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spiders, birds' eggs, birds, and lizards. It will also eat plantains 

 and boiled rice, and will drink milk, but is not easy to keep alive 

 in captivity unless taken young and reared with great care. 



The skeleton of an elephant shot by H. W. Varian, Esq., said to 

 be the largest recorded from Ceylon, is remarkable for the small 

 size of the tusks, which are reduced to mere tushes. The skull of 

 a large tusker is, however, shown below. Tuskers are rare in 

 Ceylon, and are believed to be the descendants of imported Indian 

 elephants. Another elephant skull in section is lying on the floor 

 next to the skeleton of the sambur. There are also skeletons of 

 the wild buffalo, wild boar, and the bear. Of the other stuffed 

 animals, a pair of large leopards, the ])ear, the otter, and the 

 pangolin may be noted specially. The Indian Pangolin or Scaly 

 Ant-eater ( Manis pentadactylci) is one of the most curious mammals 

 found in Ceylon. It is a nocturnal burrowing animal not often 

 seen ; its jaws are destitute of teeth (Edentata), and its tongue is 

 exceedingly long and vermiform, adapted for penetrating into the 

 burrows of termites or white ants, upon which it feeds. Its 

 scales are sometimes employed for making imitation tortoise- 

 shell combs. One such comb, presented by H. J. V. Ekanayake, 

 Esq., of Balapitiya, is exhibited. The Indian Pangolin is repre- 

 sented in Burma by an allied species M.Javanica, which ranges 

 through .the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Celebes. 

 There is also a Chinese Pangolin (M. aurita) in Nepal, Assam, 

 Southern China, and Formosa. Several species of the same genus 

 occur in Africa. 



There are three sorts of flying mammals in Ceylon, namely, the 

 Fruit Bats or Flying Foxes (Pteropodidas), the small Insectivorous 

 Bats (Microchiroptera), and the Flying Squirrel, Pteromys oral 

 (Rodentia Sciuridae). The Insectivorous Bats comprise the Leaf- 

 nosed Bats(Rhinolophid8e); the Vampire Bats (Nycteridae), which 

 feed upon frogs, rats, and smaller bats, as well as insects ; the 

 Pipistrelles (Vespertilionidas) ; and the Sheath-tailed Bats (Embal- 

 lonuridae). The Flying Squirrel has approximately the same 

 general distribution throughout India, Burma, and Ceylon as the 

 Flying Fox {Pteropus medius), inhabits the same districts, and is 

 also frugivorous and nocturnal. It is not however gregarious, 

 and does not suspend itself head downwards, as do the fruit bats 

 and other bats, but rests in the ordinary attitudes of arboreal 

 mammals. 



The aquatic mammalia (Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises, and 

 Dugongs) are represented by an excellent set of dugongs, male, 

 female, and young, and a skeleton. The female specimen exhibited 

 is 10 ft. long ; it was captured at Kayts near Jaffna. The Dugong 



