23 



der, but wiih tlie cbaracter of lengtii of body and neck existing in 

 8 greater degree than in Viv. Rasse ; the ears are of moderatelengtii 

 and suberect ; tbe dorsai lines are narrow, the superior eigbt con- 

 tinuous ; and the hueral lines resemble those on the back, and are 

 tolerably distinct and subcontinuous. Dr. Horsfield added, that not 

 liaving been acquainted with the Viv. Indicn at the time when he 

 wrote the account of the Viv. Rasse in bis ' Zoological Researches 

 in Java,' he now found it necessary to modify tbe specific cbaracter 

 of the latter, wbich he contrasted vvith that oiViv.Indica inthe fol- 

 lowing terms : 



VivEHRA IIasse. Viv. griseo Jiilvescens ; aurtculis approximatis 

 rotundaiis subabhreviatis ; dorso lineis longitudinalibus octo latis 

 nigricantibus suturatis ; lateribus utrinqueliiieis tribus interruptis 

 ohscuris ; pedibits concoloribus Jiiscis ; pilis corporis cuudeeque 

 attenuata rigidiusculis. 

 ViVERRA Indigą. Viv. isalellino-grisea ; auriculis erectis sub- 

 elongatis ; dorso lineis longitudinalibus octo angustis nigricanti- 

 bus ; lateribus utrinqiie lineis tribus subcontinuis. 

 In illustration of the confusion prevaiiing betvveen the two spe- 

 cies, Dr. Horsfield referred to a note at p. 210 of M. Desmarest's 

 ' Mammalogie', vvhere an animal preserved in the Paris Museum 

 under the name of petite Civette de Java (in ali probability the Viv. 

 Rasse) is suspected to be the yoiing of Viv. luditą ; and to Fischer's 

 ' Synopsis Manimalium', wberetbe name of Viv.lndica is accompa- 

 nied by the characters of Viv. Rasse, as given in the ' Zoological 

 Researches in Java', the two animals bcing combined. Tbe šame 

 unionof the two species occurs in M. Lesson's ' Manuel de Mam- 

 malogie'. 



Mr. Owen subsequently read the follovving notes on a malforma- 

 tion of the beak of Psittacus Erithacus, L. 



" This bird vvas stated to have a doiible beak ; but the malforma- 

 tion consists essentially in the separation of some of the upper horny 

 lamince from the remainder of the superior mandible, leaving an in- 

 terval of about 2 lines betvveen tbe separated poriions. The vertical 

 diameter of the detached lamince is about 2 lines, that of the re- 

 mainder of tbe mandible at the veidest part, 6 lines, which is less by 

 2 lines than in the natūrai statė, and sbovvs that the detached horn- 

 like process is not to be considered a superaddition. This is also 

 manifested by the form of the upper surface of the inferior portion, 

 which, instead of being rounded and convex as in the natūrai statė, 

 presents a groove corresponding to the size of the detached process 

 above. The latter, on the contrary, has a smooth convex upper 

 surface such as the upper mandible usually presents. A furtber 

 argament in favour of the above view of the subject is to be 

 derived from tbe situation of the nostrils, which, supposing the two 

 portions to belong to one mandible, is the sanie as in the ordinary 

 beaks of this species ; for tbey are placed exactly in the interval of 

 the separated portions, and consequenily about 2 lines from the 

 upper margin of the mandible that would result from tiic union ; 



