Scientific Intelligence — Zoology. 425 



Meyer has discovered at Weisenau, among a considerable mass of 

 remains of bones, a i^iyf bones belonging to two cheiroptera. They 

 consist of the half of a lower jaw, in which, although the teeth are 

 wanting, the sockets arc sufficiently preserved to give an idea of the 

 dental system ; of three humeral bones, two left and one right, which 

 bhew the existence of two species, and which render it probable that 

 there is even a generic difference between them ; lastly, of the half 

 of a radius, which can only belong to a cheiroptera. The two spe- 

 cies differ from that of Montmartre ; and M. H. de Meyer designates 

 them by the name of Vespertilio prcdcox and V. insignisy until their 

 generic affinities be distinctly ascertained. 



ZOOLOGY. 



6. The Lion, as an article of Food. — We were anxious to know if 

 there was any chance of another lion being found in the neighbourhood, 

 and were informed that, doubtless, there were plenty ; but such was 

 the nature of the ground, that, unless their exact haunts were known 

 (in which case they were generally killed), we might go out for a 

 fortnight, and never encounter a single beast. The skins of all lions 

 killed throughout the regency are sent to the Bey, who pays a hand- 

 some premium upon each. The flesh is eaten ; and, contrary to our 

 expectation, we found it excellent, and made a capital supper upon 

 the ends of the ribs stewed with a little salt and red pepper ; it tasted 

 like very young beef, and was neither tough nor strong flavoured. — 

 A Journey through Algeria and Tunis y hy Captain Clark Kennedy, 

 vol. ii., p. 205. 



7' On a Gigantic Stag, Cervus Euryceros, Aldr. ; Megaceros, 

 Hart. ; Giganteus, Galde, By Dr E. Eichwald. — Cuvier, after hav- 

 ing described the fossil bones of the gigantic stag found in England, 

 Lombardy, and throughout the whole of western Europe, expresses 

 his surprise that none have hitherto been found in Russia and Siberia, 

 where stags are at present so widely distributed. M. Eichwald re- 

 cords, in a memoir on the discovery of the bones of the same stag in 

 the eastern part of European Russia, in the government of Simbirsk, 

 where M. Sagykoff found fragments of the cranium, and the horns 

 of two individuals. They have likewise been found in Siberia on the 

 north-west slope of the Altai, in the caverns of the arrondisement of 

 Kolywanowoskressenskisch to the east of Schlangenberg, and in the 

 vicinity of the river Tscharysch. In these deposits, the bones of the 

 stag are very abundant, as well as those of the lama, horse, rhinoceros, 

 hysena, dog, bear, gnawers, and bats. 



The author adverts to the controverted question respecting the an- 

 tiquity of this remarkable species. The beautiful cranium of the 

 gigantic stag described by Goldfuss, had been found near Emerich 

 along with urns and stone hatchets, — tokens of the existence of man. 

 Another cranium was found in the peat- bogs of Lancashire in forma- 



