THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 121 



This was captured in the Bahr-Ghazal, where a huge beast 

 " carried off the unfortunate cook from the gunwale on which 

 he was sitting, one bite of the animal's powerful jaws sufficing 

 to sever his body in two at the waist." 



Bucheet, the young hippopotamus, did not travel in the 

 luxurious fashion of Obaysch and Adhela. He was brought to 

 England in a structure resembhng a miniature horse-box, with 

 an occasional bucket of water thrown over him instead of a 

 bath. The only bad result was a hard, rough skin, which soon 

 disappeared when the animal was treated to warm baths and 

 a frequent application of the scrubbing brush. The hippopota- 

 mus in the " Greatest Show on Earth" was kept in a small 

 travelling waggon ; yet it was maintained in excellent condition 

 by dint of daily scrubbing and laving. 



The giant salamander of Japan, nearly a yard long, was also 

 obtained for the collection. This monstrous tailed amphibian is 

 the largest of living forms, though it was exceeded by the fossil 

 species, which Scheuchzer mistook for the remains of a human 

 being, and in consequence described as " the man that saw the 

 Deluge " (Homo diluvii testis). It was the first brought alive 

 to England, but at least one example had previously been 

 exhibited on the Continent. 



In February, 1859, the Silver Medal was awarded to Viscount 

 Canning, Lord William Hay, Captain Hay, Major Henry Kamsay, 

 the Rajah Rajendra MuUick, Captain James, and Messrs. Bryan 

 Hodgson and H. G. Keene, for assistance in forming the first 

 collection of Himalayan pheasants. Mr. Richard Green, the 

 shipowner, also received this mark of distinction for his co-opera- 

 tion by giving facilities for transport. Later in the year this 

 medal was given to Mr. W. D. Christie for his many valuable 

 donations, and early in 1860, to Sir George Grey for his 

 numerous donations of South African animals, and to the 

 Hon. Gerald Chetwynd Talbot for his assistance in the intro- 

 duction of Indian pheasants. 



The expenditure of the Society and the decrease in receipts 

 caused some anxiety ; and a table was given in the Report pre- 

 sented at the Anniversary Meeting of 1856, to show that the 

 number of attendances also had decreased at the British Museum, 

 where there was no fee for admission. Before this, probably in 



