3952 The Zoologist — April, 1874, 



the body, than in that species, but on the legs they are very distinct 

 and strongly pronounced, although small ; the tip of the upper lip 

 is pointed and finger-like. 



Edward Newman. 



Death of the Chimpanzee in the Zoological Gardens, — The chimpanzee, 

 which during the last two and three-quarter years has been an endless source 

 of instruction and amusement to visitors at the Zoological Gardens, after an 

 illness of two months' duration, died on Friday, 6th March. The post- 

 mortem examination showed that the cause of death was acute tuberculosis 

 of the peritoneum, almost exclusively confined to the serous membrane 

 covering the liver and spleen, the omentum aud small intestine being 

 shghtly affected. A large bronchial gland was on the verge of suppuration, 

 hut the lungs were healthy. There were no symptoms of hectic during 

 life, and much subcutaneous and omental fat were found after death. — 

 ' Nature,' March 12. 



[Whether depressed by the loss of his friend, or affected by a like malady, 

 the keeper, whose familiarity with the deceased must be fresh in the 

 memories of my readers, has been ailing ever since. — E. N.] 



large Otter in the Isle of M'ight. — A remarkably fiue male otter was, 

 I am informed by Mr. Smith, the Newport taxidermist, shot on the 7th of 

 October last by Mr. John Mathews, of Alverston, in the Yar, near Brading ; 

 it measured fifty inches in length, and weighed thirty-four pounds. What 

 the ordinary weight of the otter may be I have not been able to ascertain ; 

 but Macgillivray says that the length of the male from nose to point of the 

 tail is from thirty-two to thirty-eight inches, and some individuals measure 

 nearly four feet. It would therefore appear that this otter is of unusual 

 size. According to Pennant, the general length of the otter is thirty-nine 

 inches. In the ' Dictionnaire Classique d'Histoire Naturelle' the otter is 

 said to be "deux pieds de long" (twenty-six inches, according to our 

 measure)— a strange and unaccountable blunder. Though Buffou devotes 

 no less than five pages to the histoiy of the European otter, not a word is 

 there said as to its size or weight, but he remarks, " elle ne va point a la 

 mer:" a mistake, of course.— Henry Hadfield; Ventnor, Isle of Wight, 

 March 10, 1874. 



Golden Eagle at Powerscourt.— A golden eagle was shot at Powerscourt 

 Waterfall about the beginning of February. It was a male, and had been 

 observed about there for two or three years. Anton, the keeper, who shot 

 the bird, says it was six feet ten inches from tip to tip of wings. — R. M. 

 Barrington ; Fassaroe, Bray, Wicklow, March 20, 1874. 



