Microscopical Society. 227 



The skull, compared with that of the common Hare, differs, in 

 being much smaller, and proportionally narrower ; the upper in- 

 cisors have the groove rather more near the middle of the tooth. 

 Following are the principal dimensions of the skull : — 



in. lin. 



Total length 3 4 



Width 1 7i 



Width between orbits 1 



Length of nasal bones 1 5 



Width at base 8 



Length of bony palate 1 2^ 



Mr. Gould exhibited and characterized a new species of Himan- 

 topus, which he had received from New Zealand. 



HiMANTOPus Nov^ Zelandije. Him. fuliffinoso-niger, dorso, alls 

 cauddque nitore virescente tinctis. Ejcempla, f route, loris, mento, 

 collo antice, et ad latera, sic et pectore crissoque albis, nonnunquam 

 ohveniunt. 



The whole of the plumage sooty black, with the exception of the 

 back, wings and tail, which are glossed with green : examples some- 

 times occur with the forehead, lores, chin, front and sides of the 

 neck, chest, and under tail-coverts white ; bill black; feet pink-red. 



Total length, 16 inches; bill, 3 ; wing, 9^; tail, 3^ ; tarsi, 3^. 



This bird is interesting, not so much for its beauty, but as adding 

 another species to the very limited genus Himantopus, of which, 

 until lately, only one was known. Mr. Gould regretted that no other 

 information accompanied the specimens than that they were killed 

 at Port Nicholson. From the great difference in their colouring it 

 might be supposed that they are distinct, but he inclines to believe 

 that they are either the result of age or season ; in all probabiUty 

 the black plumage is that of summer. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 



At a meeting of the Microscopical Societ}% held October 20th, 

 Richard Owen, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The Secre- 

 tary, Mr. John Quekett, read a paper by himself, " On the Minute 

 Structure of Bat's Hair." After alluding to the great beauty of the 

 hairs of different animals, as developed by means of the microscope, 

 the author described briefly the formation and mode of growth of 

 hairs generally, and stated that his attention was directed to those 

 of the Bat tribe, in consequence of having on more than one occa- 

 sion used a knife to separate them from the skin ; and on examination 

 subsequently it was seen that the curious markings on their sur- 

 faces, which render these hairs so interesting, were destroyed in some 

 parts, but were still present in others. By repeating the scraping 

 process it was found that minute scale-like bodies were detached, 

 which were not unlike in shape the scales on the wing of a butterfly, 

 but were very much smaller, and presented no trace of strise on their 

 surfaces ; and it was on the arrangement of the scales, and on their 



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