128 Joitnial of Travel and Natural History 



"MrFrancois Pollen, after his return from a voyage to Madagascar,* undertaken 

 with the intention to explore the Fauna of that great island, has begun the 

 publication of a great work, with illustrations, on the Lemurina, ' Contributions 

 a I'Histoire Naturelle des Lemuriens.' The plates, in large folio, will give 

 full size coloured representations of the species. It was only at the end of the 

 year 1867 that the first number appeared, with the figure of a species of Lemur 

 of the Mayotte Isle, one of the little group of the Comores, between the coast 

 of Mozambique and the northern part of Madagascar. This species was dis- 

 covered by our explorer in 1 864 ; it comes very near to the Lemur coUaris 

 (Lemur nigrifrons F. Cuvier nee Geoffrey) of Madagascar. 



"Another publication was undertaken by Mr Pollen, in conjunction with Dr 

 Schlegel, under the title of ' Recherches sur la Fauna de Madagascar et de ses 

 Dependances.' It is, however, but a comparatively small part of the Fauna 

 that will be the subject of these Researches, viz., the Mammalia and the Aves. 

 The whole will be completed in four numbers, each number will contain ten 

 coloured plates, in 4to. The first contains four plates of the mammalia, and 

 a part of the birds. The figures in the three first plates are Lepilemur 

 mustelinus, Cheirogaleus furcifer, and Microcebus Coquereli. + The fourth 

 plate represents the skull of Cryptoprocta ferox. The authors believe that 

 this mammal has a great affinity to the feline genus, or is even no more than 

 a slight modification of that genus. This will not be, however, I suppose, 

 the opinion that even the mere inspection of the figure will give to other 

 zoologists, and it seems more fitting to place the genus in the family of the 

 Mustelidce ; J and it is difficult not to think immediately of the skulls of 

 Meles, for instance, on looking at that of Ciyptopi-octa. 



" I published in Dutch a monograph of the genus Menobranchus, having re- 

 ceived specimens of this American Proteida from the Smithsonian Institution 

 instead of Menopoma I had asked for. ('Ontleed-en Dierkundige Bijdragen 

 tot de Kennis Van Menobranchus,' Leiden, 1867, 4to., met 3 platen. ) I de- 

 scribed chiefly the skeleton, the hyoid bone (or rather cartilage), a good deal of 

 the muscles, the lungs, the heart, the organs of generation, both in the male and 

 female. From all these investigations the result was that there is no other genus 

 nearer to Menobranchus than Proteus, the subterranean animal of Europe. 

 Even the blood discs confirm this affinity, having the same long and slender 

 form, and being hardly distinct in size. I formerly believed that there was a 

 much greater affinity between Menobranchus and Menopoma (or Crypto- 

 branchus) than between Menobranchus and Proteus. This result confirms me 

 in my opinion that even in the minor divisions of the animal kingdom compara- 

 tive anatomy is the only safe guide to a correct and natural arrangement. 



' ' A large volume in 8vo. was published by P. C. T. Snellen on the Macro- 

 lepidoptera of the Netherlands. It is certainly the result of long researches, and 

 is one of the best contributions we have till now to the elucidation of our Fauna. 

 The author's list comprehends 686 species. Amongst the Nocturna he inscribes 

 as a new species discovered by him Caradrina sericea, but it is to be regretted 

 that he has seen, till now, only one specimen of this species. The diurnal 

 Lepidoptera are represented by 73 species, the Sphingidae 25 (or if we enumerate 

 here also the species of Zygaenidee and Syntomidre, 30) ; 580 species are re- 

 ferred to the Nocturna. (De Vlinders van Nederland Macrolepidoptera Sys- 

 tematisen beschreven door, P. C. T. Snellen, S. Gravenhage, 1867, 8vo. ) 



"The most considerable botanical work which is now in course of publication 

 in our country is intended to give a comprehensive knowledge of at least some 

 parts of the Herbarium of the State, under the title of ' Annales Musei Botanici 



* This voyage was performed at M. Pollen's own expense; and after Mr P.'s return, his 

 companion, Mr Van Dam, remains at Madag.iscar, in order to collect new materials for the 

 knowledge of the animal creation, in that much promising field of inquiry. 



t A Review nf the portion of this work already published is in type, and will appear in next 

 number of this Journal. 



X In my " Handbook of Zoology" I placed Cryptoprocta according to the opinion of L. T. 

 Rennet in the group of the Vivcrnna (civets), but it was only with doubt. The genus Crypto- 

 procta was at that time only known by Rennett's description after a young specimen. 



