100 THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



the scientific meetings, and on some evenings the rooms could 

 scarcely contain the audience. This seems to have been specially 

 the case when Owen's papers on the extinct birds of the genus 

 Dinomis were read, and at Falconer's demonstration on the 

 fossil tortoise, with a carapace 6 ft. long, from the Sivalik Hills. 

 A great number of huge fragments, derived from all parts of 

 the skeleton except the neck and tail, were exhibited on the 

 table, illustrating a diagram by Scharf of the animal restored 

 to the natural size. 



A " List of Animals in the Gardens " was published in 1844. 

 In addition to the English names and descriptions, there is a 

 Scientific Index, which shows, on analysis, that the Menagerie 

 contained 335 species, thus distributed: Mammals, 134; birds, 

 197 ; reptiles, 3 ; and fish, 1. A note on the two-toed sloth, 

 said to have been the first imported, is worth insertion here : 

 "In fine weather this animal is allowed to range on the large 

 trees outside the building" — that is, the giraffe house. 



In the Proceedings for 1843 a letter from the Eev. W. C. 

 Cotton is printed, in which a curious story about the dinornis is 

 told on the authority of the Rev. Mr. Williams, who sent some 

 bones to Dean Buckland : 



Strangely enough, after Mr. Williams had obtained the bones he heard 

 of the bird as having been seen by two Englishmen in the Middle Island. 

 They were taken out by a native at night to watch for the bird which he 

 had described to them ; they saw it, but were so frightened that they did 

 not dare to shoot at it, though they had gone out expressly to do so. 

 After this I should not be surprised if the Zoological Society were to 

 send out an army to take the monster alive, for alive he most certainly 

 is in my opinion. 



A letter from Gilbert on the mammals and birds of Australia 

 appeared in the following year ; and in 1846 came the news of 

 his tragic death. A curious note on the kakapo occurs in a 

 letter from Mr. F. Strange to Gould in 1847 : " This," the writer 

 says, " is one of the birds the natives set great store by, the head 

 being cut off, strung by the nostrils, and worn in the ears on 

 their grand feast days." The same year James Hunt's observa- 

 tions on the breeding of the otter in confinement appeared. 



A new series, with coloured plates, was commenced in 1848 ; 

 Joseph Wolf furnished many of the illustrations, and this was 

 his first connection with the Society. A cheap edition, consisting 



