REPORT OF THE 
PROSECTOR 
TO THE BOARD OF MANAGERS. 
I BEG to submit the following report of the operations of the 
Prosector’s Department for the year 1917: 
During the year 119 specimens were received from the So- 
ciety’s collections, distributed as follows: 
IPTIMALeS). 2 8s 30 Fidentates: (<2... 28 1 
Carnivornes..o. 2 19 BS hee ete eee ae 
Wneulatess eco. 9 Reptilesti i. 20 conde) 17 
RROCEMESC. tam eet con hn Oe 10 Amphibians: <1.) 2a. 2 
IMATSUPIAIS: oti e a 8 os 
TOUS pence er eS 119 
The routine work of the department has been carried on as 
usual, and a number of important preparations have been added 
to the permanent collections. 
The receipt of three specimens of the remarkable Australian 
lizard, Trachysaurus rugosus, made it possible to investigate the 
structure of this form in detail, with a number of interesting 
results, among which the bilateral caecal pouch is important as 
furnishing the first prototype found in a reptile of Une avian 
condition. 
The material received during the year has been of great 
value in the continuation of the Department’s investigation of 
the morphology and phylogeny of the mammalian respiratory 
tract. Notable accession came from the Marsupial collection, 
Dendrolagus, Bettongia, Macropus giganteus and robustus. The 
lung of the little Cyclothurus proved of the utmost interest and 
significance. In the Hystricomorphs and Mustelidae, two groups 
of exceptional importance in the phylogenetic interpretation of 
the mammalian lung, valuable data were added by the specimens 
of Hystrix, Erethizan, and Galictis. 
