42 THE SECRETARY ON ADDITIONS TO THE MENAGERIE. [Feb. 6, 
ruins of ancient cities, and under the foundations of old walls, or else 
led into the fissures of natural rocks. 
In the wooded districts we also noticed two or three species of 
Dormice or Palm-rats, all with tails more or less bushy, which 
eluded us. 
The specimen which I exhibit of the Zliomys melanurus of Wagner 
(Abh. bay. Ak. Wiss. iii. p. 176, pl. ii. fig. 1), belongs to the only 
species obtained in my visit to Moab with which I had not previously 
met. 
We obtained two specimens, one among the ruins of Um Rasas, 
standing in a treeless waste, the other at the old Roman city of Ziza. 
They were both trapped in their runs, near the mouth of a hole in 
the old wall. When let loose in a box, Eliomys is a very beautiful 
and interesting creature. The face, with the two broad black lines 
running to behind the ears, bordered with a fringe almost white on 
either side, and the large and moving ears, is most winning; and the 
tail as it moves slowly is curled up over its back, like a Squirrel’s ; 
but in running it is carried behind it. Altogether it is very squirrel- 
like in its movements. There is no difference in markings between 
the sexes; we procured one example of each. One of these is in my 
collection; the other is in the possession of its captor, the Rev. 
Mowbray Trotter, of Sheffield. 
I much regret that I am unable to throw any further light on the 
habits of this rare and interesting creature; but the locality where 
our specimens were found confirms the account given by Wagner, 
that it inhabits holes in the ground. It is somewhat curious that 
no structural difference of any importance can be detected between 
it and its arboreal congeners. So far as I know, only two specimens 
are known to have existed in collections before we met with ifin 
Moab. These were the types of Wagner’s description, brought from 
the Sinaitic peninsula by Von Schubart; and as Wagner’s illustra- 
tion is rude and uncharacteristic (the animal being represented on a 
branch of a tree), one of our examples has been figured in the 
accompanying drawing (Plate VI.) in a more natural attitude. 
February 6, 1877. 
Osbert Salvin, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair. 
The Secretary read the following report on the additions to the 
Society’s Menagerie during the month of January 1877. 
The total number of registered additions to the Society’s Mena- 
gerie during the month of January was 46, of which 27 were by 
presentation, 17 by purchase, and 2 were received on deposit. The 
total number of departures during the same period, by death and 
removals, was 76. 
