260 
lubricated to a greater extent. The same process may be witnessed 
in the Ducks and in many other birds. As I have stated before, the 
coccygeal muscles, I believe, greatly assist in propelling the oleagi- 
nous fluid from the ducts. The secretion, judging from the vascu- 
larity of the glands and from experiments I have made, is very abun- 
dant. During last summer, for the purpose of ascertaining the daily 
amount of secretion, I confined a duck and a hen in a coop, and for 
some time every day I squeezed the glands and expressed a large 
- quantity of thick yellow oil, the operation apparently tending to in- 
crease the quantity of the secreted fluid. 
L infer then that, looking especially to the structure of these glands, 
the character and quantity of their secretion, their relative size in the 
Palmipedes especially, they serve for the purpose usually assigned to 
them, viz. that of supplying an oily fluid for lubricating the skin and 
feathers. 
I have not had time to speak of the morbid states of thése glands; 
but those organs are not unfrequently enlarged in domesticated birds, 
and the character of the secretion sometimes is much altered. On 
the table are the tail-glands of the Common Goose, an old bird, in 
which it will be seen that the cavities are filled with a hard waxy 
material. 
I hope at a future time to bring this matter before the Society, 
and to compare the structure of these glands with that of the anal 
glands of the Viverride. 
May 22nd, 1860. 
Dr. J. E. Gray, V.P., in the Chair. 
Mr. Sclater exhibited a specimen of a new form of Dormouse 
(Platacanthomys lasiurus), lately described by Mr. Blyth* from the 
Malabar Coast, and presented to him by the describer. 
The following papers were read :— 
1. Nores on A Tuirp CoLuEcTION OF MAMMALIA MADE BY 
Mr. FRASER IN THE Repusiic or Ecuapor. By RosBert 
F. Tomes. 
1. ARCTIBEUS PERSPICILLATUS, Geoff. sp. 
2. ARCTIBEUS PUSILLUS, Natt. sp. 
Phyllostoma pusillum, Natt. Wagn. Weigm. Archiv. 1843, i. 366; 
Tschud. Faun. Peru. i. 63 ; Wagn. Supp. Schreb. v. p. 634. pl. 43. 
Several specimens of this species appear in the collection, and were, 
* Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xxviii. p. 289. 
