sandy deserts 

 around Latakoo. 



(To be continued.) 



Art. IX. Letter from Richard Owen, Esq. F.R.S. &c. Hunterian 

 Professor to the Royal College of Surgeons, addressed to M. Ara- 

 go, Perpetual Secretary to the French Academy of Sciences. Com- 

 municated by the author.* 



Royal College of Surgeons, 



London, January 21st, 1838. 



Sir, 



I regret that, owing to absence from London, 

 and other causes, I have not, until this day, perused the pa- 

 ragraphs relating to the Allantois of the Kangaroo, which 

 have appeared in the ' Comptes Rendus' of the Academy of 

 Sciences; — Nos. 18, 19, and 20, of which have been placed 

 in my hands, by my friend, Mr. Robert Brown. 



With reference to the description of the allantois of the 

 kangaroo given in No. 18, p. 638, I have briefly to state that 

 M. Coste is mistaken, in supposing that an undissected ovum 

 of a kangaroo, was submitted by me for his examination ; it 

 was the foetus of a kangaroo, with the vitelline sac and allan- 

 tois appended to it: the ovum, (l'oeuf de kangaroo), had been 



* The preparation of the membranes in a foetal kangaroo, described and 

 figured in the Mag. Nat. Hist. (Vol. i. p. 483, n. s.) was shewn by Mr. Owen 

 to M. Coste, during a late visit of the latter to this country. On his return 

 to Paris, M. Coste communicated to the French Academy, the existence of 

 the allantois, accompanied by a direct intimation that this highly interesting 

 and important discovery had been effected by his, M. Coste's dissection. Ed. 



