89 



May 28, 1844. 



William Horton Lloyd, Esq., in the Chair. 



The foUowing extracts were read from a letter from Robeit Tem- 

 pleton, Esq., M.D., Corr. Mem., Royal Artillery, Colombo, Ceyloii : — 



" You ■vvill be glad to learn that I yesterday heard of a new mon- 

 key, which I imagine, from the description, mušt belong to the šame 

 genus as the "VVanderoo. Every day brings some novelty to my no- 

 tice, but I regret to say that although I have many promises from 

 officers at out-stations, I do not receive specimens as fast as I could 

 wish. 



" You may announce to the Society that 1 had an accouchement 

 in my house of a Loris, the afFair occupying about half an hour, at 

 the end of which a httle naked object was fuUy in the "vvorld, about 

 two inches long, likę a young mouse, perfectly without covering, a 

 large head, attenuate body, and excessively slender legs ; the face 

 and eyes were proportionally much smaller than in the older animal. 

 It clung to the mother so tenaciously, that I believe it would have 

 almost parted with its legs rather than let go its hold. The mother 

 died on the following night and the young one immediately after, so 

 that I had little time for observing them. You will perceive from 

 the half-finished sketch I enclose that it is not at all entitled to the 

 usual appellation of dog-like, which has been derived I presume from 

 the drawings having hitherto been made from stuflred specimens. 



" The loss of the ' Memnon' has been a matter of serious concern 

 to me, as she canied a paper which cost much trouble, and of which 

 I foolishly destroyed the copy ; unfortunately, since that time I have 

 had neither leisure nor specimens from which to work out another. 

 In the meantime I wish you to inform the Society that there is found 

 in the alpine regions of Ceylon during the rainy season enormous 

 ■vvorms, reaching from twenty to forty inches in length, and about 

 an inch or lį inch in thickness. From the size and colour I have 

 adopted the name of Megascolex c^eeuleus. 



" The body is composed of 270 rings, the sexual organs occupying 

 the 16th, 1 7th and ISth ; betvv^een this part and the head it is some- 

 what ventricose, but at the 1 7th ring there is a decided narrowing. 

 Each ring is dilated in the middle of its length into a ridge, ^hich 

 carries on it, except in the mesial line of the back, minute conical 

 mammillse, 100 in number, each surmounted with a minute bristle, 

 arched back\vards ; the dermoid covering is striated in opposite di- 

 rections diagonally, to admit of the contractions of the museles be- 

 neath ; dorsally the depressed parts of the rings are deep bright blue, 

 ■which becomes gradually narrowed as it descends the sides, and ter- 



