18 Mr. W. S. MacLeay on the (Estrus of Mr. B. Clark. 



Malabar Squirrel. Sciurus maximus, Gmel. 

 Length from mouth to anus 14 inches ; intestinal canal 13 feet. Sto- 

 mach large in proportion to the size of the animal, triangular in shape, 

 somewhat contracted at the cardiac extremity with a broad surface opposed 

 to the right side ; the spleen very small, of the size of a goose-quill, and 

 only 1 inch and a half long. 



Crested Porcupine, Hystrix cristata, Linn. 

 Extreme length from nose to anus 2 feet 4 inches. Small intestines, 

 17 feet ; c«cmw, 18 inches ; large intestines, 4 feet. This animal was 

 very fat. The cause of death was not ascertained. 



Alpine Hare. Lepus variabilis. Pall. 

 Length from mouth to anus 17 inches; the stomach showed an appa- 

 rent division externally; internally the two different lining surfaces de- 

 scribed by Sir E. Home were distinctly observable, that of the cardiac 

 portion being the most vascular. Small intestines 7 feet in length ; cee- 

 cum 16 inches ; large intestines 3 feet 8 inches. General form and du- 

 plicatures of the different viscera very similar to those of our common 

 Hare, Lep. timidus. The animal appeared to have died from the effects 

 of hydatids, which in considerable numbers pervaded the whole abdomi- 

 nal cavity. 



Art. VI. On the (Estrus of Mr. Bracy Clark. By W. S. 

 MacLbay, Esq., A.M., F.L.S., &;c. In a Letter to the 

 Editor. 



My dear Vigors, 



Two reasons have hitherto prevented me from taking notice of 

 Mr. B. Clark's singular paper on CEstrus, independently of the con- 

 sideration that for my part I confess I have little more to say on the 

 subject. The first of these reasons is, that, from the difficulty of know- 

 ing the particular conclusion at which he wishes to arrive, the paper 

 in itself unanswerable. The second is, that Mr. Clark has most sapiently 

 laid down the following law in the Linnean Transactions, viz. " that identi- 

 *' fying the descriptions of the ancients with the modern species of 

 " natural history, should be avoided in the volumes of the Society." 



