MEXICAN AND CENTRAL AMERICAN BEETLES 20 
the celebrated Jagersfontein stone discovered in 1893. ‘The Cullinan 
stone, which is of perfect color and lustre, is bounded by eight surfaces, 
four of which are faces of the original octahedral crystal, and the other 
four are cleavage surfaces, parallel to the face of the octahedron. ‘The 
size and position of these cleavage surfaces indicate that considerable 
portions, amounting perhaps to more than half of the original crystal, 
have been separated from it and lost. This is the gem which the ‘Trans- 
vaal Colony recently presented to King Edward VII. 
On account of the great size of the stone special machinery must be 
made for cutting it, and it is estimated that from eighteen months to 
two years will be needed for reducing the gem to final size and shape. 
A London expert is said to have expressed the opinion that the diamond 
will be cut into three stones, one of a thousand carats and two of eighty 
carats each. 
A COLLECTION OF MEXICAN AND CENTRAL AMERICAN BEETLES. 
well-known English scientist and is the editor of the famous 
bf 
TT vetite the generosity of F. DuCane Godman, Esq., who is a 
work entitled ‘Biologia Centrali-Americana,” the Museum 
recently has received as a donation a valuable collection of beetles from 
Mexico and Central America. ‘This collection is of unusual scientific 
importance, since it is part of the material upon which the volumes 
of this publication pertaining to the Coleoptera have been based. ‘The 
collection contains more than 4,000 specimens representing 1,679 species, 
many of which were described as new to science in the “Biologia” by 
Messrs. David Sharp, Henry Walter Bates, Henry Stephen Gorham, 
George C. Champion, J. S. Baly, Martin Jacoby and other specialists on 
beetles. The authoritative identifications of the species in this collec- 
tion make it of particular value to students of Coleoptera, and it will be 
of great assistance in the labeling of much hitherto unidentified mate- 
rial in the possession of the Museum and in private collections. 
THE Museum has been fortunate recently in securing, through pur- 
chase, a number of Orang-Utan skins from Borneo. ‘The collection 
contains the skin and entire skeleton of one unusually large individual. 
