Dr. E. Crisp on the Anatomy of the Tasmanian Wolf. 177 



by their restlessness, and the vicious way in which they attacked all in- 

 truders. I saw them buffet a large Plover that pitched on the bank, 

 and boldly attack those insatiable pilferers of nests, the ('rows. The 

 very young birds, when first hatched, are covered with a whitey- 

 brown down, spotted with dark spots. The curious square end of 

 the beak is very marked. The legs and feet of a dirty greyish-brown. 

 The eggs are rather more than 1|- inch in length, by 1 inch and 

 rather more than y^^th in width, of a pale stone colour, spotted and 

 blotched with grey and two shades of brown. 



I subjoin the description of a young bird that was able to fly, 

 probably about six weeks or two months old. The beak (after the 

 skin was dried) was of a dull brown tinged with orange ; the under 

 mandible sharp, as in the old bird, but scarcely longer than the 

 upper. Feathers on the cheeks pale fawn colour, with a few dusky 

 spots, those on the forehead much the same, but the dusky spots 

 more visible ; on the top of the head behind the eye, back of the 

 necic, the feathers are dull black, with pale ferruginous edges ; lower 

 part of the back of the neck whitish, with a broad brown bar, and 

 tipped with pale ferruginous ; upper tail-coverts, some dusky black, 

 with pale ferriiginous edges, some ferruginous mottled with white ; 

 tail-feathers, lower portion white, upper portion dusky, with a 

 marked border of pale ferruginous ; primaries nearly black, with 

 pale tips ; smaller quill-feathers, lower portion dusky, upper nearly 

 white ; secondaries much the same, the white being much clearer ; 

 greater coverts dusky, with whitish tips ; tertials dusky, with pale 

 ferruginous edges ; the lesser coverts the same ; chin, throat, breast 

 and belly, under tail-coverts white ; sides of the neck white, with a 

 few dusky spots ; legs and feet dirty orange-brown. 



On some Points relating to the Anatomy of the 

 Tasmanian Wolf (Thylacinus) and of the Cape Hunt- 

 ing Dog (Lycaon pictus). By Edwards Crisp, M.D. 



Before I proceed to the immediate object of my communication, I 

 may be excused, I trust, for alluding to a mode of investigation that 

 I have followed in all my dissections, viz. that of taking accurate 

 weights and measures of the body of the animal and of the viscera, 

 with drawings the size of life of the organs examined. 



By this method, combined with the use of the microscope, I be- 

 lieve hereafter that much light will be thrown upon many physio- 

 logical subjects which are at present but imperfectly understood. 

 It is, however, only by comparison on a large scale that any import- 

 ant benefit is likely to result. 



Thylacinus Cynocephalus. 



This animal (a male) died at the Society's Gardens, where it had 

 been for several years. I believe it is the only one that has been 

 dissected in this country. It weighed 33 lbs., and measured from 

 nose to root of tail 2 feet 9y inches. The tail, 15 inches. The penis 

 curved backwards. The cause of its death was unapparent. It was 



Ann. ^ Mag. N, Hist. Ser.2. Fb/.xviii. 12 



