95 



Verfasser in dieser schwierigsten , artenreichen Gruppe endlich Klar- 

 heit zu schaffen. 



Das in fünf Lieferungen erscheinende Werk wird nach seiner 

 Vollendung die umfassendste Arbeit über Wassermilben sein. Nicht 

 nur dem Fachmanne , auch dem Sammler und Liebhaber wird es als 

 unentbehrliches Hilfsmittel zum schnellen und sicheren Bestimmen 

 ihrer Funde dienen, und, in Folge der weiten Verbreitung der 

 Wassermilben, muß es auch den außerdeutschen Hydrachnidologen 

 willkommen sein ; es dürften die meisten mitteleuropäischen Hydrach- 

 niden darin beschrieben sein. 



II. Mittheilungen aus Museen, Instituten etc. 



Zoological Society of London. 



March 2nd, 1897. — The Secretary exhibited two specimens of a new 

 Viper, recently discovered by Capt. A. H. McMahon during the recent sur- 

 vey of the Indo-Persian frontier, and named Eristicophis Macmahoni (gen. et 

 sp. nov.) by Dr. Alcock. This Snake had been met with only in the sandy 

 portions of the desert between Mushki and Persia, where it was almost im- 

 possible to detect its presence, owing to its habit of lying buried in the sand 

 with only its head visible. — A report was read, drawn up by Mr. A. 

 Thomson, the Society's Head-Keeper, on the insects bred in the Insect- 

 house during the year 1896, and a series of the specimens was exhibited. — 

 Mr. Gambier Bolton , F.Z.S., gave an account (illustrated by photographs 

 shown by the oxy-hydrogen light) of a recent visit that he had made to the 

 Bird Islands in Saldanha Bay, South Africa. The photographs illustrated the 

 life of the Black-footed Penguin [Sphenisciis demcrsns) on these islands, show- 

 ing these birds in groups, nest-building, sitting on their eggs, and moul- 

 ting. Mr. Bolton also gave an account of the guano- and egg-industry car- 

 ried on by the Cape Government in the Bird Islands and other adjacent is- 

 lands. — Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, F.Z.S., exhibited and made remarks 

 upon a specimen of a Starling [Sturnus vulgaris) with enormously elongated 

 mandibles. — Mr. H. M. Wallis read a paper entitled "The Growth of 

 Hair upon the Human Ear, and its testimony to the Shape, Size, and Posi- 

 tion of the Ancestral Organ.'' — P. L. S dater. Secretary. 



March 16th, 1897. — The Secretary read a report on the additions that 

 had been made to the Society's Menagerie during the month of February 

 1897. — Mr. S dater called attention to the two specimens of Otters, now 

 living in the Society's Gardens, which had been received from co. Down, Ire- 

 land, last year, and pointed out that they differed in several respects from 

 the Common Otter. The Irish Otter had been separated specifically from 

 Lutra vulgaris by Ogilby in 1834, under the name of Lutra roensis, and Mr. 

 Sclater thought it was worthy of enquiry whether Ogilby was not right in 

 his views. — Mr. A. Smith Woodward, F.Z.S., gave an account of his 

 recent palaeontological tour in Brazil and Argentina, and made remarks on 

 the fossil remains of vertebrated animals that had come under his observa- 

 tion in those countries. — Dr. R. H. Traquair, F.R.S., exhibited and made 



