n 



February 24, 1846. 

 George GulUver, Esq., F.R.S., in thp Chair. 



The following Note on the Spermatozoa of the Polar Bear, by 

 George Gulliver, Esq., F.R.S., was read : — 



The ąuestion of the true nature of these curious bodies is as inter- 

 esting as it is obscure. Whether they be independent animalcules 

 or merely free and floating ciHa has never been clearly proved. 



Professor Valentin*, indeed, described an amount of organization 

 in the spermatozoa of a Bear, ąuite sufRcient, if confirmed, to prove 

 that they are really distinct beings. Therefore I took an oppor- 

 tunity of obtaining them for examination from the Polar Bear which 

 died this morning in the Society's menagerie. The animal was a 

 very large adult, in good condition ; bis testes "vvell-developed, con- 

 taining in the seminal tubes plenty of cells and immature sperma- 

 tozoa, and an abundance of them perfectly formed in the vas defe- 

 rens. These were carefuUy examined. They presented none of the 

 marks of mouth, anus and internal vesicles depicted by Professor 

 Valentin. In short, the spermatozoa of the Polar Bear were similar . 

 in all respects to those of numerous other Mammalia, as may be seen 

 by comparing my drawings, now exhibited to the Society, of the 

 spermatozoa of the following animals, viz. the Polar Bear (Ursus 

 maritimus, Linn.), the Stoat (Mustela Erminea, Linn.), the Indian 

 Badger (ArctonĮ/x collaris, F. Cuv.), the Dromedary (Camelus Dro- 

 medarius, Linn.), and the Camel (Camelus Bactrianus, Auct.). I 

 gavę a notice of the spermatozoa of the two lašt animals in the Proc. 

 of this Society, July 26, 1842, p. 101, and April 11, 1843, p. 50. 



A paper by Edward Fry was then read : — 



" On the Osteology of the Active Gibbon {Hylobates agilis)." 



I have never met ■with any detailed account of the osteology of 

 any species of the genus Hylobates. Professor Owen's memoir on 

 that of the Orang Utan and Chimpanzee seems to make one de- 

 girable, for the sake of comparison, as the Gibbons are the next group 

 of Simiadce to the Orangs. Their skeleton too is highly interesting, 

 as exhibiting a striking adaptation to progression amongst the 

 branches of trees, well-fitting the animal to be a vi^alker amongst 

 woods, a Hylobates. , 



The individual, whose skeleton I am about to describe, was a female, 

 ■vvhich lived for some years in the Zoological Gardens at Bristol, having 

 been brought thither from Macao, \vhere she had been kept in con- 

 finement. Of two young ones which were taken 'vvith their mother 

 in the fore&ts of Malacca, she alone attained maturity. She was pro- 



* 'VVagner's Pbysiology, tr. by Dr.Willis, p. 228 ; 8vo, Lond. 1844. 



