48 THE ZOOLOQTOAL SOCIETY. 



In the Councirs Report of November 4 there was an explana- 

 tion that the work entailed by the formation of the Society's 

 ostabUshment— Gardens, Museum, and Farm — had prevented 

 the discussion of scientific matters at the monthly meetings. 

 Consequently it was proposed that this defect should be remedied 

 by holding meetings on the second and fourth Tuesdays in each 

 month for that special purpose. The first meeting was held on 

 November 9, when Vigors opened the proceedings with a descrip- 

 tion of the colins or New World quails (Ortyx), of which four 

 species were then in the Gardens. One, the Virginian colin, had, 

 he said, bred in this country, and " had even become naturalised 

 in Suffolk." In this, however, he was mistaken ; and though 

 many other attempts have since been made to introduce the 

 species, they have been unsuccessful. It formerly had a 

 place in Yarrell's "British Birds." In the fourth edition 

 (iii. 122) Mr. Howard Saunders remarked that thousands had 

 been "brought over from North America during the present 

 [the nineteenth] century, without having succeeded in per- 

 manently establishing themselves." He, therefore, omitted it 

 from the list. Mr. J. E. Harting dealt with the subject in 

 the last edition of his " Handbook of British Birds " (pp. 

 153-55) and referred briefly to the principal attempts to 

 introduce this species, with references to the literature. 



More important by far was the paper on the anatomy of the 

 orang, of which the first part was read by Mr. (afterwards Sir 

 Richard) Owen. The subject was the young male which had 

 recently died in Bruton Street. According to Owen it was in "a 

 very debilitated state" when it reached this country, and he 

 attributed its death, not to climatic influences as suggested by 

 Jesse's informant, but to " debility and exhaustion of the system" 

 produced by a long voyage, improper food, and intestinal trouble. 

 This paper, in four parts, was the first of a long series of contri- 

 butions for more than half a century, the last being included in 

 the Proceedings for 1884. Abstracts of the papers were pub- 

 lished in fasciculi, generally of sixteen pages, and the first, which 

 Appeared about the end of the year, contained the business of 

 three meetings. These fasciculi were delivered to the Fellows 

 free of charge. 



Though not an official publication, " The Gardens and 



