Jan. lo, 1889] 



NATURE 



255 



Mr. F. J. Aldridge, F.Z.S., by whom it was brought 

 from Sierra Leone. This specimen is of about the same 

 size and age as the young Bald-headed Chimpanzee, and 

 enables an easy comparison to be made between the two 

 species. Looking first at A. cahnts, we find the skin of 

 the head, face, ears, and limbs of a dark brownish clay 

 colour, which will, no doubt, get blacker as the animal 

 becomes adult. The ears are perfectly naked, and of 

 large size, and stand out at nearly right angles from the 

 head. The top of the head is very scantily covered with 

 short blackish hair. The whole of the body and limbs 

 are also very thinly covered with hair, especially the 

 abdomen. 



When we turn to the young specimen of A. troglodytes, 

 we find the upper part of the face and the brows of a 

 dirty flesh colour. Between the eyes, above the nostrils, 

 and passing down the cheeks, it is black. The nose and 

 muzzle are of a dirty flesh colour. The chin and upper 

 lip are covered with longish white hair. The inside of 

 the ears is nearly black. The forehead, cheeks, and 

 the whole of the body are covered with long, harsh, 

 black hair. The colour of the hands and feet are of a 

 brownish clay colour, much the same as those oiA. calvus. 



The rump above and below the anus is covered with 

 longish white hair. 



With regard to the size of these two animals, the length 

 of limbs, and other measurements, they are nearly equal. 

 It is probable that A. troglodytes is a trifle older than 

 the new specimen oi A. calvus. 



It may be of interest to mention that, as Mr. Bartlett 

 informs me, the young A. calvus will kill and eat sparrows 

 in the same manner as " Sally " kills and eats pigeons, 

 whereas the common chimpanzee will not touch any 

 food of this kind. 



It must be admitted, however, that the specific term 

 calvus, applied to " Sally " and her " younger sister," 

 can only be considered as provisional. When these 

 specimens die, which, we trust, will not be till some 

 distant period, they must be compared with the example 

 of the Troglodytes calvus of Du Chaillu, which is now in 

 the British Museum, On the same occasion the skulls of 

 these specimens can be compared with the descriptions 

 and figures given by Duvernoy of his Troglodytes tschego. 

 Until this can be done, it is impossible to say decisively 

 whether these two specimens belong to one of the 

 supposed species already described, or should receive a 

 new name. 



Finally, I may add that the Ape House in the Society's 

 Gardens, besides these two chimpanzees, contains at the 

 present time a young female Orang {Simla satyrus), 

 received on deposit, and a specimen of the Silvery 

 Gibbon {Hylobates leuciscus), lately presented by Captain 

 D. L. Delacherois ; so that all the three known genera of 

 anthropoid apes may be now seen represented by living 

 specimens. P. L. S. 



NOTES. 



A MOVEMENT has been started in Norway for the despatch in 

 the summer of 1890 of an Expedition which would try to reach 

 the North Pole, and it is proposed that the leadership shall be 

 offered to Dr. Nansen. Those who are arranging the plans main- 

 tain that no other country could furnish such a crew of experienced 

 and hardy ice men and Arctic travellers as Norway, and that a 

 winter or two in the Arctic regions would affect these men very 

 little. The intention is that an attempt shall be made to reach 

 the Pole by way of Franz Josefs Land, a route advocated by 

 the most experienced Norwegian Arctic travellers as well as by 

 several well-known men of science who have studied the 

 problem. Ski, which have played such a prominent part in 

 the Nordenskicild and Nansen Greenland expeditions, would no 

 doubt again be of great service. 



The Royal Academy of Sciences of Turin, in accordance with 

 the last will and testament of Dr. Cesare Alessandro Bressa, and 

 in conformity with the programme published on December 7, 

 1876, announces that the term for competition for scientific 

 works and discoveries made in the years 1885-88, to which only 

 Italian authors and inventors were entitled, was closed on 

 December 31, 1888. The Academy now gives notice that from 

 January i, 1887, the new term for competition for the seventh 

 Bressa Prize has begun, to which, according to the testator's 

 will, scientific men and inventors of all nations will be admitted. 

 A prize will therefore be given to the scientific author or in- 

 ventor, whatever be his nationality, who during the years 

 1887-90, according to the judgment of the Royal Academy of 

 Sciences of Turin, shall have made the most important and 

 useful discovery, or published the most valuable work on any of 

 the following subjects — physical and experimental science, natural 

 history, mathematics, chemistry, physiology, pathology, geology, 

 history, geography, and statistics. The term will be closed at 

 the end of December 1890. The value of the prize amounts 

 to 12,000 Italian lire. The priz6 will in no case be given to 

 any of the national members of the Academy of Turin, 

 resident or non-resident. 



The Board of Electors to the Linacre Professorship of Human 

 and Comparative Anatomy at Oxford have, on account of 

 Prof. Moseley's continued illness, nominated Mr. W. Ilatchett 

 Jackson, M.A., F.L.S., to serve as Deputy Professor. 



Sir Henry Roscoe has been elected to represent the Royal 

 Society on the governing body of Eton College. 



We regret to announce the death of Mrs. Merrifield, whose 

 name as a writer oq Algae and kindred subjects is well known 

 to our readers. She died on January 4, in her eighty-fifth 

 year. To-day we print an article by Mrs. Merrifield on some 

 recent works on Algae. We learn that she was very ill when 

 this article was written, but it was not thought that the end 

 was so near. 



The annual general meeting of the Royal Meteorological Society 

 will be held at 25 Great George Street, Westminster, on Wednes- 

 day, the l6ih instant, at 7.15 p.m., when the report of the Council 

 will be read, the election of officers and Council for the ensuing 

 year will take place, and the President (Dr. W. Marcet, F.R.S., 

 will deliver an address on " Fogs," which will be illustrated 

 by a number of lantern slides. 



